Williamson County urban

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

1 · Demographic Profile of the Mission Field

Population

643,889

135 census tracts

5-yr growth

22%

+116,856 people · proj. 15%

Hispanic

25%

83,990 Spanish-speakers (5+)

Black

non-Anglo total 31%

Under 18

24%

Median income

$116,943

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
Williamson County (rural)	534%	9,105	26%
Santa Rita Ranch	443%	6,511	30%
Leander	364%	4,005	17%
Round Rock	324%	6,801	14%
Round Rock	295%	3,124	22%

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 160,972 residents against a mission field that is 31% non-Anglo.

7 tracts (38,622 people) have no UMC within a 15-minute drive; the average tract is 2.3 mi from the nearest UMC.

Representation gap. The mission field is 31% 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
Williamson County (rural)	84	271%	6,644	1.6
Sonterra ◆	82	140%	11,165	9.6
Santa Rita Ranch	81	443%	7,982	5.2
Williamson County (rural)	78	47%	9,857	5.8
Williamson County (rural)	78	534%	10,811	3.8
Hutto	77	1096%	7,983	1.6

Existing North District UMCs in Williamson

Church	City	Serves
First UMC Cedar Park	Cedar Park	Anglo
Haynie Chapel	Del Valle	Anglo
Leander UMC	Leander	Anglo
Cross Tracks Church	Liberty Hill	Anglo

3 · Proposed Restrictions & Priority for Proceeds

At 25% Hispanic and growing, the field warrants a strong Hispanic/Latino ministry priority alongside cross-cultural work in existing congregations. The Black population (7% of the field, +334% 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 Williamson 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 Williamson 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.