In March of 2024, the United States Census Bureau released its 2023 county population estimates for North Carolina. Of North Carolina’s 100 counties, 85 of them had either grown in population or at least remained almost identically the same in terms of population since the previous year’s census. The other 15 counties had experienced a loss in population.

Guess which list my county, Mitchell, made. As has been the trend for the past several years, we experienced a loss in population (-.03, a decrease of 49 people). By contrast, the counties that surround us experienced gains: Avery (+.01, an increase of 20 people), Yancey (+.09, an increase of 170 people), and McDowell (+.03, an increase of 138 people).

While a decrease of 49 people might not seem all that significant, it becomes very significant when it fits into a larger pattern that has been playing itself out for several years now. In 2011, our county’s estimated population was 15,356, but according to the 2023 estimates, it now stands at 14,999. That, by the way, is in spite of increases of 72 people in 2021 and 73 in 2022, increases which momentarily had stopped the downward plummet that had been occurring since at least 2011. With these latest numbers, those years of 2021 and 2022 now look more like anomalies than evidences of permanent fixes.

I could write a book on the topic of Mitchell’s declining population. In one chapter, I could describe once thriving furniture factories being shut down. In another chapter, I could explain how our high school went from being 3A when I was there 40+ years ago to being 2A to now being 1A. In a chapter about recent events, I could mention that this coming August the student populations of our two middle schools will be combined for the first time and begin attending a newly built middle school. But what would be the point of writing such a book? No one around here needs to read a book to know that these occurrences don’t indicate long-term numeric vibrancy.

To the credit of some of our local folks, they are working hard to address the problem even though they are not in lock step as to how to go about it. Some of them are trying to make Mitchell County a hotbed for tourism. Others want to focus upon the local arts community and push that angle hard. And then there are those who are trying to attract new textile businesses into the county.

Of course, standing indifferent to all of these efforts are the residents who like our county just the way it is. As you might guess, these are the people who have the local setup licked and don’t want it altered to favor anyone else. These people remind me of so many “family run” churches in that their attitude is: “As long as me and mine are fine, I really don’t care about anybody else.”

There is, however, one other thing that I know about Mitchell County: I know it is where God has placed me. Call it “blooming where you’re planted.” Call it “lighting a candle in the midst of the darkness.” Call it whatever you like, but this is where Tonya and I are supposed to be right now. This is where I’m to pastor a church called Roan Mountain Baptist Church. This is where I’m to write posts for this blog. This is where I’m to do a radio broadcast each week. This is where I’m to vote. This is where I’m to pay local taxes. This is where I’m to do all the rest of the things I do (with the exception of going on vacation).

Who knows? Maybe one day God will do some uprooting and plant me and Tonya somewhere else. Then again, maybe He won’t. But no matter how God leads us in the days to come, I understand that His will is perfect and His plan is best. As Adrian Rogers, the longtime pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, used to say, “God’s will is what you would want for yourself if you had enough sense to want it.” Well, I’ve got enough sense to want it, even if it means staying on in a county where the population numbers are declining. And, at least for now and the foreseeable future, that’s exactly what it means.