Here is a little Louisiana Trivia for you:

• What Louisiana city was first named Tiger Island?
• What Louisiana Parish is home to an ancient people group that still resides on its aboriginal lands?
• What Bayou was formed by a 10 mile long snake?

If you know the answers to these questions, you might be from St. Mary Parish. St. Mary Parish includes the cities of Morgan City (formerly known as Tiger Island because of rare cats spotted there by the first surveyors in the late 1700’s), Franklin (the Parish Seat), Patterson, Berwick, and the Chitimacha Indian Reservation (home of the Chitimacha Indians, who were once one of the strongest tribes in North America). Chitimacha legend has it that the ancient tribe fought a war with a 10-mile long snake and on its defeat it squirmed to its death and its remains formed Bayou Teche. Today Bayou Teche is 125 miles long and includes the beautiful Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge in St. Mary Parish.

St. Mary Parish is also home to the Gulf-Coast Baptist Association. A group of 15 southern baptist churches that partner together for the gospel in this coastal Louisiana community. Today, they are in need of our partnership and prayers as economic downturn and declining church attendance has greatly impacted this association. Here are some fast facts about this area:

12 Quick Facts about St. Mary Parish:

1. It is located “right in the middle of everywhere” – about 50 miles from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette.
2. It is part of the Gulf Coast Baptist Associaton. Associational Missions Strategist is Steven Kelly. He is also the Pastor of Bayou Vista Baptist Church near Morgan City.
3. 54,650 residents. 59% White, 33% Black, 5% Hispanic, 3% other.
4. 14 Southern Baptist Churches. 1 church for every 3,904 residents. (Our state ratio and goal for each association is 1 church for every 2,850. Gulf Coast Association needs 5 more churches to get to that ratio).
5. Only 1 African-American church and only 1 Hispanic church.
6. Gulf Coast churches have averaged between 900 and 1100 in total worship attendance for the last 10 years, with a total of 1,019 in 2018. That’s only 1.9% of the total population.
7. Bible Study or Sunday School attendance was at less than 1% in 2018 with 506 attendees.
8. “Well, most people are Catholic in South Louisiana.” Not so fast. The ARDA reports that there are 24,662 nones in the parish, or religiously unaffiliated. That’s 45% of the population. 17,834 are Roman Catholic, or 33%. 9,885 evangelicals, or 18%.
9. Crime is 26% higher that the state average and 48% higher than the U.S. average.
10. Poverty is at 21%, which is 1% higher than the state and 6% higher than the U.S.
11. Greatest needs according to Associational Missions Strategist Steven Kelly, are for an African-American congregation in Morgan City. A new Hispanic congregation may be needed. RePlanting and Revitalization partnerships are needed across the Gulf Coast.
12. Also needed are Bivocational or Covocational Pastors and Planters who will plant their lives in these communities and see them reached for the gospel.

Pray for Tiger Island and the surrounding communities of St. Mary Parish.