Nazarene Presence in the Cascadia Megaregion (1905-1915)

I chose to work on the Cascadia megaregion next because it is considered one of the least religious areas of the country.  This place also offers the greatest missional opportunities on the US/Canada Region.

According to Pew Research Religious Landscape Survey (2014), less than half consider belief in God very important in their lives in the states of Washington (44%) and Oregon (45%). Only three out of ten residents attend religious services per week in Washington (30%) and Oregon (29%). These numbers are only gain significance in light of the projected population growth of this area. 

The largest cities on the U.S. part of this megaregion are Seattle (#18 704,352) and Portland (#26 639,799), according to 2016 U.S. Census bureau estimates. If the populations of Tacoma (211,277), Bellingham (87,574), and Olympia (51,202) are added to Seattle, the population around Seattle rounds out at just over one million (1,054,405).

According to the website Statistics Canada, Vancouver has a population of 2,280,695, or more than half of the population of the province of British Columbia, and twice as many as the Seattle area. BUT, this is only two-thirds of the projected population increase by 2050.

Population in the Cascadia megaregion will increase by an estimated 3.5 million people by the year 2050, or three times the current population of the Seattle and vicinity. Using the metric of one church per 10,000 people, there will need to be 350 more churches just to keep up with the population.

Nazarenes have been present in this area for over a century. All of the  work in this area is organized into three districts: Oregon Pacific (OP), Washington Pacific (WP), and Canada Pacific (CP).

The earliest organized church still active today is Ashland Gracepoint on the Oregon Pacific District (1905). There are actually 15 active churches in this megaregion that are more than a century old!

Of the sixteen churches over 100 years old, only one has been closed:
​
Ashland Gracepoint (OP), Portland First (OP), Monroe (WP), Everett First (WP), Seattle First (WP), Bellingham New Beginnings (WP), Marysville (WP), McMinnville (OP), Salem First (OP), Tillamook (OP), Newberg (OP), Portland Moreland (OP-closed), Canby (OP), Countryside (OP), Portland Rose City (OP), Ridgefield (WP)

There have been 460 churches started or organized in the Cascadia megaregion. (331 Organized and 125 Started)

There were never more than ten churches started or organized in any one year until 1980. In 1980 and 1981 there were 41 churches started or organized, or 10% of the total number of churches started or organized in Cascadia since 1905.

Years in which ten churches
were started or organized:
1941, 1946, 2004

Churches started or organized in
1980 = 17
1981 = 24

---

---

The most churches organized in a given year was 14 churches organized in 1980. 

Interestingly, there were 54 churches organized during the 1950s , and 49 churches organized in the 1980s.

But, only 44 churches organized since 1990. 

What happened in the 1960s and 1970s? The troughs are pronounced in these decades. 

• ​Of the 62 churches started or organized during the 1950s, 36 are still active (58%)
• Of the 71 churches started or organized during the 1980s, 21 are still active (29%)

One of the more interesting statistics is related to churches that were started but not organized.
88% of churches started but not organized were eventually closed (100 out of 125).

This is the first of several blog posts about Church of the Nazarene Presence in the Cascadia megaregion.

Resources:

• Raw Data for the three Nazarene districts on the Cascadia megaregion
• Nazarene Presence in the Cascadia Megaregion (1905-2015)
• Megaregions and the Church of the Nazarene in North America
• Nazarene Presence in the Southern California Megaregion (Organized and Closed Churches)​
• Great Lakes Megaregion and the Church of the Nazarene