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.

September 28, 2010

Christian Standard

Offering More than a Meal to the Homeless

By Jennifer Taylor     “His Heart, His Hands” began with six people buying breakfast sandwiches at McDonald”s to distribute to the hungry and homeless of Chandler, Arizona. Today more than 35 volunteers serve hot breakfasts every Sunday morning to 60 homeless men and women from around the city. One reason for this rapid growth is obedience. Sharon Bouchard, a volunteer leader and a member at Chandler Christian Church, felt God leading her to the ministry. “Just a short time later, two other people told me they wanted to do something for the homeless,” she says. “I hadn”t mentioned it!

September 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Jay Akin

By Brad Dupray In August 2007, Jay Akin was called to serve as senior pastor at Elberton Christian Church, a midsize church in a small town in rural Georgia, after having served in youth and associate ministries and as a campus minister. ECC, which averages 260 in attendance in a town of 4,700, makes a big impact in its local community. Jay and his wife, Cristal, love the people of the church. As Jay says, “My family has never been treated better by a church. These people have done so much to minister to my family. They treat us like

September 18, 2010

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: From Starter Church to Lifetime Opportunity

From Starter Church to Lifetime Opportunity By Kent E. Fillinger Perhaps you”ve heard about starter marriages. Some people these days enter their first marriage expecting it to be one of several short-term experiments rather than a lifetime commitment. Some ministers fresh out of Bible college view their first ministry with similar feelings. Perhaps no one calls them starter churches, but the minister”s mind-set often is to get some experience at his first congregation and then to move on to bigger and better ministry ventures. When Rod Nielsen graduated from Lincoln (Illinois) Christian College in 1981, God called him to serve as the

September 17, 2010

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: Walking Through the Wilderness

Walking Through the Wilderness By Kent E. Fillinger Faithfulness leads to fruitfulness, but this process requires patience. Ron Mobley and Northwest Christian Church, Acworth, Georgia, have experienced this truth over the last two decades. When Mobley arrived as senior minister in 1989, he found a very established, inwardly focused church that had alienated several ministers and many members of the community through the years. In spite of the church”s poor track record, Mobley saw potential for growth. Mobley spent his first five years establishing relationships and serving the church. There was an effort to build a family life center on the church”s

September 16, 2010

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: Preacher Paints Grace in a Fresh Way

By Kent E. Fillinger Preacher Paints Grace in a Fresh Way “We”re not great at anything, and everything here is a work in progress,” says senior minister Mike Gunderson. In spite of various internal challenges, Oak Park Christian Church in Grover Beach, California, was the fastest-growing medium-sized church last year, growing 42 percent and breaking the 200 barrier. Since 2008, Oak Park has grown 53 percent to an average worship attendance of 266. Oak Park is located near Pismo Beach in an isolated, affluent, and growing retirement community of 45,000 people. There are only two other small Christian churches in

September 15, 2010

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: Measuring Growth at Medium-sized Churches

Kent E. Fillinger Some readers may wonder why there is an entire issue devoted to medium-sized churches with an average worship attendance of 250-499. This special issue featuring medium-sized churches reports on far fewer congregations than we had anticipated. There are obviously more than 32 Christian churches/churches of Christ that fit into the medium-sized church category. We hope to include many more of them in next year”s report! Despite its small sample size, this report still provides a one-of-a-kind, detailed snapshot of medium-sized churches that will serve as a sound starting point to develop in the future. If you are

September 15, 2010

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: The 2009 List

This listing of 32 churches that averaged 250-499 for worship in 2009 includes church name, city, senior minister, Web site, and average attendance. (This is not a complete listing of such churches; it is a listing of Medium-Sized Churches that participated in our survey.) Click here to look at the chart of 2009_MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES.

September 12, 2010

Christian Standard

The Tourist Church

By Rick Grover People ask me the same questions they probably ask you: “Is your church seeker-driven, purpose-driven, missional, attractional, emergent, or traditional?” I always find it difficult to answer these questions without getting into lengthy discussions about the meaning of words and terms. And I also dislike the notion of being pigeonholed. Who doesn”t? When I think of labels for churches, I”ve coined one that I especially hope will never be used to describe ours: “Tourist Church.” Are you familiar with this name? You should be, because it is quickly becoming an unfortunate description of the American church. While

September 11, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: A Church Planting Hick from French Lick

A Church Planting Hick from French Lick By Kent E. Fillinger Jasper, Indiana, is not likely on your bucket list of places to visit. If you are like me, you need the help of MapQuest to even find it. And Jasper also isn”t the type of town a typical church planter or church planting organization would pinpoint for a new church. But Darrel Land is not your typical church planter. At age 26, he was confident God was calling him to plant a church in this small, rural community of 14,000 people in southern Indiana. Land grew up about 30 minutes

September 10, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: Hope on the Road Less Traveled

