https://youtu.be/41k-7fpRFb0 There are between 350,000 and 400,000 churches in the United States. Is there really a church on every street corner? Ryan Burge joins Thom and Sam on this special episode to discuss the optimal number of churches in a community. The answer will likely surprise you. “Churches Near Me” is the new way people find you. Few people pay attention to your sign anymore. You are invisible to your community without an outward focus. Distribution of churches is key: There are 356,000 religious congregations. That’s about 113 per county. There’s about 1 congregation for every 1000 Americans. For reference, there are 13,400 McDonalds and about 16,000 Starbucks. Geography is key: Houses of worship are not tracking with population growth in certain areas of the country. The counties that grew the fastest over the last ten years are the most likely to have a very high ratio of churches to people. In other words, they need more churches planted there. A church on every street corner is a kingdom outpost for the gospel! Resources: Tithe.ly 2023 State of Church Giving * “How Many Religious Congregations Are in Your County?” by Ryan Burge Ryan Burge “From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism” by Darren Dochuk (affiliate link) * “How Much of Church Growth Is Based on Demographics? The Data Provides a Compelling and Clear Answer” by Ryan Burge * The Everything Church Resource Directory * The Hope Initiative * Get your FREE tool! Attendance Growth Projector Episode Sponsors: Tithely provides churches around the world with software tools to help them and their ministries thrive. Nearly 40,000 churches use Tithely for online and text giving, managing their people’s information, volunteer management, child check in, church apps and websites, and communicating through email and text messaging. Made up of a team of ministry-minded people, Tithely’s heart is to see the local church empowered with the tools to fulfill their mission. You can sign up for free at Tithely.com - yes that's right, it's free! Tithely's giving platform comes with no monthly fees and no contracts. Get started taking donations in just 5 minutes at Tithely.com. Also, right now Tithely is offering a free report called “2023 State of Church Giving Report.” You can access that report free by clicking on the link in the show notes.