Possible Church Planting Locations: Lethbridge

Here is our second possible location.  2.5 hours from Calgary so marginally closer to a big city.

Lethbridge

This city was actually brought to my attention by a blogger friend of mine.  He was lamenting the lack of quality churches and told me a major problem is that while there appear to be a lot of churches in this city, a great number of them are shrinking fast and on the verge of collapse.  Admittedly, this is anecdotal, but it is enough for us to take a hard look at it.

Population right now is running 74 thousand, making it the 4th largest city in the province.  Outreach Canada doesn’t list it as high need, but if churches are close to closing that ratio might be worsening.

Pros:

• Larger center, faster growth (+20k in the last 20 years).
• University of Lethbridge is the 3rd largest university in Alberta, possible employment for Cheryl with her Master’s in Nursing.
• Adjacent to Blood Indian Reserve, so lots of potential service opportunities in the aboriginal community.
• Close to the Mountains – only 2 hours to Waterton Lakes National Park.  Less to Pincher Creek and the Crowsnest Pass.  (Mountains and wilderness are my playground.)
• A built-in supporter?

Cons:

• Anecdotal evidence about need.  According to Outreach Canada, the demand isn’t as high as many other places.
• May be tougher turf to plant in – verges on Mormon territory.   (Maybe that’s a pro?)

Tags: church planting, Lethbridge, locations