The
Mission
Field
The metropolitan area of Burlington, Vermont, located between the Green Mountains and the Adirondack mountains, is home to one third of the population of Vermont and is the key to reaching the rest of the state. This city will also help impact northern New Hampshire, northern New York, and the Montreal, Canada area for Christ. Located on the shore of beautiful Lake Champlain, the sixth largest fresh water lake in the country, Burlington is a college town full of artists, musicians, outdoor enthusiasts, and business professionals. Outside of the suburbs, the surrounding areas are primarily farmland and forests. While Burlington is an incredible, vibrant place to live, as the biggest city in the least religious state in the country, it is spiritually desolate.
The church in Burlington was first planted in July of 1995. After a few years of success, financial hardship hit the church. Since then, they've spent ten of the last eighteen years without staff, and nine of the last eleven years without staff. There is a small group of faithful disciples who have been running the church for years, doing their best and praying for help. The New England Churches focused on assembling a mission team to fortify the church and to go after winning this city for God, sent out in August 2013. We are still in major need of campus students, recent graduates, singles, and marrieds to help strengthen the church though, which is where you come in!
We need people to commit to moving to Burlington to not only spread the gospel in a critical New England city where it is rarely preached, but to encourage and build up the faith of the disciples who have been pouring themselves out there as well.
Greater
Burlington
Area Facts & Figures
Population of Burlington Metro Region: 211,000+
College Students: 22,000+
Foreign Born Residents: 10,000+ (Burlington works with the UN to take in political refugees)
Disciples: 39
Approximately 1 disciple per every 5,400 residents
Religious climate:
-Vermont is the least religious state in the United States
-Only 39% of the population identifies themselves with a religious congregation
-Of those, 60% identify themselves as Catholic, but most are not active in the Catholic community
Colleges & Universities
-University of Vermont: 13,000+ students, 4 discples.
-Champlain College: 2,100+, no disciples
-Community College of Vermont: 6,600+, no disciples
-Middlebury College: 2,600+, one faculty member disciple
-Approximately 1 disciple per every 6,000 students
Campus Focus: UVM
Founded in 1791, the University of Vermont is the fifth oldest university in New England and THE destination school in Vermont. With over 13,000 students from 54 states and 54 different countries, UVM is going to be our main focus in building the campus ministry in Burlington.
Fast Facts:
-Total enrollment: 13,097
-101 Bachelor's Programs
-48 master's and 21 doctoral programs
-18 NCAA Division I Athletic teams
-First institution fo higher education to declare public ___support for freedom of religion
-Know as a "Public Ivy" where students get an Ivy League ___education at a public school cost
Most of the student body lives on campus or immediately adjacent to campus. UVM is a booming campus ministry waiting to happen, truly the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!
See what people are saying about Burlington:
Parenting Magazine: Burlington a Top 10 City for Families