Charlotte, NC
Overview
The church in Charlotte was reestablished in 1998 through a migration of saints from all over the United States. In 2004, the church completed the construction of a meeting hall that can seat over 300 saints (8700 Hood Road, Charlotte, NC 28215) and sits on 12 acres of land. About 120 gather on Lord’s Day mornings, including about 25 children. Saints also meet in small groups all over the city and its suburbs. The racial composition of the church is about 50% White, with the remaining 50% a mix of Asian, Black, and Hispanic. For many years, there has been a burden for the main campus here, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), but there has never been a campus team. This burden is blossoming anew, and the church looks to the Lord to establish a team here soon. The church has two houses across the street from the campus, and other saints live nearby.
Location, Climate, and Health
Charlotte is located in the heart of the Carolinas between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Driving times to several localities in the region are Chapel Hill, NC–2:15; Raleigh, NC–2:45; Columbia, SC–1:45; Simpsonville, SC–2:00; Knoxville, TN–4:00; and Atlanta, GA–4:15. Charlotte has four distinct but mild seasons: springs are comfortable, with highs in the 70s and an abundance of blossoming trees; winters are crisp, with frequent overnight freezes, daytime highs in the 50s, and usually three or four days of snow per year; summers are humid with highs averaging in the 80s; falls are pleasant and sometimes breezy, with highs averaging in the 70s and a lot of fall colors. The average annual rainfall is about 43 inches, but Charlotte is also a sunny city in all four seasons, with an average of 62% sunny days. Charlotte is too far from the coast to create concern about hurricanes.
Charlotte has two major health care systems, Atrium Health, and Novant Health. In addition, Duke Health in Durham and UNC Health Care in Chapel Hill provide top medical care in numerous specialties.
Demographics
Charlotte proper has 890,000 people, and the metro area has 2.5 million. Charlotte is the most populous city in the Carolinas, the second-largest city in the Southeast, and the fifth fastest-growing city in the United States. Charlotte ranked first out of the 50 largest metro areas for millennial growth from 2005-2015 and continues to be one of the top U.S. cities attracting millennials. The racial makeup of the Charlotte metro area is 62.6% White, 22.2% Black, 9.3% Hispanic, 3.3% Asian, and 2.6% mixed or other.
Economy/Employment
A 2018 study ranked Charlotte as the best place in the U.S. to live and work for tech professionals. Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the United States, following New York City. It is home to the corporate headquarters of Bank of America and the East Coast operations of Wells Fargo Bank. It was also chosen to be the corporate headquarters of Truist Bank, a merger of BB&T and SunTrust banks.
Charlotte’s startup community is also growing rapidly, led by the financial technology (fintech) sector.
The following are some of the top companies to work for in Charlotte:
| Bank of America* | Wells Fargo | Duke Energy* | Atrium Health* | Novant Health* |
| Amazon | Passport* | LendingTree | *Lowe’s | *IBM |
| Nucor* | Sonic Automotive* | Coca-Cola | Honeywell† | Truist Bank† |
*Current corporate headquarters †Coming corporate headquarters
While the job outlook in Charlotte is positive, the cost of living remains very reasonable, as shown in the comparison table below. The income tax rate in North Carolina is a flat 5.499%. In Mecklenburg County (Charlotte and some suburbs), the property tax rate is currently 0.8232%, and the sales tax is 7.25%.
| Charlotte | Los Angeles | Denver | Boston | Atlanta | |
| Median house price/rent (Niche) | $187,300 /$1,018 | $549,800 /$1,302 | $322,900 /$1,131 | $455,100 /$1,445 | $238,700 /$1,037 |
| Cost of living index | 99 | 173 | 129 | 162 | 108 |
Transportation
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is the 11th-busiest airport in the United States. It is a major hub for American Airlines. The following airlines also fly out of CLT: Air Canada, Contour, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, United, Lufthansa, and Volaris.
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) includes a bus system, a light rail, and a trolley that operates within the Uptown area. Both Uber and Lyft operate in Charlotte, and bike share and scooter share services operate in the Uptown and surrounding areas.
The automobile is still the predominant way to get around Charlotte. Two interstate highways intersect in Charlotte: I-77 and I-85. I-485 now provides a complete loop around the city. Toll lanes on I-77 are being completed to provide faster access between Uptown and the northern suburbs of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, and Mooresville. Charlotte ranks 16th in the United States for traffic congestion.
Interests
Listed below are various special interests served in Charlotte and the surrounding area. For more listings, see Charlotte’s Got a Lot, CLTURE, and VISITNC.
