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Details about the Mission Point |
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St. Charles County is a part of the St. Louis Metro area, just west of St. Louis County along I-70. The Mississippi River borders it on the north, and the Missouri River borders in along the south and the east. It has an approximate population of almost 500,000 people. The growth of the St. Louis Metro Area (population of 2.75 million) has been expanding through the county for the last 2 ˝ decades. |
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The city of O’Fallon has also been dramatically expanding. Throughout the 1990’s, O’Fallon grew 150%. (As illustrated by the graph below.) For the last several years, O’Fallon and the cities to the west have been the fastest growing places in the state of Missouri. Currently O’Fallon (70,000 est. population) is the 8th largest city in Missouri. This growth should continue. Current and planned infrastructure supports the premise that growth will continue into the future. |
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The red triangles represent any kind of Baptist church buildings found in the western half of St. Charles County (from O’Fallon heading west). This would include SBC, Independent, General, and Freewill. There are no ABA churches in St. Charles County. The closest ABA church is Brookside MBC represented by the gold star, located about 20 miles away in the northwest part of St. Louis County. These 13 churches support an area whose population is well over 100,000 people. With the exception of 3 churches in Wentzville, there is only 1 Baptist church building north of I-70. This area is primed for future growth. Seeing a financially independent ABA church established in the northwestern corner of St. Charles County, preferably the area north of I-70, east of Wentzville, and in or west of O’Fallon, is the ultimate goal of the St. Charles Mission project. Currently, we are focusing our efforts in the O’Fallon area, but the Lord may lead us further west into the county. You can help with your prayers and financial support. |
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Baptist churches have also expanded in this area, but they have not kept pace with the growth of the population. It is Bro. Lee’s observation that the people in O’Fallon are mostly religious and mostly conservative. Out of the people who attend church, the largest segment is Catholic. There are also many that go to non-denominational “mega-churches.” However, there is a lack of solid Baptist churches. This can be illustrated by the map below. |
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O’Fallon, MO Population Growth |
