Church & Ministry

Church & Ministry equips leaders and everyday believers to build healthy, gospel-centered congregations. Explore biblically grounded articles on church leadership, preaching and teaching, eldership, staff and volunteer development, discipleship systems, small groups, church planting, church growth, and ministry strategy. You’ll also find practical guidance for navigating transitions, cultivating congregational health, and serving your community with wisdom and compassion. Whether you’re a pastor, elder, ministry staff member, volunteer leader, or church member who wants to help your church thrive, this hub brings together resources to strengthen the local church and advance Christ’s mission.

October 19, 2014

Christian Standard

So You Want to Write a Book: Top Ten Ways to Writing a Book (That Gets Published)

By Arron Chambers 1. Write . . . like the wind! Practice makes perfect. If you want to be a good writer, you must practice writing. 2. Prepare for rejection. Every author I know has been rejected””many times. One of my best friends was rejected for 18 years, but he refused to quit, and he is now on his sixth book with a major publisher, which leads me to my next bit of advice . . . 3. Don”t quit. If you are serious about writing, if you have something to say, and if you have even basic writing talent,

October 18, 2014

Christian Standard

So You Want to Write a Book: My Read on the Question

By Mark Atteberry If you want to write a book, you should give it a try. But here are some things you should know going in. First, if you haven”t read lots and lots and lots of books, you”re not going to be successful. There”s no such thing as a successful author who isn”t also a reader. In my opinion, reading 20 books is more helpful to an aspiring writer than flying across the country to attend the most highfalutin writer”s conference. And cheaper too. Second, the competition is fierce. Millions and millions of people want to write a book,

October 18, 2014

Christian Standard

The Need to Read Widely

By Bert Crabbe I love books, especially old ones. I love my Kindle too, but ultimately, I”m an ink and paper guy. The great benefit of being able to travel light and still have an abundance of reading material with me keeps me tethered to my tablet when I”m away or in the air. But at home? There”s nothing quite like the feel of a book in my hands. However you”re taking in your media, “Pastors need to read” seems a widely accepted (and fairly self-evident) maxim, and for more reasons than one. If you”re a preacher, that means you”re

October 6, 2014

Christian Standard

Can a Polygamous Man Be an Elder in the Church?

By Doug Priest Dan Crum and Joe Cluff, along with their families, have served for many years as missionaries among the Maasai people of Kenya. They were interviewed by CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor Doug Priest.   When did each of you arrive in Kenya and what has been your ministry through the years. DAN CRUM: We arrived in Kenya in 1988, and lived in rural Maasailand for 10 years in the ministry of evangelism, church planting, and leadership training. The next three years were focused on producing written materials in the Maasai language, followed by seven years as team leader.

October 4, 2014

Christian Standard

FOR the City, Not Just IN It

By Rich Gorman When we waited on God and watched to see what he was already doing here, we discovered how he would work through us to accomplish his will. The voicemail we received the day after we moved to Chicago ended up having a greater impact than we could have imagined. My wife, Dori, and I could not remember who this woman was, though she knew of us from our ministry in Johnson City, Tennessee, during our time at Emmanuel Christian Seminary.  She said, “This may seem weird, but I was praying this morning and felt that God told

October 2, 2014

Christian Standard

A Playground for All Children

By Jennifer Johnson In 2012 Arron Chambers preached a sermon series on Nehemiah at Journey Christian Church and challenged them to do a “great work” in their community of Greeley, CO. At the same time, he and his wife, Rhonda, asked their four kids to pray about a great work they could do as a family. “At the time, our youngest kids were 8 and 10 and loved going to the playgrounds in our neighborhood,” says Chambers, who serves as lead minister at Journey Christian. “They suggested we build a playground that all children could enjoy, including kids with developmental

September 23, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Stopping the City Slide

