News & Updates
News & Updates delivers timely reporting and important announcements relevant to church leaders and the Restoration Movement community. Explore articles covering ministry developments, events, organizational news, and updates that impact churches, leaders, and readers of The Christian Standard. You’ll find information on conferences, initiatives, partnerships, and significant stories shaping the life of the church today. Check back regularly to stay informed and connected to what’s happening across the movement and within The Christian Standard network.
November 28, 2018
River Valley to Merge with Southeast (Plus News Briefs)
River Valley Christian Church, Goshen, Ky., has approved a merger with Southeast Christian Church, Louisville. Leaders from River Valley approached Southeast a few months ago and discussions led to the agreement to merge, pending Sunday’s approval by RVCC’s congregation. “We’re grateful that River Valley and Southeast are like-minded churches who have similar missions, and who are unified under the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:13),” SECC pastors Dave Stone and Kyle Idleman wrote in an email. “Join us as we praise God for this unique opportunity to continue to build His church as we share the hope and love of
November 21, 2018
Wally Rendel Honored for 58 Years in Ministry (Plus News Briefs)
Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Wally Rendel was honored for 58 years of ministry at a “Celebration of Faithfulness” on Sunday at Jessamine Christian Church, Nicholasville, Ky. Rendel enters retirement after serving with JCC the past six years. Sharing messages Sunday were his son, Bart Rendel, cofounder and president of Intentional Churches in Las Vegas, and son-in-law, Bart Stone, lead pastor of Momentum Christian Church in Atlanta. Wally Rendel grew up in Miami, Ok., and was active with First Christian Church there. He started preaching while a 17-year-old student at Cincinnati Christian University. He preached on weekends for
November 14, 2018
Lilly Grant to Help Launch Ministry Resource Center at Emmanuel (Plus News Briefs)
Milligan College’s Emmanuel Christian Seminary will establish a Ministry Resource Center thanks to a $999,863 grant from Lilly Endowment’s Thriving in Ministry initiative, which supports religious organizations as they create or strengthen programs that help pastors build relationships with more experienced ministers. The goal is for the experienced ministers to serve as mentors and guide their counterparts through key leadership challenges in congregational ministry. Emmanuel’s Ministry Resource Center will have state-of-the-art tools for placing and supporting its graduates in ministry positions. A placement program is planned that will work with congregations to ensure that an incoming pastor’s gifts and skills
November 10, 2018
More Nondenominationalish News Briefs
Rumors have been flying that Dave Stone and Rick Rusaw are not actually retiring from their senior pastor positions at Southeast Christian Church and LifeBridge Christian Church, respectively, but that they have declared themselves free agents and are making their services available to the highest-bidding churches at no less than 5-year, no-cut contracts with guaranteed money up-front. (Of course, these are just rumors.) _ _ _ Former senior minister Dean Smithy of Austin, Texas, is looking for a new church to serve after elders at Yellow Rose Christian Church told him he can no longer serve at theirs. Smithy and
November 7, 2018
Community Bank Donates Building to Church (Plus News Briefs)
A Christian church in Illinois recently was given a former bank building as a place to expand its food pantry. The Longview Bank and Trust donated its former branch building in Chrisman, Ill., to Chrisman Christian Church. The building is adjacent to the church facility. Larry Henson, chairman of the church, told the Independent News that the church planned “to convert the old bank into a new food bank.” According to its website, Chrisman Christian Church has a “Gather Round the Table” ministry that includes the food pantry and a backpack program that provides food to children each weekend during the
November 3, 2018
Nondenominationalish News Briefs
The annual meeting at Middle of the Road Christian Church is generating a level of excitement never seen before, as a faction of the congregation that loudly supports candidate for elder MacDonald Blunt, a self-styled real estate developer, squares off against their rivals, supporters of Richland Tweed, a psychiatrist and adjunct professor at the local university. A key issue is the use of paper or electronic ballots. Senior minister David McStraddles has taken no position. The election will take place after worship on Sunday, Nov. 18—immediately prior to the church’s Thanksgiving meal together. _ _ _ Another tight elder’s
November 1, 2018
October 31, 2018
Bid of $78,750 Wins Tractor, Benefits Taylorville Church (Plus News Briefs)