Christian: Billy Graham Library, Museum of the Alphabet (JAARS/Wycliffe), Old Salem (Moravian Brethren settlement in Winston-Salem)
Science and nature: U.S. National Whitewater Center, Mecklenburg County Greenways, Discovery Place, Carolina Raptor Center, Latta Nature Center and Preserve, Schiele Museum of Natural History & Planetarium (Gastonia), Lazy 5 Ranch (Mooresville)
Arts and culture: Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, ImaginOn, Levine Museum of the New South, Mint Museum, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Reed Gold Mine, NASCAR Hall of Fame
Professional sports: Carolina Panthers (NFL), Charlotte Hornets (NBA), Charlotte Knights (minor league baseball), Charlotte Motor Speedway (NASCAR)
Carolina attractions and vacation destinations: Blue Ridge Parkway; Great Smoky Mountains National Park; The Biltmore Estate; local skiing; The Outer Banks; Carowinds; North Carolina Zoo; Charleston, SC; Myrtle Beach, SC
Christians
Charlotte is the most “Bible-minded” large city (with a population of over 500,000) in the U.S., with 46% of its adults saying that they have read the Bible in the past week and that they believe strongly in the accuracy of the Bible. Fifty-two percent of Charlotteans attend church weekly, but church attendance has been falling, particularly among millennials. For more demographic information about Christians in Charlotte, see the FORCLT State of the City Report.
Charlotte is the hometown of Billy Graham and is home to the Billy Graham Library. Charlotte is also now the headquarters of the Christian Research Institute and the Bible Answer Man broadcast, which under Hank Hanegraaff have taken a firm stance in defense of the churches in the Lord’s recovery and the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.
Campuses
Charlotte’s major university is the University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC). UNCC has been growing rapidly and has close to 30,000 students, including a sizable international student community.
Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) has 52,000 students spread across six campuses in the Charlotte area.
Davidson College is a small, exclusive liberal arts college located in the quaint college town of Davidson, a northern suburb of Charlotte.
Other colleges in Charlotte include Queens University of Charlotte, Johnson C. Smith University (historically black), and Johnson & Wales University (culinary arts and hospitality).
Schools
Public schools: The city of Charlotte and some of the Charlotte suburbs are in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system (CMS). The towns of Concord and Harrisburg are northern suburbs of Charlotte that are in the Cabarrus County Schools (CCS) system. In both systems, school quality varies considerably, but they include many high-quality schools. Assigned schools can be looked up by home address (CMS look-up; CCS look-up). Viewing a map based on school ratings, it is apparent that the better schools tend to be clustered in certain parts of the Charlotte area. CMS also has several high-quality charter schools and magnet schools that are not assigned based on place of residence. They have their application processes, which often involve a lottery to determine who is admitted.
Private schools: Charlotte has several highly-rated private schools, most of which are Christian schools. Some families in the church life in Charlotte have had their children in private Christian schools.
Homeschooling: Homeschooling is officially permitted in North Carolina, with limited governmental requirements. Charlotte has a strong homeschooling community with many resources available, including support groups, co-op groups, and homeschool/private school hybrids. North Carolina also offers a free online K-12 program that results in a high school diploma. Many families in the church life in Charlotte have homeschooled or are homeschooling their children.
Housing
Charlotte offers a variety of housing types at a wide range of price points, including homes with acreage in or near the city, restored 1920s bungalows and estate homes, brand-new urban condos, garden, and high-rise apartments, and typical suburban homes and townhomes. Most of the saints live in the suburban parts of Charlotte, stretching into the rural edges.
The table below offers suggestions of some neighborhoods where saints now live with some basic data about those neighborhoods. Neighborhood links below are to Niche.com, a good resource for exploring neighborhoods all over Charlotte. The map to the right shows where the saints live and the locations of the meeting hall and the UNCC campus.
| Neighborhood | Median home price / rent |
Families Nearby |
Min. to Mtg Hall |
Min. to UNCC |
Public Schools |
Family Friendly |
| University City North | $86,857 / $1,034 | 5 | 12–14 | 3-5 | B | A |
| Harrisburg (W) | $254,100 /$1,401 | 6 | 10–12 | 8–10 | A | A+ |
| Prosperity Church Rd | $164,577 / $1,140 | 5 | 15–20 | 7–15 | B+ | A |
| Highland Creek | $261,645 / $1,379 | 6 | 15–20 | 10–15 | B+ | A+ |
| Concord (SW) | $179,200 / $858 | 5 | 18-22 | 10-15 | B+ | A- |
| Mint Hill | $234,800 / $1,035 | 5 | 10–15 | 15–20 | A- | A- |
| Providence Crossing | $376,941 / $1,807 | 5 | 25–30 | 30–35 | A+ | A+ |
| Ballantyne East | $440,712 / $1,420 | 4 | 30–35 | 35–40 | A+ | A+ |