Where Are the Christians?
Someone asked me a question. I went looking.
101 churches. One city.
The Question
A filmmaker asked me, “Where are the Christians?”
As a planner and mapmaker, I did what came naturally.
I started mapping.
Scale
Population and land area from the U.S. Census (2020), Hot Springs city. Church count from the mapped inventory, last updated 2026-07-25. Methodology
The Film
The film is not yet publicly available.
Where Are the Christians?
A short documentary that began with a question and became a map of one city.
The film is forthcoming. Trailer and screening information will appear here when they are public.
A film by Derrick Harris
About the Project
Why the map exists
The documentary began after someone asked, “Where are the Christians?” I am an urban and transportation planner, so I answered in the way I know how: I mapped the churches in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The map is not an answer to the question. That tension is the point.
I found the churches.
That wasn’t quite the same thing as finding the Christians.
- What counts Christian congregations with a worship location inside Hot Springs city limits. Non-Christian sites were excluded after source review and fieldwork.
- Boundary Hot Springs, Arkansas city limits (OpenStreetMap administrative boundary).
- Population 37,930 residents, U.S. Census 2020 — Hot Springs city. Land area 35.14 square miles.
- Sources OpenStreetMap, Garland County assessor parcels (Arkansas GIS Office), and manual field additions. Nearby parcels for the same campus were collapsed to a single location.
- Dataset Inventory last updated 25 July 2026. Mapping churches does not map belief, attendance, or belonging.
Invitation
I mapped mine. Map yours.
This project began in Hot Springs. The same question looks different in every community.
What would you find if you mapped the churches where you live? And what would still be missing?
A way to explore other cities will live here later. For now, the invitation is the work: look at your own map.