Closed Churches | Nazarene Presence in the Texas Triangle Megaregion (1905-2017)

The data for the Texas Triangle megaregion shows correlations to the others I've researched so far:  About a quarter of church closings happened within two years, about half of them closed within seven years, and seventy percent closed by year twelve. See my blog post on church closings on the Northeast Megaregion and Southern California Megaregion as examples. 

Surprising data that are unique to this megaregion are the sheer number of churches that were active for over 50 years prior to closing (46 of them) -- that's 11% of the total number of churches closed. 

The 2000s were a time of major closings and the same trends is in place for the current decade. 
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of churches closed after 2000 with seven years of double digit closings. The years prior to 2000 in which more than 10 churches closed were 1910 and 1918. 

UPDATE: Jeff Folks asked a good question on Facebook. Here is the table showing the churches organized, started, total organized/started, closed within decade, closed from this decade, and still active. 

There is one notable trend: a huge slice (25%) of the churches closed were designated as ethnic churches. Ninety-eight (98) of the 394 closings were ethnic churches. Sixty churches were Hispanic, thirteen were Black, seven were Korean, six were Native American and the balance were labeled Filipino, Jewish and Multicultural.

Three out of four ethnic churches that were closed were located in Texas (74 out of 98). 

Two-thirds (67) of closed ethnic churches were shuttered since 2000.  

There is an interesting correlation among all churches closed in this megaregion (and in the others in this study so far) in that about a quarter of closed ethnic churches (23%) closed in two years, 61% closed within seven years, and 72% closed within twelve years. Thirteen (27%) of the closed ethnic churches closed after more than twenty years of active ministry.

Of the 151 churches closed between 2000-2017, sixty-seven (44%) were ethnic churches. 

Again, the percentages hold true for years two, seven and twelve. Of the sixty-seven ethnic churches closed since 2000:

Closed within two years: two years : 17 (25%)
Closed within seven years: 41 (61%) -- a little higher than the 50% we've seen elsewhere
Closed within twelve years: 47 (70%)

Twenty ethnic churches were closed with at least 13 years to at most 68 years of active ministry.

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Resources

• Organized Churches| Texas Triangle
• Large Churches and Missional Centers | Texas Triangle​
• Pastors| Texas Triangle
• Women in Ministry | Texas Triangle
• Ethnic Churches | Texas Triangle
• Other Megaregions