Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has often said that Seattle is the least-churched city in America. I’ve always wondered where he got his stat, not because I disbelieve it, but because I would like to look at that data to see where Ann Arbor stands.

I did some searching yesterday for demographic data, and found the Association of Religious Data Archives, whose “goal is to preserve and provide access to high-quality data on religion in the United States and abroad.” You can search by Zip Code and see, for that county, the number of adherents to particular denominational groups or none. Here are the stats for Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor’s county

I was stunned by those numbers. Only 6.5% of Washtenaw County residents are adherents of an Evangelical Protestant church. I then checked those numbers against King County, which is Seattle’s county.

At least according to this data, Washtenaw County looks less churched than Seattle. It’s entirely possible that the data is completely accurate, but it definitely isn’t encouraging.

This is why I feel called to plant a church in Ann Arbor. The church is basically invisible in this area. Jesus calls us to change that, to make Him visible through the church — His bride and body. I have been praying about this and, Lord willing, I will attend an Acts 29 Boot Camp in the fall to be assessed for being a church planter. I have no clue how God will work all of this, or if He is indeed calling me to plant a church. What I am committed to, though, is to seeking Him, and submitting myself before Him, that I would be a humble servant before Him and before man.

From John Piper comes this challenging article about a girl wrestling in a state tournament and how what a Christian response to it should be. I’ve never thought about it much before, but if Malachi were in a situation like this, the sport comes secondary to my responsibility to him as his father and to God as His son.

Okay, dads, here’s what you tell your son. You say, “There will be no belittling comments about her being ‘a girl.’ There will be no sexual slurs. If you get matched with her, you simply say to the judges, ‘Sir, I won’t wrestle a girl. My parents have taught me not to touch a girl that way. I think it would dishonor her. I hope you will match me with a guy. If not, I am willing to be disqualified. It’s that important.’”

Be a leader, dad. Your sons need you. The peer pressure is huge. They need manly restraints. They know this is wrong. But then they look around, and the groundswell of conformity seems irresistible. It will take a real man, a real father, to say to his son. “Not on my watch, son. We don’t fight women. I have not raised you that way.”