Nazarene Presence in the Front Range Megaregion (1903-2018)

The Front Range megaregion includes the urbanization along the eastside of the Rockies from Cheyenne in the north toward Albuquerque in the south.  I have extended the megaregion's territory further south to El Paso, Texas following the Rio Grande River.  This megaregion also includes the urban island of the Salt Lake city metro area in Utah. 

The megaregion is very similar to the elongated megaregions of the Gulf Coast and Arizona Sun in that they intermingle or overlap the Mexican border. Again, national and state borders do not always show separation between where people choose to live, work, and do business. These kinds of borders also have very little to do with how people come to Christ and choose to gather for church fellowship. The missional impulse flows from where people gather. 

The Front Range megaregion is smaller than most of the other megaregions with just over 5 million people. It will also double in size in the next thirty years to over 10 million inhabitants.

There have been just over two hundred  Nazarene churches (209) started or organized in this megaregion.  Of these churches, 93 are still active. 

The previous two decades have been the most proliferate  with 39 churches started or organized. By comparison, 42 churches were started or organized between 1970 to 1999. 

The oldest active churches are the First Churches of Salt Lake City and Denver, started in 1903 and 1907, respectively.  There are five churches over 100 years old on this megaregion. 

Over the course of time, there have been 116 churches closed from the 209 that have been started or organized. 

The year with the most closings was 2002. No other year had double digit closings. Notably, over half of all churches that have been closed were closed since 2000 (53%). The spike in closings can be easily seen in the chart on the infograph below.

Fourteen churches (14) closed after fifty years of active ministry. 

The rate of churches closing within two years, seven years, and twelve years remains consistent. 

Just shy of one-fifth of churches closed within two years, almost half after seven years, and six out of ten churches closed within twelve years. 

Churches Closed . . .
​18% within two years
44% within seven years
​69% within twelve years

Resources

• Other Megaregions