Week of Prayer for the Nelson Baptist Association (Day 1)

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Today we are going to pray the following associational churches and pastors:

Bardstown Baptist Church (Pastor Jeff McCarty)

Bardstown Junction Baptist Church (Pastor Mark Harrison)
Beech Grove Baptist Church (Pastor Junior Wallace)
Belmont Baptist Church (Pastor Bob Tipton)
Bethany Baptist Church (Pastor Neal Gish)
Bloomfield Baptist Church (Pastor Richard Carwile)

We are also asking that you pray for all of the ministries provided by the association’s Church Equipping Team. Chad Marrow, pastor of River View Baptist Church, is the team leader and Jake Lynch, pastor of education/assimilation at FBC Mt Washington, is the assistant team leader. Click the image below to view the video report:

Nelson Baptist Association | Strengthening Churches, Sharing Christ's Love

Salt Lake City Vision Tour

600N bridge might be the best view of the SLC skyline : SaltLakeCity

Acts 17:16 says, “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” Today, we have a city right here in America that is wholly given to the idols of the Latter Day Saints church, Salt Lake City, Utah. The following statistics come from J. D. Payne’s 2014 “Unreached Peoples, Least Reached Places – An Untold Story of Lostness in America.”

Least Reached States
There are fifty million evangelicals in the United States. For the most part,
the Northeastern section of the country represents the least reached states. The
only exception to this reality is Utah. The ten least evangelical states are as
follows with their corresponding evangelical percentages:

  1. Utah 2%
  2. Rhode Island 2%
  3. Massachusetts 3%
  4. New Hampshire 4%
  5. Vermont 4%
  6. New Jersey 4%
  7. Connecticut 4%
  8. Maine 4%
  9. New York 5%
  10. Delaware 7%

Least Reached Counties
Counties also comprise a part of our untold story. More than 100 counties fall under 2 percent. But we will show you the top 20.

County and % of Population as Evangelical:

Keweenaw County, Michigan – 0%
Skagway Municipality, Alaska – 0.2%
Teton County, Idaho – 0.3%
Wayne County, Utah – 0.4%
Bristol County, Rhode Island – 0.4%
Beaver County, Utah – 0.4%
Madison County, Idaho – 0.4%
Garfield County, Utah – 0.5%
Utah County, Utah – 0.5%
Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska – 0.6%
Wasatch County, Utah – 0.6%
Storey County, Nevada – 0.7%
Sanpete County, Utah – 0.8%
Jefferson County, Idaho – 0.8%
Caribou County, Idaho – 0.9%
Oneida County, Idaho – 1%
Putnam County, Illinois – 1%
Franklin County, Idaho – 1%
Putnam County, New York – 1%
Clear Creek County, Colorado – 1%

Least Reached Metro Areas
We live in one of the most urbanized countries in the world. The cities are
not only places of great populations (unlike what we find in many rural counties),
but also places of great influence. What happens in the cities shapes the country
as a whole. Here is the list of the 20 metropolitan areas that are under 6% evangelical:

Metro Area and Percent Evangelical:

Provo-Orem, UT 0.5%
Logan, UT-ID 1%
St. George, UT 2%
Pittsfield, MA 2%
Kingston, NY 2%
Barnstable Town, MA 3%
Salt Lake City, UT 3%
Providence-New BedfordFall River, RI-MA 3%
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 3%
Norwich-New London, CT 3%
Ogden-Clearfield, UT 3%
Glens Falls, NY 4%
Utica-Rome, NY 4%
Springfield, MA 4%
New Haven-Milford, CT 4%
Portland-South PortlandBiddeford, ME 4%
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJPA 4%
Poughkeepsie-NewburghMiddletown, NY 4%
Burlington-South Burlington, VT 5%
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA 5%

Former Salt Lake Send City missionary Travis Kerns has said, “Though it is hard for many people to believe there is a place in the United States that is, basically, unreached, Salt Lake City fits that description. Although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints controls much of the region, God has continually worked throughout the history of redemption through a small remnant.” Salt Lake has only one Southern Baptist church to every 40,460 people. And the number of evangelical Christians in the metro area is estimated to be 2.2 percent. According to J.D. Payne’s 2014 Lostness Report, Utah has 5 counties that rank in the top 11 Least Reached Counties in the U.S. and 4 cities in the top 10 Least Reached Metro Areas in the U.S. The hope is to change those statistics, because as Kerns explains, “those numbers represent people who need to know Jesus.” The Kentucky Baptist Convention is offering you an opportunity to see and experience this culture for yourself through its Salt Lake City Vision Tour 2020 on November 3-5, 2020. The cost for participants is $350. This will include airline tickets, meals, lodging and transportation in Salt Lake City. You can register here at this link:

Nelson Baptist Association Annual Meeting 2020

We are excited to welcome Dr. Don Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean of theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, to speak at our Annual Meeting on “The Importance of Spiritual Disciplines in the Life of the Local Church.”

Photo of Donald S. Whitney

Location: First Baptist Church Mount Washington, 320 N Bardstown Rd, Mt Washington, KY 40047

Date: Sunday, September 20th, 2020

Time: 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

COVID-19 Update: Due to social distancing guidelines, we will have to limit the number of people in the building to 175. Therefore, we are strongly encouraging all of our churches to elect their messengers and to let us know exactly how many from each church will be attending.Remember, we will not be offering ministry booths, food, or child care this year. Finally, we are strongly suggesting people to wear masks as they enter the building and in areas where social distancing is not possible. Obviously, all of this is subject to change if circumstances demand it. We are thankful for your understanding and appreciate your prayers as we navigate this time as an association.

Update on 2020 NBA Annual Meeting

Due to COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing guidelines, several changes have been made to the Annual Meteing’s format. First Baptist Church Mt. Washington will still be our host on Sunday, September 20th. However, the times have been changed. We will now gather at 3:00 p.m. and finish up around 5:00 p.m. Because of the virus, we’ve had to cut the following from our meeting:

1) Breakout Sessions

2) Ministry Boothes

3) Childcare

4) Food

5) Youth/Children Services

During our time together we will focus on our corporate worship gathering and the business session and reports will be included in that time. As of right now, we still have Dr. Don Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality at Southern Seminary, scheduled to be our main speaker. The entire event will be hosted in the sanctuary of FBC Mt. Washington. Due to social distancing guidelines, we will have to limit the number of people in the building to 175. Therefore, we are strongly encouraging all of our churches to elect their messengers and to let us know exactly how many from each church will be attending. Finally, we are strongly suggesting people to wear masks as they enter the building and in areas where social distancing is not possible. Obviously, all of this is subject to change if circumstances demand it. We are thankful for your understanding and appreciate your prayers as we navigate this time as an association. We look forward to worshiping together on the 20th of September.