May 1, 2021
I’m Expecting an Awakening!
As we exit the pandemic, we have a fresh understanding of what people truly need and how to fill it with the message of Jesus.
Church Growth
Church Growth explores how congregations can grow in healthy, gospel-centered ways—both spiritually and numerically. Find practical, Bible-based articles on outreach, evangelism, discipleship pathways, assimilation, small groups, leadership development, and building a strong church culture. You’ll also discover guidance on strengthening ministries, improving communication, engaging your community, and measuring progress with wisdom and humility. Whether you’re leading a church, serving on a ministry team, or helping a congregation move forward, these resources aim to support sustainable growth that honors Christ and forms disciples.
May 1, 2021
New Normals or Old Normals (or Both)?
Hearing people use the phrase "new normal" has been like the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Still, I sometimes find certain cultural changes can be very good.
February 1, 2021
How to Change Your Church Scorecard (in an ‘AC’ World)
What’s the score? Who’s winning? Both are common questions during a sporting event. Fans of the winning team often point out the scoreboard to the opposing team’s fans at the end of a game. “Keeping score” can be a positive or a negative depending on the situation and the underlying intent. Churches have traditionally used metrics like the ABCs (Attendance, Baptisms or Buildings, and Cash) or the three Cs (Church attendance, Conversions, and Cash) to “keep score” and to measure their growth and effectiveness in accomplishing the mission. The new norm for many church leaders seems to be the sharing
September 22, 2020
Different Environments, Different Approaches (Ministering in the Midst of COVID-19)
Urban, Suburban, and Rural Church Leaders Share Their Experiences of Leading Through a Pandemic By Chris Moon No two churches are the same, even in how they have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, the virus has left a mark on Restoration Movement congregations and pastors across the country. For some churches and pastors, especially in rural, conservative areas of the country, the pandemic seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. The major difficulty was figuring out how to get the internet to cooperate during a brief closure. “There’s a lot of things you face like that
September 22, 2020
What COVID-19 Taught Rural Churches
By Jim Estep State by state, county by county, the COVID-19 pandemic led to limitations, shelter-in-place orders, and essentially a shutdown of “normal.” In rural congregations—which are often smaller, singular in focus (worship), and fairly stable in ministry programming—this became an impetus for reflection, reevaluation, renewal, and a reenvisioning of ministries across the country. Theology of the Church We all know the church is made up of people—it’s not the building or the worship service—but our everyday theology would say otherwise. Whether we like it or not, our default theology turns church into a place or time. (“We are going
September 22, 2020
Four Opportunities for Every Church in the New Reality
By Dave Ferguson On March 12, 2020, I made two different versions of a video, knowing only one of them would be sent to our entire church. In the first video, I said we would stick to our normal schedule with 26 services at 11 locations across Chicagoland. In the second video, I introduced a new reality by telling everyone our church facilities were closing and we were moving everything online. After I finished recording the videos, my wife and I headed to O’Hare International Airport to fly to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We were planning to see our youngest son,
September 22, 2020
The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Christian Churches
By Kent E. Fillinger As I write this in late June, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to morph daily as it impacts the world, economy, and church in innumerable ways. During the week of June 7, I conducted a COVID-19 Church Impact Survey to take a “snapshot” of how churches fared during the initial three months of quarantine (March to May) and what they anticipated would be happening over the next three months (June to August) as many started to regather for in-person worship services. A total of 334 church leaders from 39 states responded, providing a balanced cross-section of all-sized
September 22, 2020
5 Big Shifts: What Will the Church Look Like Post-COVID-19?
By Randy Frazee Before I share my perspective on what the church will look like after the coronavirus, let me offer a couple of disclaimers. First, I missed the “Pastoring through Pandemics” class in seminary. Who would have thought we would ever need that? Second, I do not claim to be a prophet. (As a matter of fact, I lead a non-“prophet” organization.) And besides, if I were a prophet, I would have bought more toilet paper! The coronavirus has created the single greatest disruptive inflection point for American society in our lifetime. It has called us to a critical
September 22, 2020
Rebuilding from the Rubble
What Will We Do If God Doesn’t Restore His Church to ‘Bigger Is Better’? By Kim Harris As I sat on the back deck on one of the cooler evenings in July, I compulsively picked up my phone for my routine post-dinner scroll through Twitter, my only connection to the world outside my COVID-19 bubble. I assumed my timeline would again be filled with petty debates about the efficacy of different mask fabrics, some sort of hashtag challenge designed to drown out the contentiousness in the world, or a friend from high school selling skin-care products. I expected to sigh
September 22, 2020
The Challenge: What Do In-Person Services Look Like Upon Reopening?
By Justin Horey In Manhattan, Kansas—“The Little Apple”—a church of about 1,000 regular attendees has resumed in-person worship with no serious complications. Though the average Sunday attendance is lower than its pre-COVID-19 norm, Crestview Christian Church has found reopening to be a blessing. Elsewhere, three other churches found that resuming in-person worship wasn’t so simple. One church reopened successfully but the state forced it to “reclose,” another church opened partially, and the other reopened but then closed again after a church employee tested positive for the virus. These are their stories. _ _ _ Reopened and Staying Open: Crestview Christian
September 22, 2020
The Waiting Place: What Does Church Look Like When Your Doors Are Closed?
