Llano County rural

Mission-field Study · ministry priority: Black · Download filing PDF ↓

Rural county. Llano is below the 50,000 urban threshold, so a property sale here follows the general non-urban proceeds policy (¶4), not the Urban Ministry Plan — see Part 3. The demographic and feasibility reads below are still useful for district strategy.

1 · Demographic Profile of the Mission Field

Population
22,011
8 census tracts
5-yr growth
7%
+1,371 people · proj. 5%
Hispanic
13%
1,735 Spanish-speakers (5+)
Black
1%
non-Anglo total 14%
Under 18
16%
Median income
$70,950
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.

Place5-yr growthPeople addedHispanic
Horseshoe Bay 36% 647 7%
Llano County (rural) 23% 416 2%
Llano County (rural) 12% 316 15%
Horseshoe Bay 11% 198 7%
Buchanan Dam 10% 161 12%

2 · Feasibility — mission, plants & ministries

2 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 11,006 residents against a mission field that is 14% non-Anglo.
8 tracts (22,011 people) have no UMC within a 15-minute drive; the average tract is 9.5 mi from the nearest UMC.
Representation gap. The mission field is 14% non-Anglo, yet none of the 2 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.

PlaceOpportunity5-yr growthPopmi to UMC
Kingsland 53 2% 4,375 5.4
Llano County (rural) 49 23% 2,255 11.5
Llano County (rural) 48 12% 2,871 4.9
Llano 46 -5% 3,470 14.5
Horseshoe Bay 46 11% 2,000 13.0
Horseshoe Bay 46 36% 2,451 14.0

Existing North District UMCs in Llano

ChurchCityServes
Highland Lakes UMCBuchanan Dam Anglo
Valley Spring UMCValley Spring Anglo

3 · Proposed Restrictions & Priority for Proceeds

The Black population (1% of the field, +2154% 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.

Non-urban policy (¶4). Llano is below the urban threshold, so the Urban Ministry Plan's 75/25 split does not apply. Under the general policy for discontinued/abandoned property, proceeds are handled as below.
20% of net → Conference Trustees' Property Administration Fund (capped at $400k).
100% of the remainder (the entire post-admin balance) → North District Strategy Team for use in the district. No Conference-office share; no urban restriction is required.

The demographic profile above still argues for a Black ministry emphasis if the District Strategy Team chooses to direct these funds intentionally. If the property was a former Rio Grande Annual Conference congregation, the Latino/Hispanic highest-priority restriction the Plan requires still applies regardless of urban status.