News &amp; Updates

Tornado Sends Church on Twisty Path to New Home

By Jim Nieman A small, rural, eastern Indiana church that faced multiple challenges after its 1850s-era building was destroyed by a tornado in June 2019 is on the cusp of a deal that would see it move into another historic church building about 6 miles away. For most of the past two months, Bentonville (Ind.) Christian Church has been meeting at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Lewisville, Ind., in a building that is “old, stately . . . a lot like our old building,” said Bentonville minister Don Miller. The Ebenezer congregation ceased meeting at the end of June, and BCC has

September 1, 2020

September 2020

August 4, 2020

Suspect in Deadly Shooting Arrested Inside Church as Worship Begins

By Jim Nieman A man suspected of a double shooting that left one person dead and another person injured Saturday morning in Carthage, Mo., was arrested after a scuffle inside First Christian Church in Lamar, Mo., at around 8 a.m. Sunday—as the church’s first worship service was starting. Lead minister Dru Ashwell, who had spoken with the 29-year-old suspect for “a minute or two” moments earlier, was in the sanctuary at the time with 80 to 100 worshippers, none of whom were even aware of the tussle that occurred as the man was arrested by police with assistance from five

August 1, 2020

August 2020

July 22, 2020

News Briefs for July 22

Compiled by Jim Nieman Kentucky Christian University president Terry Allcorn hosts A Restoration Podcast weekly to learn from Christian leaders who are moving the Restoration Movement forward. Among those he has interviewed recently: Matt Wilson of Ekklesia Christian Church in Conway, S.C. (the fastest-growing large church in our most recent survey); Doug Crozier, CEO of The Solomon Foundation; and Douglas Foster, a leading Restoration Movement scholar. _ _ _ Restoration House Ministries’ next church plant—scheduled for 2021—will be Beacon Church in southern New Hampshire. Calvin and Tara Daly are serving as planters. A video about the plant is available at

July 15, 2020

Remembering Marshall Leggett

We asked several Christian leaders to share their memories of Marshall Leggett, a Christian minister and college administrator who served as president of Milligan College in Tennessee from 1982 to 1997. He died March 2 at the age of 90. _ _ _ In 1965 the elders of Southeast Christian approached Marshall about becoming the preacher of their new church in Louisville. They had narrowed their preference down to two men: Bob Shannon and Marshall Leggett, the two best young preachers in our brotherhood. Both men saw the potential in the new church but at the last minute both decided

July 15, 2020

Gene Wigginton

Marshall Leggett: Faithful Minister in God’s Service

By Gene Wigginton Marshall Leggett will be remembered by all who knew him as a man whose ambition in life was to be a faithful minister in God’s service. That ambition was never compromised. As a preacher and Christian college administrator, he honored God and touched countless lives with the truth of God’s Word. Marshall Leggett died March 2, 2020, at age 90. Faithful in the Churches He Served I had the privilege of meeting Marshall in the early years of his ministry. While traveling on behalf of a Christian college, I visited Marshall and his wife, Jean, in their

July 15, 2020

News Briefs for July 15

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon IDES will host a free webinar at noon July 22 for church leaders dealing with the reopening of their churches in the middle of this pandemic. The webinar will feature executive director Rick Jett along with IDES’s counseling experts, Drs. Paul Boatman, Tom Ewald, and Dawn Zywiec. The participants will share tools to help church leaders deal with the complexities related to reopening. Click here to learn more and to register for the one-hour event. _ _ _ Alums of Boise Bible College continue to share stories of their life experiences before, during,

July 8, 2020

COVID-19 Compels Chitwood, 84, to Launch ‘Encouraging Word’ Videos

By Chris Moon At 84 years old—and after 62 years in ministry—Bob Chitwood is having no problem keeping up with the times. The pastor at Brownville Christian Church in Nebraska has been using the COVID-19 pandemic to take his church’s ministry to Facebook. Each week, Chitwood produces an 8- to 10-minute video he calls “An Encouraging Word,” where Chitwood shares a gospel principle at various locations around the tiny town of Brownville. He went to a local vineyard and winery and discussed Jesus as the true vine. He went down by the Missouri River to discuss the river of life.