By Justin Horey Trying to summarize how churches are resuming in-person worship after the 2020 quarantine feels a bit like a tribute to Dr. Seuss: Some are meeting, some are not. Some are indoors, some are out. But while reopening plans vary across a wide spectrum, churches that have decided to postpone in-person worship, even as local municipalities began to lift restrictions, have much in common. Most of them are large, with attendance of 1,000 or more. Many of them minister in cities with left-leaning political ideologies. And all churches—regardless of their reopening plans—are eager to minister face-to-face again. Despite
May 17, 2020
Multiplying Through Multisites
By Chris Hankins Healthy things reproduce. This reality is true in nature and, I believe, in the church. The body of Christ is healthiest when it is reproducing at every level. At Point Church, where I serve, I often say that we want to reproduce disciples, leaders, groups, services, campuses, churches, and even church-planting networks. Therefore, when I was recently asked, “Are we really reproducing churches if multisites remain attached to the mother church?” my immediate answer was, “of course!” Just because a new location of a multisite church remains a part of a larger local church does not mean
Who Makes the First Move?
By Michael C. Mack The churches in our movement are “devoted to the restoration of New Testament Christianity, its doctrine, its ordinances, and its fruits.” That is stated in the indicia of every issue of Christian Standard—but what about its processes? What can churches today learn from the start of the church on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 about how to plant and grow the church? An Acts 2 church begins in community: “They were all together in one place” (v. 1). Biblical community is the context or environment in which God does his work. This simple act
Why We Invite All Our New Members to Our Home for Dinner (and How We Do It)
By Drew Sherman Over the last 13 years we have hosted more than 3,000 of our church family in our home. (That’s not a misprint!) During that time, our church attendance has grown from 1,500 to more than 6,000. God called my wife and me to Highland Meadows Christian Church near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in the summer of 2002. Four years later we changed our name to Compass Christian Church because we thought it better fit our plan for multisite ministry. We were excited about our rapid growth but concerned we were growing too busy to get to know
February 22, 2020
Ministry Intelligence: Using the Power of Information to Reach Your Community for Christ
By Chris Jefferson Nehemiah’s transition from king’s cupbearer to rebuilder of Jerusalem provides valuable lessons for how modern churches can set goals, define objectives, strategize methods, and incorporate tactics to help them move beyond self-preservation and begin to lead movements in their congregations and communities. At the start of the Old Testament book, Nehemiah asked his brothers from Judah about his homeland. He specifically asked for information about two things: the people and the city. He gathered intelligence from trusted, knowledgeable sources. Upon learning that the remnant was in “great trouble and disgrace” and that the wall of Jerusalem was
January 22, 2020
Baptisms a Marker of Success in Indiana Minister's Return to Coaching
By Chris Moon Kendall Wildey has been having quite a time in recent weeks. The associate pastor at East Columbus Christian Church in Indiana doubles as head basketball coach of nearby South Decatur High School. His team started its season 11-0, earning it the No. 6 ranking in the state and gaining statewide attention for its fast-tempo, high-scoring approach that has the team averaging more than 90 points per game. The Indianapolis Star recently wrote a feature article about Wildey and the team. But basketball is only half the story, if that much. On Jan. 5, Wildey baptized the team’s
January 22, 2020
Traders Point, Southeast Starting New Campuses This Year
Megachurches in Indiana and Kentucky are starting new campuses this year. The new Midtown Campus of Traders Point Christian Church launched in a temporary space in Indianapolis this past Sunday. TPCC has purchased a former grocery store to house the Midtown Campus, with services likely to begin there in 2021. The church spent $7.6 million to purchase a 57,000-square-foot former Marsh Supermarket that sits on a 6.6-acre parcel, according to the Indianapolis Star. Planned improvements there include creation of an 800-seat auditorium. TPCC also plans to launch its new Northeast Campus in Fishers, Ind., on Feb. 23, also in a
December 2, 2019
Growing Volunteers to Grow the Kingdom
How These Two Churches Recruit and Equip Servants to Live Out God’s Purposes By Melissa Wuske Crafting an effective volunteer program takes a mix of big-picture vision and nuts-and-bolts programs. Julie Liem, director of volunteers at Eastside Christian Church in Southern California, and Abby Ecker, next steps pastor at The Journey in Newark, Delaware, shared how their churches recruit and equip volunteers—and how they’ve seen the kingdom advance as a result. God’s Design For many churches, it starts with the critical shift from viewing volunteers as “a necessary inconvenience,” Liem said, to seeing them as “the lifeblood of the church.”
November 20, 2019
Mountain Christian to Open New ‘Epicenter’ and Campus
By Chris Moon Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Md., is opening a new campus northeast of Baltimore—expanding its community center church model with its second “Epicenter” facility. The church will launch its Aberdeen campus in the fall of 2020 after its 9,000-square-foot worship building, which will be added to a local shopping mall, is complete. But even before that, the church-affiliated Epicenter at Aberdeen will open; the Epicenter will offer before- and after-school childcare and workforce development services for the community. Other community services will be added later. “It became very clear very quickly that God’s choice was Aberdeen,” Jared
October 7, 2019
STARTING SMALL: In Praise of the Smaller Church
This is a repost of an appreciation for smaller churches from Oct. 15, 2006, written by Ben Merold, who was then serving as senior minister with Harvester Christian Church, St. Charles, Missouri. Merold, now in his early 90s, continues to serve Harvester as teaching pastor. (Read our October 2019 issue for articles about challenges facing rural and small churches . . . and possible solutions.) _ _ _ By Ben Merold, Harvester Christian Church, St. Charles, Missouri I have a great appreciation for the smaller church. I was led to accept Christ as my personal Savior in a small church.
