Bastrop County urban

Mission-field Study · ministry priority: Hispanic/Latino + Black · Download filing PDF ↓

1 · Demographic Profile of the Mission Field

Population

102,370

21 census tracts

5-yr growth

24%

+19,771 people · proj. 12%

Hispanic

44%

31,199 Spanish-speakers (5+)

Black

non-Anglo total 50%

Under 18

26%

Median income

$80,722

population-weighted

Fastest-growing neighborhoods

Tracts with fewer than 1,000 residents five years ago are excluded here so a handful of new residents can't read as a four-figure growth rate.

Place	5-yr growth	People added	Hispanic
Bastrop County (rural)	164%	4,151	86%
Bastrop County (rural)	121%	1,318	91%
Camp Swift	99%	2,808	47%
Bastrop County (rural)	67%	1,837	32%
Bastrop County (rural)	67%	1,089	28%

2 · Feasibility — mission, plants & ministries

4 Rio Texas North District UMCs serve this county — 0 of them reach non-Anglo communities (0 Hispanic-led, 0 Anglo+Hispanic ministry, 0 Black-led).

That is roughly 1 church per 25,592 residents against a mission field that is 50% non-Anglo.

8 tracts (33,197 people) have no UMC within a 15-minute drive; the average tract is 4.2 mi from the nearest UMC.

Representation gap. The mission field is 50% non-Anglo, yet none of the 4 North District UMCs here is positioned to reach Hispanic or Black communities. The Plan is explicit that this gap does not lessen the larger Church's responsibility to bring the gospel to the people who live here — it sharpens it.

Highest-opportunity neighborhoods

Composite of growth (35%), church-saturation gap (30%), demographic fit (20%), and density (15%), 0–100, scored across every tract in the county. ◆ marks tracts that also clear Lens A's 6-mile-from-any-UMC plant filter.

Place	Opportunity	5-yr growth	Pop	mi to UMC
Bastrop County (rural)	89	164%	6,679	5.5
Bastrop County (rural)	85	66%	9,021	2.8
Bastrop County (rural)	75	121%	2,409	4.8
Bastrop County (rural)	75	46%	5,419	5.7
Camp Swift	74	99%	5,636	5.0
Bastrop County (rural) ◆	72	53%	6,490	7.1

Existing North District UMCs in Bastrop

Church	City	Serves
Bastrop UMC	Bastrop	Anglo
Cedar Creek UMC	Cedar Creek	Anglo
Elgin UMC	Elgin	Anglo
First UMC Smithville	Smithville	Anglo

3 · Proposed Restrictions & Priority for Proceeds

The mission field is 44% Hispanic — proceeds should give highest priority to Hispanic/Latino ministry, new Hispanic church starts, and bilingual outreach. The Black population (6% of the field, +60% over five years) supports a Black-ministry priority — note the Plan's caution that the legacy footprint of historic Black UMCs does not track where the Black population is growing today.

20% of net → Conference Trustees' Property Administration Fund (capped at $400k).

75% of the remainder → North District Strategy Team (≈ 60% of net), restricted to: Hispanic/Latino + Black ministry in the Bastrop County urban mission field.

25% of the remainder → Conference Office of Congregational Vitality & Development (≈ 20% of net), restricted to urban ministry conference-wide.

Proposed restriction language for the District Strategy Team to adopt or amend: "These funds derive from the sale of urban church property in Bastrop County and are restricted to vital urban ministry that reaches the diverse people of that mission field, with highest priority to hispanic/latino + black ministry, new church starts, and missions — per the Rio Texas Urban Ministry Strategic Plan." If the property was a former Rio Grande Annual Conference congregation, add the Latino/Hispanic highest-priority restriction the Plan requires.