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.

May 9, 2013

Christian Standard

The Church at Antioch

By Kent E. Fillinger John Seitz arrived as senior pastor of Antioch Christian Church in Marion, Iowa, in 2000 when the church was averaging 220 in attendance. Seitz and the elders wanted to see the church grow, to reach out, and to love the lost. Antioch Christian purchased 93 acres on a main highway to create space for growth and relocated to its new facility in December 2005. The church”s attendance has almost doubled since 2006, growing 21 percent last year to an average worship attendance of 1,136. Seitz credits the growth to the grace of God working through the

May 7, 2013

Christian Standard

By the Numbers (Buy the Numbers!)

By Mark A. Taylor CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s annual megachurch report has taken many forms since it was first introduced in 1997. Since 2008 Kent Fillinger has served us by presiding over the megatask of getting reports from more than 100 megachurches. Our issues have offered more information about this growing group of congregations than any other single source. In 2009 we began reporting numbers from more than just the largest churches in the fellowship of Christian churches and churches of Christ. That year we published statistics from 66 churches whose worship attendance averaged 500″“999 in 2008. In 2010 we expanded the

May 5, 2013

Jerry Harris

A Church for People Who Don”t Go to Church

By Kent E. Fillinger The Crossing is a multisite megachurch. Its original campus is in Quincy, Illinois, a town of 40,000 people. Even though there are 85 churches in Quincy, 80 percent of the people there don”t attend any church, so Jerry Harris, senior pastor of The Crossing, decided to focus on being the church for people who don”t go to church. The Crossing was a small church of 230 people in 1998 when it decided to spend $2.5 million to buy a community college to serve as the church”s new home. As part of the deal, The Crossing shared

May 3, 2013

Christian Standard

Up and to the Right

By Kent E. Fillinger Twenty years of positive growth for a church is virtually unheard of, but that is what Barry Cameron has experienced at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, Texas. When Cameron arrived in 1992, the church had never broken 250 in attendance, its facilities were limited and decaying, and it was in debt. The church outgrew its Arlington facility by 2004, when it was averaging 1,800, so it relocated to Grand Prairie. Even though the church could track 800 people who didn”t make the move, the church still grew. Last year Crossroads grew 15 percent to an

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Megachurches and Other Churches: The 2012 List

Our annual megachurch chart is one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s most popular features. This year there are 63 churches listed as megachurches (those with 2,000 or more in weekly attendance) and 67 listed as emerging megachurches (those with average attendance of 1,000 to 1,999). This low-res pdf also contains information on 105 large churches (which average 500 to 999 weekly) and 109 medium-size churches (an average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) Click here to look at the chart of the 2012 Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches.

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Megachurches by the Numbers

By Kent E. Fillinger Here are some summary stats for the megachurches (more than 2,000 in weekly attendance) and emerging megachurches (an average weekly attendance of 1,000 to 1,999). A total of 63 megachurches and 67 emerging megachurches participated in this year”s survey. All statistics are based on the 2012 calendar year. In addition to the 130 megachurches and emerging megachurches, 105 large churches (which average 500 to 999 weekly) and 109 medium-size churches (an average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) participated in this year”s survey. The 344 participating churches are the most to date. Complete survey findings for

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Do You Measure What Matters?

Some churches and church leaders avoid measuring ministries in the church out of fear or from a desire not to be held accountable. Are you afraid of discovering something you don”t want to know? By Kent E. Fillinger “The church is in a difficult time. But the church doesn”t understand it”s in a difficult time because it doesn”t know the truth about itself,”* said Dave Peterson, senior pastor of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. “Rich Stearns [president of World Vision] observes that a segment within the Christian culture seems to say, “˜We”re good people doing good things, and

April 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Focusing on Good Deeds to Meet Needs

By Jennifer Johnson In 2010, leaders at Mount Gilead Christian Church (Mooresville, IN) challenged members to complete 50,000 hours of community service. The church stepped up, logging more than 75,000 hours””and sparking new discussions about what could come next. “Several people in the church were especially inspired by this,” says senior minister Jeff Faull. “One of them dreamed of a permanent building we could use as an ongoing outreach tool, and when we found a location, this individual provided much of the money for the over $1 million purchase.” The church raised another $300,000 for the building and opened the

April 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Churches, Brains, and Change

By LeRoy Lawson   Messy: God Likes It that Way A. J. Swoboda Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2012 Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships Daniel Goleman New York: Bantam Books, 2006 Memoirs of an Addicted Brain: A Neuroscientist Examines His Former Life on Drugs Marc Lewis New York: PublicAffairs, 2012 Gutenberg the Geek Jeff Jarvis Kindle Single, 2012 Early in my ministry I took comfort in a joke””probably already stale””that made the rounds in preacher circles. A pastor ran into a former colleague who was now making his living working in a funeral home. When he asked him why

April 27, 2013

Christian Standard

Changing Church Culture

By Jim Powell Recently, several leaders from a local church asked to meet with me to discuss their congregation”s decline. They wanted advice on how to turn things around. When I sat down to visit with them, I noticed all of their questions were exclusively programmatic in nature. What kind of music do you play? What do you wear on Sundays? How do you present announcements? Do you serve coffee and doughnuts? There is value in asking such questions because we need to contextualize the gospel, and having relevant methods can make a difference. Yet I was concerned that they

April 26, 2013

Michael C. Mack

How Do We Get Busy People to Show Up?