Hope on the Road Less Traveled By Kent E. Fillinger “Need hope? Find it here.” That is the message on the LED sign at Twin Oaks Christian Church, Woodhaven, Michigan. The message of hope is needed in this southern suburb of Detroit, given the area”s depressed economic condition. Hundreds of new people have found hope at Twin Oaks since it relocated in 2007. The church”s average attendance has grown from 282 to 738 in three years””an increase of 162 percent. Twin Oaks is the fastest-growing large-sized church during this time frame from among the 75 churches profiled. And most of this growth is

September 9, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: More to Discovery

By Kent E. Fillinger Shining a spotlight on challenges and successes at three churches . . . More to Discovery Did you grow up going to church? I did. Therefore, I don”t know what it feels like to walk into church for the first time as an adult with no church background. Toney Salva, senior minister at Discovery Christian Church, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, on the other hand has used his personal experience of not growing up in a church to design a church that targets people who do not like church, or who have no church background. Through some internal

September 8, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: A New Name and New Numbers

By Kent E. Fillinger What”s in a name? Abram became Abraham and Sarai become Sarah in the Old Testament, and Simon became Peter and Saul became Paul in the New Testament. Name changes were common in the Bible when God altered the purpose or role of an individual. Christian Standard has reported the average weekly attendance and the total number of baptisms annually for churches that average 1,000 or more in weekly attendance since 1997. Several years ago, the size designation of a megachurch shifted from 1,000 to 2,000 in attendance. Therefore, the term emerging megachurch was developed for churches

September 8, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: The 2009 List

This listing of 75 churches that averaged 500-999 for worship in 2009 includes church name, city, senior minister, Web site, average attendance, and number of baptisms. (This is not a complete listing of such churches; it is a listing of Large-Sized Churches that participated in our survey.) Click here to look at the chart of 2009 LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES.

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

Glory Days in Kempton, Indiana

By Jennifer Taylor When Kempton, Indiana, officials donated a baseball field to Kempton Christian Church in 2004, the church renamed the site “Glory Field”Â and developed a T-ball league for some of the community”s littlest members. Each year the league welcomes dozens of 3- to 6-year-olds and outfits each one with a medallion, cap, and T-shirt. The church leads devotions and prayer before each game, invites the children to its Vacation Bible School, and hosts an award ceremony and meal after the season”s last game. Local businesses have donated money for a concession stand, new benches, and an announcer”s booth. Jennifer Taylor, one of

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

Answering the Challenge for Bible Materials in Spanish

By Jennifer Taylor Good Books When Jon and Kathy Underwood visited Colombian Christian Mission in 2005, missionary Dale Meade asked the couple to outline a course of study for general and graduate-level Bible training. Jon created a sequence including Bible surveys, history, and theology””and received another request from Dale. “The team really wanted more challenging materials and asked us to consider translating and publishing books into Spanish,” Kathy says. “We were concerned about a conflict of interest, since Jon works at Standard Publishing. But we explained the project and received their blessing to move forward.” In 2006 the Underwoods created

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

10-10-10 Initiative Focuses Attention on Church Planting

By Jennifer Taylor October 10, 2010, is 10-10-10. It is a Sunday. And it will be the birthday for new churches across the country. The team behind the Exponential Conference, “the largest gathering of church planters on the planet,” developed the 10-10-10 Initiative to focus attention on church planting. Individuals, congregations, and even entire planting networks can participate by praying, adopting a church plant for encouragement and financial support, planning a sermon series, or even launching a new church. The Web site includes a central repository of sermon content, service ideas, and other materials (for free!), and offers affinity groups to connect participants

August 25, 2010

Christian Standard

Why Some Corporate Practices Should Have a Home in the Church

By J. Andrew Keith (with Chris Keith) Several years ago, popular Christian writer John Piper warned ministers about the dangers of professionalism1. On the first page of Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, Piper sounds a clarion call: “We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry.”2 Some of his final words in the opening chapter are a prayer that reads: “Banish professionalism

August 25, 2010

Christian Standard

Eight Ways to Be a More Positive Leader

By Victor M. Parachin While serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, Terence T. Griffiths”s assignment was battalion level retention. Part of his work involved visiting companies in his battalion to determine why soldiers were not reenlisting. He visited one company that had greater losses than others. During his visit, the company commander, a captain, was giving a briefing on an upcoming joint military exercise involving the Navy, Air Force, and Marines. At the briefing, the company commander stressed the importance of the upcoming operation. He told troops that, effective immediately, there would be no leaves granted and all preapproved leaves

August 18, 2010

Christian Standard

A Vision to Feed Families

By Ron Martin Across the country, people in local churches are struggling to stay ahead of the economic downturn and slow recovery. In particular, having enough food for families is a growing concern. One church in southwest Colorado has decided to do something about it. Southwest Colorado is one of God”s most beautiful gifts in terms of scenic beauty and recreational opportunities. It is home to Mesa Verde National Park, and the area boasts a rich history in the settlement of the West. The town of Bayfield, Colorado, rests just east of Durango, a wonderful resort town with attractions like

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