By Mark A. Taylor Of all the helpful “change” pieces at our site this month, perhaps the most challenging is Glen Elliott”s account of Christians banding together to help change a city in trouble. Tucson, Arizona, according to Elliott”s report, is a decidedly un-Christian place, listed as the 12th-most post-Christian city of 100 metro areas in the U.S. And its spiritual poverty is matched by its economic and educational deficiencies. Tucson is the sixth-poorest metro area in the nation, filled with underperforming schools with terrible reputations. What kind of change could Christians make happen in a place like that? The

September 21, 2014

Christian Standard

I”m Flexible, as Long as You Don”t Change Anything

By Daniel Schantz I reached for a bottle of my favorite shampoo and headed for checkout, reading the label as I went. “New formula, new bottle, with easy-open cap.” While waiting in line, I felt something cold on my right leg. I glanced down to see a long strand of pink slime running down my pants leg. Well, they were right about the easy-open cap. When I got home, I discovered the new, taller bottle would not fit in my cabinet, and when I washed my hair, the shampoo left my hair feeling waxy. I dropped the bottle in the

September 19, 2014

Michael C. Mack

The Strategic Ministry of “˜Neighboring”

By Michael C. Mack In 2009, Dave Runyon gathered a group of 20 lead ministers in the Denver area to think, dream, and pray about how their churches might join forces to serve their community. The ministers asked the local mayor a simple question: “How can we as churches best work together to serve our city?” The mayor”s response has inspired passion and a movement. “The majority of issues our community is facing would be eliminated or drastically reduced if we could just figure out a way to become a community of great neighbors,” the mayor said. Runyon and Jay

September 15, 2014

Christian Standard

The Church of the Future

By Matt Smay One thing is certain as we contemplate all the changes the church is facing. Tomorrow”s church won”t look like the church we remember from days gone by. I try to keep things as simple as possible. When we overcomplicate things, we extend the time it takes to learn and become proficient at something new. It might explain why I”ve become enamored by one-room churches and schoolhouses that were established in small towns as people moved west across America, in a time when everything seemed so much simpler. (My ancestors helped establish one of those towns: Browns, Illinois.)

September 13, 2014

Christian Standard

Changing a City

By Glen Elliott Do you believe your city, town, region, barrio, or district can change? Do you believe your church can be a catalyst to bring about true community transformation? Do you see your church joining other churches, social agencies, and governmental entities to make a real difference? Will the prayer Jesus asked his disciples to pray become a reality where you live, “Your kingdom come, your will be done in (insert your city name here) as it is in heaven”? At one time, I had my doubts. The challenges and needs seemed overwhelming. I had so little time and

September 4, 2014

Christian Standard

Thinking Big

By Jennifer Johnson I looked forward to speaking with Robert Bess because of the similarities between his church and ours. (See Related Article.)  Like Robert”s church in Tennessee, Levittown (PA) Christian Church, where my husband, Matt, serves as pastor, has grown from just a few families to about 100 people. And like Robert, Matt is not content for LCC to stay so small when so many thousands in our community still need Jesus. He spent much of this summer meeting with other local pastors, casting vision with the influencers and leaders in our own congregation, and reading widely to see

September 4, 2014

Christian Standard

Love Repurposed

By Jennifer Johnson When Robert Bess began serving as senior minister at Love Chapel Christian Church (Erwin, TN) in 2008, average attendance had dwindled down to just a few dozen people. Earlier this year, the church averaged 90 people on a weekend. But as we go to press, Love Chapel is seeing almost 150 people each weekend and is getting ready to welcome many more. The church achieved this amazing growth in just four weeks by repurposing a building on its property that usually sat empty, turning it into “The Love Chapel Connection Café.” Lots of churches have coffee shops,

September 1, 2014

Michael C. Mack

You Might Be a Pastor at a Country Church If . . .