By Michael C. Mack QUESTION: How do you get busy people to show up at small group meetings? ANSWER: This is one of the most frequently asked questions I hear from small group leaders and ministers. People are busy, so what can leaders do to make their small groups a priority?   Value What value does the meeting have for group members? “None of us has time for another meeting,” says Eric Bingaman, minister of discipleship at Batesville (Indiana) Christian Church. “However, I”ll make all the time in the world [for] a group of people who are helping me grow

April 22, 2013

Christian Standard

Consensus: What Is It and Is It Necessary?

By J. Michael Shannon I frequently hear of church boards and ministers that claim to do business and make decisions on the basis of consensus. Is this really what they do and is it really practical? It is interesting that people differ significantly on the meaning of the word consensus. The Random House Dictionary defines consensus as “general agreement or concord; harmony.” Interestingly, the dictionary”s second definition is “majority of opinion.” When I have heard the term consensus used, the person usually means “unanimity.” How much progress can be made if we depend on unanimity? If this were essential there

April 21, 2013

Christian Standard

Women Preaching

By Brian Mavis Colleges are training them. Churches are using them. And Christ is being exalted. Here”s what we learned when we talked to women who preach and the professors who have taught them. Jodi Hickerson”s journey of becoming a preaching/teaching pastor began at 19 when she joined the teaching team for the high school ministry at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. A few years later she was part of the programming team at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and then at 26 became one of the teaching pastors at Heartland Community Church, Rockford, Illinois. Today she is

April 19, 2013

Christian Standard

Interview with Jon Keck

By Paul Boatman   Jon Keck is a staff pastor with First Christian Church, Decatur, Illinois, a once-dwindling traditional church affiliated with the Disciples of Christ that has turned around to become a thriving Evangelical congregation.   Introduce us to First Christian Church of Decatur. This is a growing church that gathers 1,000 Christians each weekend to worship Jesus. We date back to 1833 and have been historically affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. As changes evolved in the Disciples of Christ, we became an autonomous Christian church affiliated with the Disciple Heritage Fellowship. We are growing at the rate

April 13, 2013

Christian Standard

Good Policies Can Prevent Conflict

By Don Green I can still remember the nugget of wisdom shared at a minister”s retreat I attended nearly 40 years ago. The speaker was Dr. Bruce Parmenter, a seminary counseling professor who mentored many of us. As he spoke of the challenges that confront ministers, he observed that in marriage and in ministry, one of the primary ways to prevent conflict is to have a carefully negotiated, mutually agreed upon, clearly defined set of expectations. That invaluable lesson has served me well through the years and gives impetus to working with leaders in developing a covenant of expectations that

April 12, 2013

Christian Standard

It”s Hard to E-mail Your Way Through Matthew 18

By Jim Dalrymple It has been said, “Wherever two or more are gathered, there will be conflict.” In today”s digital world, conflict speaks a new language. Yet text tapped out on a screen comes with limitations and liabilities. Let”s face it””e-mails do not convey vocal inflection, and text messages do not allow for body language. It is too easy to fire off e-mails like cannonballs from a ship. All too often such exchanges between two people also bring others into the battle. In my experience with conflict, it is hard to e-mail your way through Matthew 18. In Matthew 18:15-20,

April 11, 2013

Christian Standard

How to Handle Criticism

By Ryan Connor Criticism cuts deep. It cuts marriages apart. It cuts friendships to shreds. For those in church leadership, criticism cuts the legs out from under their ministries. Criticism cuts us down. But it can also cut us open and show us what we might not otherwise see. Criticism may present opportunities for important and needed change. In short, criticism cuts both ways. Criticism is an insult attached to a complaint. The problem is blamed on a defect in the other person”s character, typically with global terms like always and never. For example, a spouse may complain to her

April 5, 2013

Christian Standard

2|42 Brightens Region by Offering Arts, Sports, and Children”s Programming

By Jennifer Johnson On February 17, 2|42 Community Church (Brighton, MI) opened its new community building, a renovated athletic club which includes space for children”s programming, new soccer fields and basketball courts, a café, and more. On February 18, the church launched its School for the Arts. “We added one large studio and three smaller spaces for music, drama, and art classes,” says Rachel Dummitt, director of the school. “We started with private guitar, piano, drum, flute, cello, violin, and voice lessons, drama classes for kids, and visual art classes in portrait drawing and pastels.” Dummitt says about half of the

April 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Embracing Conflict, Spreading the Gospel

By Mark A. Taylor As much as we might like to avoid the subject of conflict at church, the fact is we can”t. In fact, if your church is not experiencing conflict now, it”s safe to say it probably has. Or it will. Our best strategy is not to pretend conflict doesn”t exist or to assume all conflict is wrong. Instead, we”ll do well to anticipate conflict and find godly ways to handle it. The first step may be to embrace the potential of conflict. It”s OK to disagree with each other. Too many Christians harbor the notion that unity

March 31, 2013

Christian Standard

Shared Secrets for Ministers, Useful Advice for Elders

By LeRoy Lawson   Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery Richard Lischer New York: Broadway Books, 2001 Answer His Call (2009) Reflect His Character (2009) Lead His Church (2010) Enjoy His People (2011) Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson Joplin: College Press The Healthy Elder: Vital Signs of a Strong Leader Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson e2 Effective Elders, 2012 Effective Elders: What Every Elder Should Know””a digital curriculum (CD/DVD combo) Jim Estep, Gary Johnson, and David Roadcup e2 Effective Elders  A colleague recently asked for recommendations for articles or books on the subject of

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