In its just-released annual report, NewThing shared, “Last year we were able to help plant 5,669 new churches!”
As a result of “com[ing] alongside movement makers . . . all over the world to help them do what God is calling them to do,” NewThing has grown to 92 movements and 675 networks in more than 40 countries. As 2021 ended, there were 10,629 churches in those networks.
“NewThing doesn’t directly plant churches,” according to the report. “[But] we work with leaders who . . . are building an ecosystem of reproduction. That ecosystem, over time, starts to see reproduction at every level: disciples, leaders, churches, networks and movements.”
In simple terms, “In NewThing, when 1 reproducing church is planted, it results in 7 more churches planted in 5 years. It speaks to the power of being a catalyst for reproducing churches.”
Download the report at newthing.org.
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“Since last December, when multiple tornadoes devastated the western Kentucky area,” the International Disaster Emergency Service shares, “over 275 IDES volunteers have come together to provide aid for more than 50 families affected by these tornadoes.” Assistance has included debris removal, placing tarps on roofs, and assembling 20 sheds for families to store their salvaged belongings.
Much still remains to be done.
“Many of these families are now looking to begin repairing their homes and putting the pieces of their lives back together.” More volunteers and donations are welcome. Learn more and donate at ides.org.
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Milligan University’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program will provide free, IRS-certified tax return preparation to local citizens again this year. The program will take place at the Tennessee university’s Hardin Hall from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on three Saturdays: Feb. 26, March 19, and April 2. Appointments are required and can be scheduled at www.milligan.edu/vita.
The tax preparation site will follow COVID-19 safety precautions, including masks and social distancing. Initial meetings will take place outside in a covered breezeway, and then tax returns will be prepared while taxpayers wait in their car. Any questions will be covered by phone. Milligan’s VITA program provides the same fast refunds as paid preparers offer. Over the years, student volunteers have completed hundreds of returns.
Student preparers are supervised by faculty, train extensively, and are certified by the Internal Revenue Service.
Eligibility requirements are listed at Milligan’s website. The program is sponsored by Bank of Tennessee and Carter County Bank.
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The Missouri Christian Convention is slated for March 11-12 at the Lodge of Four Seasons at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. Main session speakers will include Mark Scott, Jon Weece, Nikolas Perez, and Tim Harlow. Learn more and register at www.mcconvention.org.
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We noticed that Christian Standard publisher Jerry Harris’s 2019 interview with Fred Gray—civil rights activist, attorney, and Church of Christ preacher—received quite a bit of social media interest in the past week. “[Gray] was the primary counsel to Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Dr. Martin Luther King, and many others,” Harris wrote. “His legal voice was behind the Montgomery bus boycott, the desegregation of Alabama schools, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March, and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” Gray is now 91. Here is a link to the article about the “Preacher, Lawyer, and Civil Rights Warrior.”
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After a two-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Christian Financial Resources has planned its 40th anniversary celebration for 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Orlando Marriott Lake Mary. The Marriott is located adjacent to the new CFR office in Lake Mary, Fla. Learn more and register here.
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The globalnews.ca website published a three-part series on the sharp decline in the number of Christians in Canada, while some other religions are seeing increases.
“In 2011, 67.3 per cent . . . of Canadians said they were affiliated with a Christian religion. In 2019, that number had dropped to 63.2 per cent,” the website reported in part 1 of the series. However, “the number of Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Hindus is increasing, and StatCan predicts the number of Canadians reporting a non-Christian religious affiliation could double by the year 2036.”
On Dec. 1, Canadian Christian church leaders Stan Helton and Jim Tune shared their views on evangelism in Canada with Christian Standard readers.
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The inaugural ChurchOS Conference will take place Feb. 1-2 at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Campus of Christ’s Church of the Valley. The conference is for church leaders who want to carry out the Great Commission more effectively and consistently.
The event is being developed by Intentional Churches, co-founded by Bart Rendel and Doug Parks, authors of the book Intentional Churches. The conference is designed to deepen the understanding, use, and implementation of their ChurchOS strategic leadership method for making more and better disciples.
Much additional information, and registration, is available at churchosconference.com.
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Carey Nieuwhof wrote “12 Trends That Will Shape the Church in 2022” for Outreach magazine. Two of them: “4. Attendance Will Normalize (And You’ll Have a New Church)” and “6. In-Person Will Become More Personal.”
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