Louisiana Churches Split Over Meta 250 Billion Dollar Data Center

In Richland Parish, Louisiana, Meta is building a $250 billion data center, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The project has split local churches along racial lines, with white evangelical congregations welcoming it as a blessing and historic Black churches raising concerns about displacement and inequality.

Pastor Justin Clark of Rayville's First Baptist Church, a mostly white Southern Baptist congregation, sees the project as a divine opportunity. His church has joined a rotation of congregations cooking meals for the more than 7,000 construction workers now flooding into the parish of 20,000.

"We know not everyone is excited about the project," Clark said. "But our calling doesn't change. We chose to lean into the reality that this is a God-given opportunity to share the love of Christ."

Across town, Pastor Mark Sledge of Macedonia Baptist Church, a Black congregation founded in 1879, reads the situation differently. His church has focused on protecting residents left outside the economic boom, pushing parish leaders to expand affordable housing and strengthen safeguards for longtime residents.

"Folks live from Sunday to Sunday," Sledge said. "The church is the heart of the community."

The economic divide is stark. In majority-white areas of the parish, the median household income is $63,000. In majority-Black areas like Rayville, it is $37,000. Since Meta announced the project, land prices have doubled and families in trailer home parks have been evicted so higher-earning construction workers can move in.

Deacon Glen Brown, 68, a member of Macedonia, said the boom has not reached Black neighborhoods. "You're bringing all this in, but it doesn't matter if people are still just trying to make it."

The facility will cover more than 2,000 acres and require three new gas-fired power plants. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has said he hopes it will eventually grow to the size of Manhattan. It is expected to use twice as much energy as New Orleans.

Davante Lewis, the only Black elected member of Louisiana's Public Service Commission, voted against the project. "We can't keep acting like technology and industry will come save us," he said. "Meta's presence won't bring broadband to Richland Parish or clean water to its homes."

Only 68 percent of Richland residents have internet access, compared to 90 percent of Americans nationally.