· Today all six New England states – Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut - rank in the top 10 least religious states in the United States. Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts make up the top four. (Gallup 2009)

· Only 1.6 to 3.3% of New Englanders attend evangelical churches. (the ARDA 2000)

· A Biblical worldview is least common in New England compared to the rest of the United States. (Barna 2003)

· 34% of Vermont, 29% of New Hampshire, 25% of Maine, 22% of Massachusetts, and 19% of Rhode Island residents, say they have "no religion”. (Washington Post 2009and American Religion Survey 2008)

· New England is home to some of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. (U.S. Census)

o Greater Boston area is the 10^th largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

o Greater Providence is 37^th

o Greater Hartford is 45^th

o Bridgeport-Stamford, CT is 56^th

o Greater New Haven, CT is 60^th

o Worcester, MA is 64^th

o Springfield, MA is the 74^th largest metropolitan area in the United States

Clearly the need in New England is great and there are many obstacles (Matthew 10:16-33). Consider the mission field that Jesus saw in the first century and how it is similar to twenty-first century New England. People were hurt and broken by sin. Large metropolitan areas that didn't believe in God. Some people even despised Jesus (John 8:58-59). Nevertheless, Jesus' mission was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”” (Matthew 9:35–38 ESV)

New England is a large harvest field and we are not alone. After Jesus' resurrection he reminds his disciples that he has all authority in heaven and on earth, he sends them to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them. And he reminds his followers that he is with them always to the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20). Before Jesus' ascension, he sends out his witnesses with the power of the Holy Spirit to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). We are not alone. We have Jesus and we have the power of the Holy Spirit!

Now it's our turn to proclaim the gospel and plant churches in New England.

• Virtually all the great evangelistic challenges of the New Testament are basically calls to plant churches, not simply to share the faith.

• In Acts and elsewhere, it is clear that baptism means being received into the Kingdom of God and becoming a living and breathing part of a worshipping community.

• New believers would form new worshipping communities that would go make disciples and baptize which would form new worshipping communities - that is starting new churches.

• New churches best reach new generations, new residents, and new people groups. When established churches step out in faith and birth baby churches, whole new groups of people get connected to Jesus.

Now it's your turn. You can help.

We need your help sending out church planters and missionaries into the New England harvest field, because the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. You can partner with the NED-LCMS to start new Lutheran churches in New England. Please email Brenda Baconat the district office to prayerfully support and financially support church planting in the New England District. Brenda's phone number is 413-783-0131.

68 percent of church plants still exist four years after having been started. One of the major reason why churches plants fail is not because of lack of growth, but it is because of financial challenges. Church plants having a proactive stewardship development plan enabling the church to be financially self-sufficient increases the odds of survivability by over 178 percent. (Church Plant Survivability and Health Study 2007, Ed Stetzer)

Please partner with the New England District as we transform lives in New England with the power of the gospel. We believe gospel-centered, missional churches change New England's spiritual landscape and expand the Kingdom.

Now it's our turn. We can plant churches.

Your local congregation can learn more about church planting and partner with the New England District to start new churches in your region. To learn more about church planting in your region please contact Pastor Eric Sahlberg, NED Missionary-At-Large, at 508-596-1121.

ConnectingPoint Lutheran Mission

One example of our church planting efforts in New England is the ConnectingPoint Lutheran Mission. ConnectingPoint is a suburban city church plant in Marlborough, Massachusetts (30 miles West of Boston). ConnectingPoint was birthed out of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Acton, MA in 2009. This mission church currently worships at Marlborough Middle School and is actively involved in serving the community and transforming lives with the gospel. The church was launched on September 19, 2010 and had 183 people attend.