By Mark Wesner “¢ there are more horses than people in your county. “¢ your “auxiliary parking lot” is a cornfield. “¢ the directions to your church building include the words “covered bridge.” “¢ you have a church van . . . that you own. “¢ there”s a hitching post in your parking lot. “¢ you have two friends in the church in whom you can confide as accountability partners, and one of them is a third-grader. “¢ you pray that none of your church members” names shows up in the local newspaper”s weekly “Police Blotter” column. “¢ you pray

September 1, 2014

Christian Standard

Three Ways to Improve the Attitude of Your Team

By Michael C. Mack Your attitude as a leader can either kill or build your team, says Carey Nieuwhof, author of Leading Change Without Losing It and lead pastor of Connexus Community Church in Barrie, Ontario. What can you do to cultivate a better attitude? Nieuwhof gives three solutions: 1. Get more sleep. Someone once told Nieuwhof that 70 percent of discipleship is a good night”s sleep. How holy, passionate, and kind can you be when you”re exhausted? 2.Create white space on your calendar. Be sure you create margin in your life””space on your schedule that is not filled with

August 30, 2014

Michael C. Mack

Ten Ways to Stifle Discussion in Your Group or Class

By Michael C. Mack 1. Use impressive, big words like regeneration, justification, and eschatology as much as possible. 2. Interject names such as Polycarp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and, yes, Rick Warren and Max Lucado. 3. Be serious all the time. Since you are studying God”s Holy Word, there is no time for fun or frivolity! 4. Don”t allow people to share their feelings. Focus on facts. Feelings have no place in Bible study. 5. Do most of the talking. Study diligently and then share everything you learned about your topic. This is what it means to teach. 6. If no one responds

August 26, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

God Is Working, God Will Work!

By Mark A. Taylor Several facts are clear as we look at reports from colleges and campus ministries posted at this site this month: “¢ These are tough times for Christian colleges. As more than one writer mentions, a perfect storm of difficult situations””sluggish economy, a smaller population of new high school graduates, higher expectations among students and parents, and greater competition, to name the most mentioned””have caused much navel-gazing and budget cutting among college administrators everywhere. Small secular colleges are facing many of the same pressures, and this is some consolation, but not enough. If the economic or cultural

August 22, 2014

Christian Standard

Training the Next Generation of Leaders

By Dean Collins President, Point University, West Point, Georgia When I think about the future of Christian higher education in general””and the colleges that come from our tradition in particular””my mind is conflicted. Will I operate out of fear of the brutal realities we face, or with faith that God wants us to do what we are called to do? About 13 years ago, Bob Andringa, then president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, predicted that in 25 years, 25 percent of Christian colleges would be out of business. I don”t know all of the reasons behind Andringa”s

August 12, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Four T”s for Recruiting and Keeping Volunteers

By Mark A. Taylor In many places, the first day of the new school year is on the horizon, if it hasn”t occurred already. And the local church”s Bible-teaching program is ready to gear-up too. A new season of classes, youth groups, children”s choirs, and small groups usually brings a flurry of worker recruitment. Some churches, unfortunately and ineffectively, will post “help-wanted” ads in church newsletters or make impassioned pleas from the pulpit for nursery workers and children”s teachers. But while support from the preacher can be a vital ingredient in worker recruitment, asking everyone is never as effective as

August 10, 2014

Christian Standard

List of Campus Ministries for 2014

Click here to access a downloadable pdf of the 2014 Campus Ministries List of more than 100 campus ministries in the United States (and a handful of international campus ministries). For your convenience, we are also listing the campus ministries below. ________   ALABAMA Auburn University Auburn Christian Fellowship 334-821-3963 Perry Rubin www.impactsouthbend.com au***********************@***il.com   ARKANSAS University of Arkansas Christ on Campus 479-521-8358 Mike Armstrong www.christoncampus.org mi**@************us.org   CALIFORNIA California Lutheran University Impact SoCal””Cal Lutheran 574-339-0615 Sarah Koutz www.impacttheu.com sa*********@********eu.com   COLORADO Colorado Mesa University Christian Student Fellowship 970-433-8585 Dave Downey No website at this time do**********@***il.com   Colorado State University Impact Colorado State

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