The American Bible Society and Barna Research recently released a study showing the U.S. cities that are the most Bible-minded. Top contenders include:
Chattanooga, Birmingham, Roanoke, and Springfield.
But what if your city didn’t make the top 10? Or even top 50?
(Infographic Source: The American Bible Society)
How can you bring the Bible back to your town? How can your church engage your community?
This spring, we’re inviting you to join us as we dive deep into Scripture. During the 40 days leading up to Easter, we’ll be reading the entire New Testament. Don’t worry—it will only take carving out about 30 minutes to read about 7 chapters per day.
And we want you to join us. Here’s what you’ll need:
- A print out of the Lent Challenge: 40 Day New Testament Reading Guide to pop in your Bible. (Click here to download for free).
- A copy of your favorite Bible translation or download the YouVersion app on your phone. You can even listen to the audio Bible for free. (Click here to learn how).
- A group of friends to join you! We have (Click here for more details).
This Lent, we can bring the Bible back to our communities.
Invite your small group, Bible study, women’s ministry, or entire congregation to join us on the adventure of a lifetime. Our friends at FBC Brandenburg in Kentucky and Bakerstown UMC in Pennsylvania are encouraging their whole church to join the #LentChallenge.
The youth group at Cold Springs Community Church in California and the congregation from Crossview Covenant Church in Minnesota are IN for the #LentChallenge. We have people asking their co-workers, neighbors, in-laws, out-laws, and even non-believing friends to come along and discover who Jesus is.
Instead of just giving up something for Lent this year, let’s lay hold of something greater. [Tweet this]
Spend seven weeks this spring walking alongside Jesus, listening to his life-changing teachings, and falling more in love with God and his Word with each turning page. Our hope and prayer is that at the end of the next 40 days, you’ll be so spiritually full, you’ll never want to live on empty again.
Your turn: Where is your city on the list? Who are you inviting to join in the #LentChallenge?
You may be interested in reading “What Are Bible Gateway’s Most “Bible-Minded” USA Cities?” http://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2014/01/what-are-bible-gateways-most-bible-minded-cities/
Thanks for sharing that link, Jonathan. Interesting how some of those regions line up pretty evenly.
You wouldn’t believe how far down the list my city is. It’s not in the U.S., it’s Toronto. The 4th largest city in North America and less than 1% Christian. The terms “born again” and “evangelical” carry tremendous negative weight here. I don’t have to imagine what it’s like to be persecuted for my faith, I am experiencing it daily.
Praying for you, Laura.
I live in Gilbert, AZ which is near Phoenix, which is #93 on that list! Oy! I will be doing the “read the New Testament during Lent”. Plus, I got a Bible that is a “read in one year” Bible that is laid out way different than the regular Bible. Each day has a chapter from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. I have a close friend of mine joining me on the New Testament read.
I will be praying for you, too, Laura. What the rest of the world is experiencing in terms of persecution will eventually be on my doorstep, too.
My city is #60 – not surprising; we have a major, VERY liberal university here. Biblical worldview is ridiculed in that environment. Chicago (a city close to my heart) is 74, which is higher than I expected, but still not good.
Unfortunately, if you look closely, “bible-minded” means both that folks have read the Bible in the last week AND that they take it all literally, without regard to genre, archaeology, or any other kind of scholarship. That definition eliminates a lot of folks who study the scriptures constantly, carefully, and with all of the resources available to such study.
You make a great point, Keith. While the infographic and the survey results bring up some interesting talking points, they don’t see the whole picture.
Denver is number 81. We’re probably close to the top at being politically correct, however.
Wow, 68…
My assistant Dawn and I are taking the Lent challenge this year…let’s get some more Bible reading in Baltimore, hon!! (regional dialect required for that “hon”) LOL
Albany NY is listed as #99 on the list. I live there, so I might know a thing or two. The Northeast is heavily Catholic and has the largest concentration of Jews and Orthodox (I’m the latter) in the country. Trust me… there’s plenty of churches (and synagogues). Here in Albany you trip over the Catholic parishes. Scranton was #84… it’s full of “onion domes” (Russian Orthodox parishes). What this really measures is the level of Radical Sectarianism (“Evangelicalism”) in a given area. In fact, it appears to say that those of us in liturgical churches aren’t Christian because we don’t parrot “Evangelical” rhetoric or practise. The Liturgy feeds me better than any prideful individualistic “Bible reading” could (we Orthodox don’t say that the Liturgy is the forecourt of Heaven for nought). Christ is with us “when two or three are gathered in My Name”… not when one is reading alone in one’s study. Trust me, you don’t have to agree with “Evangelicalism’s” postulates to be a good Christian.
No, we’re not literalists, thank you very much… thank God. There’s no conflict between Darwin and Christ… nor between Christ and Marx. I guess that makes me “not Bible-minded” in these people’s eyes…
Hi Barbara, I’m not sure how they got all of their statistics, but you are probably right. Lots of churches in that area. Thanks for weighing in!