Why Oneonta New York?

My wife and I moving to New York will be a total change for us, especially because we will not know anybody who lives in Oneonta. This begs the question, why did I pick Oneonta New York to start a church? What makes this small community of 15,000 people so special?
For almost 2 years now I have been called to church plant but did not have a location. During this time I have worked to save money to church plant, and researched where and how to plant. At first I looked locally, but not finding what I was looking for I broadened my search to include the entire mainland United States. My search was intense, and I believe God led my search, I also believe God leads different people in different ways. Maybe for some pastors they can pray and hear the voice of God say, "Move here." But it didn't work that way for me. The Lord chose to lead me by placeing values on my heart that pointed me into the direction of researching these values in order to find a specific community. This was mainly done through researching city statistics. Statistics tell important facts and clues about what a community is like, and I recognize that different communities produce different types of churches. Knowing this, I asked the Lord what city statistics and cultural values to look for so that the new church can make the strongest impact possible for the Gospel.

1. College Town

• Colleges produce leaders, “reach the university, reach the world (Chi Alpha mission statement)”

• College students want to make a difference, and are willing to volunteer. A church that does heavy outreach ministry will connect with this young crowd.

• College towns are made up of educated people with critical thinking skills. I believe this group to be attracted to exegetical/seeker-sensitive preaching.

• Young college communities are generally more open to new out-side-the-box ministry ideas that church plants are known for.

Colleges in Oneonta:

• 2 Colleges: SUNY College: public college, 5333 students, and Hartwick College: private college, 1170 students.

• 1/3 of population has a bachelor's degree.

2. Poverty

• A community with physical needs is ripe for outreach. Asthe apostle Paul said, "I am eager to help the poor," and I generally believe those who are impoverished to be more open to the Gospel.

Poverty in Oneonta:

• 30.3% of residents had an income below the poverty level in 2007. That is more than twice the state avg.

• 17.4% of residents had an income below 50% of the poverty level in 2007. Also more than twice the state average.

3. Community Growth: Stagnant or in Decline

• Similar idea behind poverty. I believe a town that lacks new commerce and growth may not be as positive about the future as a fast growing community and would appreciate a new positive church preaching the hope of Christ.
  

• Towns in decline do not typically attract new churches. A new church would be big news.

Town Growth for Oneonta:

• Population change -0.4% since 2000.

• An average of 16 building permits are issued per year. For a town of of 16,000+.

4. Unchurched People

• My biggest target group are those who are unaffiliated with any religion.

Unchurched in Oneonta:

• 61.1% of people in the county are unaffiliated with any religion, this number is most likely higher in the main town of Oneonta. This percentage is significantly higher than most counties in the U.S.
  

• The 2009 American Religious Identification Survey recognizes the Northeast as the most irreligious part of the country.

*This desk was "Church Planting Headquarters." Discerning God's will on where to start a new church: it took me over 3 months to compile and assess approximately 500 pages of research. The project was fueled by gallons of Mountain Dew and required 6 seasons of "Stargate SG-1" playing in the background to keep me company. And I looked at enough church websites across the nation that they all began to look alike. Of course, prayer was also very much involved.

5. Church-to-People Ratio

• This contributes directly to the unchurched percentage. The higher saturation of churches in a community, makes the element of church competition stronger. I desire a ministry that minimizes the need to compete with neighboring churches, and instead, has a greater freedom to stay on mission and do what's important.

Oneonta Churches:

• There are around 17* Christian churches in a town of 16,000+. That is almost 1 church per 1000 people. Compared to national averages, this ratio is significantly high. For example, in Missouri, where I am from, almost every town has 1 church per 200-500 people.

*Update 6-6-09: The number of churches within city limits varies with different websites and sources. Some sites have the number as low as 12, I've heard other reports saying it is as high as 33. And it is hard to determine the doctrine and mission of the church based solely off the church name. But the point of this statistic is the "Church-to-people" ratio, which is still considerably lower than the rest of the nation. Here are some sites listing the different churches in Oneonta:
Church Angel National Church Directory (12 Churches, 9 Protestant)
Sweet Home Oneonta Houses of Worship (23 Churches, 17 Protestant)
Daily Star White Pages (26 Churches, 16 Protestant)

6. Ministeries offered by Churches

• There are some very specific ministeries I envision this new church doing. It does not make sense to plop a specific style/type of church next to an existing church that is already doing the things the new church plans to do.

Churches in Oneonta:

• After reviewing the churches websites of Oneonta, I came to the conclusion that there are good churches in the town, but they are not doing some of the ministeries I would like to do (this goes back to lowering the element of church competition.)

7. Lack of New Churches

• Every church planting organization has produced statistics that show dozens of benefits a new church can bring to a community, and the effectiveness of new churches reaching new people. Click here to find out more.
  

New Churches in Oneonta:

• *I've heard there have been 3 recent attempts at church planting in Oneonta, and none are around today. This tells me planting a new church in Oneonta will be hard, but I also feel it is needed. Please feel free to contact me with more information about new churches in Oneonta.
  

*Update 6-6-09

8. Geographical Influence

• The type of ministry that I want to do, is most effective within a close-knit community.

• I believe that the higher percentage of people that live and work in a town, the more responsive the town will be to a church dedicated to helping the community.

• I would also like to be a part of a church that plants new churches in the surrounding area. I believe a church that is headquartered in the most influential town in the county, has a responsibility to minister to the surrounding smaller communities.
  

Oneontas' Influence:

• 70.6% of the people that live in Oneonta also work in Oneonta. This number is significantly high, especially for the New York.

• The town population increases by +34.2% every day with commuting traffic, making Oneonta very influential for the area.

9. Town size

• I have a town size that I am personally comfortable with, and Oneonta fits that range. I would prefer a town that is big enough that you don't have to send talented young people away to have a good future. And small enough to have that close-knit small community feel to it. I am rural at heart and not a fan of the suburbs or the big city.

Oneonta Population:

• Town population is 13,225, add the dorm residents and the population is 16,761. And over 61,000 people live in the county.

This is a very brief overview of the reasons we are moving to Oneonta New York to start a church. I could write tons more about all this, but I understand blogs are supposed to be rather short. Some of these statistics are objective, and some are subjective, and some are more clear than others. But what makes Oneonta rise above all other towns in this search, is it ranked very high in all 10 of these catigories, something no other town in America pulled off. Go Oneonta!