Church Planting Status / Evangelical Level / Global Status of Evangelical Christianity / IMB Affinity Region Scheme / IMB Target Audience Scheme / Strategic Priority Index

Global.Church Core Ontology v0.29.5

Church Planting Status

Publisher: IMB (International Mission Board) · 3 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/imb#ChurchPlantingStatusScheme

Three-level classification of church planting activity among a people group: no churches planted, dispersed church planting, or concentrated church planting.

Code Label Definition
CCP Concentrated Church Planting Church planting activity is concentrated — initial or focused church planting in a specific area within the people group.
DCP Dispersed Church Planting Church planting activity is dispersed — multiple church planting efforts are underway across different locations within the people group.
NCP No Churches Planted No known church planting activity among this people group.

Evangelical Level

Publisher: IMB (International Mission Board) · 11 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/imb#EvangelicalLevelScheme

Eleven-level ordinal classification of the estimated evangelical percentage of a people group into categorical bands. Lower notation values indicate fewer evangelicals.

Code Label Definition
0 No Known Evangelicals No known evangelical Christians among this people group.
1 Less than 2% Estimated evangelical percentage is greater than 0% but less than 2%.
10 75% or Greater Estimated evangelical percentage is 75% or greater.
2 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 2% but less than 5%.
3 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 5% but less than 10%.
4 10% or Greater but Less than 15% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 10% but less than 15%.
5 15% or Greater but Less than 20% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 15% but less than 20%.
6 20% or Greater but Less than 30% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 20% but less than 30%.
7 30% or Greater but Less than 40% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 30% but less than 40%.
8 40% or Greater but Less than 50% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 40% but less than 50%.
9 50% or Greater but Less than 75% Estimated evangelical percentage is at least 50% but less than 75%.

Global Status of Evangelical Christianity

Publisher: IMB (International Mission Board) · 7 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/imb#GSECScheme

Seven-level classification (0–6) of the global status of evangelical Christianity among a people group. Used by IMB to assess engagement and church planting progress.

Code Label Definition
0 No Evangelicals, Churches or Resources No evangelical Christians or churches. No access to evangelical print, audio, visual, or human resources.
1 Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity This people group is less than 2% evangelical. Some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.
2 Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity This people group is less than 2% evangelical but there is initial or concentrated church planting within the past two years.
3 Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity This people group is less than 2% evangelical but there is dispersed church planting within the past two years.
4 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical Greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
5 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical Greater than or equal to 5% evangelical.
6 10% or Greater Evangelical Greater than or equal to 10% evangelical.

IMB Affinity Region Scheme

Publisher: IMB (International Mission Board) · 11 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/imb#AffinityRegionScheme

IMB's internal affinity-based regional classification. Not 1:1 with ISO regions.

Code Label Definition
Americas
Asian Pacific Rim
Central Asia
Deaf Peoples Cross-regional affinity for deaf communities.
East Asia
Europe
Global Not region-specific; applicable worldwide.
NAME North Africa / Middle East
South Asia
South East Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa

IMB Target Audience Scheme

Publisher: IMB (International Mission Board) · 8 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/imb#TargetAudienceScheme

IMB's classification of intended resource audiences.

Code Label Definition
Children
Diaspora People groups living outside their country of origin.
Men
Nationals Local/national believers in the target culture.
Oral Learners People who learn best through oral communication rather than written text.
Refugees
Students
Women

Strategic Priority Index

Publisher: IMB (International Mission Board) · 3 concepts

https://ontology.global.church/imb#SPIScheme

Three-category classification (0–2) used by IMB to prioritize people groups for strategic engagement. Combines engagement status and unreached status.

Code Label Definition
0 Unengaged and Unreached The people group is both unengaged (no known active church planting strategy) and unreached (less than 2% evangelical, less than 5% Christian adherent).
1 Engaged yet Unreached The people group is unreached but has active engagement — there is a known church planting strategy underway.
2 No Longer Unreached The people group is no longer considered unreached — it has surpassed the 2% evangelical or 5% Christian adherent threshold.