Thursday, January 11, 2007

TRIangle BElow CAnal


Because people continue to direct us toward Tribeca, in that a) it's a neighborhood where a new church community is needed and 2) it's an area that is rapidly growing, we've been doing some additional research there. The more we see and learn, the more we like it (the Cool Vibe is strong in Tribeca, and perhaps we subconsciously hope it will rub off on us? No, we've come to terms. We're a Cool Lost Cause).
We recently ordered an Area Profile; something that sums up all the demographics and projections for a geographic area and puts them in a tidy binder for our review. Some interesting things we've learned:
  • The average household income in this area is $132,000/year, compared to the national average of $65,000.
  • The percentage of people who have completed post graduate studies is 186% above the national average.
  • The percentage of people aged 24-45 is 42% above the national average.
  • 50% of the people say they are not at all involved with their faith (national average is 35%).

I find Tribeca to be beautiful because of the innovative ways that people have taken old, crumbling industrial buildings and reshaped them into a unique and vibrant neighborhood. It speaks of rebirth and redemption, a message of hope for things once abandoned.

We speak a similar language.

3 comments:

Lorraine said...

This is exciting. Pardon my ignorance but I'm not quite clear: are you church-planting on behalf of a particular denomination or association? What sort of support do you have for this adventure? Just curious, as my folks have done their share of church planting over the years.

Dana said...

L,
No need for pardon. Thanks for asking.
My husband is ordained in the Christian Reformed Church, a smaller denomination that is, well, Christian and Reformed (www.crcna.org). We are in part supported by the denomination. In addition, we have had the opportunity to share our vision with other individuals and churches who have chosen to support us. Mostly, we live on faith (and if your parents are church planters, you may be familiar with that). One of these days we'll get an official ministry website up and running...

Lorraine said...

Oh yes, "living on faith"...another way of saying "hand to mouth". Let me know when the website goes up. We might have a little "faith" to send your way.

God bless.