July 2, 2020

July 2020

June 3, 2020

Northeast Organizes 200-plus ‘Campuses’ as Restrictions Ease

By Chris Moon Louisville’s Northeast Christian Church seized the opportunity. With Kentucky loosening pandemic restrictions slightly, the church quickly organized more than 200 “watch parties”—some would call them 200 new “campuses”—to tune into the church’s worship services this past Sunday. Church members gathered groups of no more than 10 people in homes to worship, pray, and listen to the Sunday sermon. And it certainly was a fitting occasion, since Sunday was Pentecost. “We were just trying to help people look at weekend services a little differently given the state we were in,” said David McKinley, director of marketing and communications

June 3, 2020

News Briefs for June 3

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon A team of 45 volunteers from Real Life Christian Church in Clermont, Fla., created more than 3,000 custom-made masks for local public high school seniors to wear during their graduation ceremonies. The masks were fitted with the students’ school colors and mascots. They were delivered to Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay. “I’m extremely grateful for the support of this community,” Kornegay told the Daily Commercial. “They have rallied to make masks for all of our seniors. Keeping our seniors and our guests safe is our top priority.” _ _ _ The Daily

May 29, 2020

June 2020

May 27, 2020

News Briefs for May 27

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Third City Christian Church in Grand Island, Neb., organized a large food-distribution effort to coincide with Memorial Day weekend. The church, along with a local food charity, gathered enough food to put two bags of groceries in 861 cars on Saturday. The idea was to give each family a picnic meal to go, according to the Grand Island Independent. Nick Schonlau, small groups and care minister with the church, told Fox Nebraska the church was able to raise more than $15,000 to help its community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money made the

May 20, 2020

Unser Jr. to Share with Indiana Church (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Auto racing fans know that “the greatest spectacle in racing”—the Indianapolis 500—won’t be taking place as originally planned this Sunday due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but all racing fans have the option of watching two-time winner Al Unser Jr. interviewed that day by John Dickerson, lead pastor of Connection Pointe Christian Church, Brownsburg, Ind. The interview will be part of the church’s weekend services both Saturday and Sunday. It will be viewable at connectionpointe.org/life and Facebook Live. The theme is “When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned.” Dickerson recently told Fox-59 TV that Unser

May 13, 2020

As Restrictions Ease, Church Leaders Facing Tough Challenges

By Chris Moon As coronavirus-related social-distancing rules are eased and churches crack open the doors to their buildings, they do so knowing many things will be different—some for the worse, but possibly some for the better. Churches will need to figure out how to make the most of the challenges and opportunities. SAME STORM, DIFFERENT BOATS“We’re all in the same storm, but we’re not all in the same boat,” said Rick Rusaw, chief executive officer of the Spire Network and former pastor of LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont, Colo. Spire has been surveying pastors and church members about their attitudes

May 13, 2020

Keeping Facility Clean an Obstacle to Reopening (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Churches are taking different approaches to reopening their doors as local governments begin to lift social distancing requirements. Lead pastor Glen Elliott provided insight to the Arizona Daily Star about Pantano Christian Church’s decision to remain closed at least until June. Elliott said the challenges of cleaning the Tucson church—including children’s areas—between each of its three services of more than 1,000 people each make it “near impossible to open,” he said. “Can you imagine the incredible challenges we’d have just cleaning every classroom for kids between every service? And then cleaning doors, cleaning bathrooms,”

May 6, 2020

News Briefs for May 6

Compiled by Jim Nieman Breandon McTighe of Reclaim Christian Church will be among the participants at a National Day of Prayer event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot at Ansonio (Ct.) High School. Reclaim is loaning its FM transmitter for the drive-in event. McTighe preached RCC’s Easter service in the same high school lot, which provided inspiration for this gathering, which will include speakers from several area churches. _ _ _ Our friend Ruth E. Davis, 79, who served faithfully as news editor of Christian Standard from 1997 until her retirement in 2006, succumbed to the effects of Parkinson’s

May 1, 2020

May 2020

April 29, 2020