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At one
time, Prince George's Baptist Association was part of an
association that extended from the lower part of Charles
county to the upper part of Cecil county. (Southern District
Association)
It was
119 miles across this association. As Baptist work grew,
the association was divided several times and new associations
were formed. The current area of the association is approximately
20 x 40 miles covering 450 square miles
The
Prince George's Baptist Association, as we know it today,
was formed in 1968 with twenty churches, all located in
Prince George's County. Twelve years later, the association
called its first director of missions in 1980. At that time,
the association had 21 churches (20 - Anglo, 1 - African
- American). Between 1980 and 1987, the association had
three Directors of missions, each one making a very distinct
and valuable contribution to the development of the association.
Ron Rogers, the fourth and current Director of Missions
came in 1988.
A
major turning point for the association came in the early
eighties
when the association; made a conscious decision to "start
and work with emerging congregation that represent the
changing
demographics of the county". This was a landmark
decision that thrust the association into a new arena of
responsibility. It was the right decision. The county has
changed and the association committed itself to change with
it. In just 22 years, the black population has grown from
37% to 58% and the white population has declined from 59%
to 36%. At the same time, the overall population of the
county has grown by 21%.
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1980
1990 1997 2002
Total
Population 665,071 729,261 77720 802,300
White
Population 391,427 (59%) 314,616 (43%) 305,584 (39%) 291,023
(36%)
Black
Population 247,860 (37%) 369,791 (51%) 429,871 (55%) 461,936
(58%)
Because
of this demographic shift we are known as "The Richest
African-American Suburb in the Nation". During
the past 30 years, there has been a marked increase in both
the educational and income levels in the county. However,
in spite of this affluence, 10% of the households have an
annual income of less that $20,000.
Since
1970, the total population in the county has grown by approximately
60,000 per decade - 6000 per year - 500 per month. At the
same time, the black population has grown by 120,000 per
decade - 12,000 per year - 1000 per month. The rapid growth
has been a prime target for new churches. There are over
175 Baptist churches in the county. Most of the have started
within the last 20 years. This rapidly growing suburban
area has been a fertile mission field.
In the
later part of the 1990's, the decline in the white population
has slowed some, as has the increase in black population,
yet the rate of total increase is still about 1% per year.
The
population for 1997 was estimated to be 777,200. This will
increase to 802,300 by 2002. This will represent a 3.1%
increase in 5 years which is slightly less than the rate
in the past decade.
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Today
the association has grown to a total of 78 churches/missions
Anglo
- 24
African - American - 45
Deaf - 1
Language Cultural - 8
TOTAL 78
The
total membership of the association has grown from 8,000
to approximately 18,000 in the past 18 years, The twenty
churches that existed in1980 have about the same combines
membership that they had in 1980. The growth has been come
through the starting of new churches and existing congregations
uniting with the association.
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