By Jim Nieman An auction bid of $78,750 took home the first John Deere GP tractor ever built and will help pay for renovation of a building shared by Taylorville (Ill.) Christian Church and VisionWay Christian School. “It turned out great,” lead minister James Jones said. Some church members thought the tractor might go for a little higher price, others thought it would go for less. “It was great as far as I’m concerned.” Jones did not attend the auction and did not know the name of the winning bidder. The 1928 general purpose tractor was the first of more
October 24, 2018
Mason Worship Center to Be Named for Sam and Gwen Stone
By Jim Nieman A new worship center being planned at the Christian Village at Mason (CVM) in Ohio will be named for former Christian Standard editor Sam E. Stone and his late wife, Gwen. The Stone Worship Center and Auditorium is necessary, in part, because of increasing attendance at CVM worship services under senior chaplain Tom Moll, who has served four-plus years at the 85-acre senior living community in Mason, located north of Cincinnati. “I don’t know that anyone thought it was possible to have a vibrant church (in a retirement community),” said Larry D. Monroe, president and CEO of
October 24, 2018
Fastest-Growing Church Listing Includes 8 from Our Fellowship (Plus News Briefs)
Eight churches from our fellowship made Outreach magazine’s listing of 100 fastest-growing churches. Those churches include: No. 11: Eastside Christian Church, Anaheim, Calif. (Gene Appel, senior pastor); attendance of 8,665; grew by 21 percent. (Eastside’s logo is pictured above.) No. 12: Crossroads Christian Church, Corona, Calif. (Chuck Booher, senior pastor); 5,617; 24 percent. No. 19: Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Md. (Ben Cachiaras, lead pastor); 6,118; 19 percent. No. 55: Christ’s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Ariz. (Ashley Wooldridge, senior pastor); 29,025; 7 percent. No. 56: Traders Point Christian Church, Indianapolis (Aaron Brockett, lead pastor); 8,144; 9 percent. No. 75: 2|42
October 22, 2018
Big Changes in Our Magazines
By Jerry Harris “The Times They Are A-Changin’” was the title of a 1964 Bob Dylan song addressing his belief in a need for social justice. If you were 16 when that song was released, you’re 70 years old today. In 1964, Christian Standard, The Lookout, and Standard Publishing were the gold standard for Christian education, leadership, and discipleship. Two years later, in 1966, the little entity that started in Cleveland, Ohio, celebrated 100 years in business; by then it was a major company housed in a factory with 7 acres under roof and hundreds of employees. That was before
October 17, 2018
IDES Helping with Hurricane Recovery on Two Fronts
By Jim Nieman International Disaster Emergency Service has been extremely busy since mid-September responding to hurricanes that made landfall in North Carolina and along Florida’s Panhandle. David Stine, director of operations for IDES, said recovery efforts are well underway in the Carolinas, largely with the help of partner Two Rivers Church in hard-hit New Bern, N.C.. Work is just beginning in Florida, however, with Bayou George Christian Church, located near Panama City, likely to serve as the hub of response. (BGCC is pictured above.) “We are stretched, but God is providing,” said IDES executive director Rick Jett. “We have a
October 17, 2018
TCM Now Offering Classes for U.S. Students (Plus News Briefs)
TCM, which was founded in 1957 and began offering classes at its TCM International Institute in Austria in 1991, is now offering learning opportunities in the United States. “We are not slowing down our ministry in Eastern Europe or Central Asia in any way,” said David Roadcup, global outreach representative with TCM. “We are just adding the U.S. to our ministry, as well as other countries to which the Lord might be leading us.” Stateside course instruction will consist of three months of online work followed by three days of face-to-face lectures and discussion. The next cohort will begin in
October 17, 2018
Auction of First John Deere GP Tractor (Circa 1928) to Benefit Church
By Jim Nieman The first John Deere GP tractor ever built is one of two tractors donated for auction to benefit a building shared by Taylorville (Ill.) Christian Church and VisionWay Christian School. The 1928 general purpose tractor was the first of more than 30,000 John Deere GPs built and sold through the mid-1930s; its distinction as No. 1 was made during an authentication process conducted by Aumann Auctions, Nokomis, Ill. The anonymous benefactor was informed of the tractor’s historic significance, Aumann marketing director Tyson Reed told the Shelbyville Daily Union. Some thought the man might want the tractor back,
October 10, 2018
Successful Horse Auction to Boost Kentucky Church (Plus News Briefs)
Veteran Kentucky horse breeder Beau Lane, 76, experienced his most successful auction in September and Bedford Acres Christian Church in Paris, Ky., will see a financial boost because of it. Bloodhorse.com reported that Lane, who with his wife, Gail, operates 160-acre Woodline Farm in Bourbon County, Ky., promised God that he would donate $100,000 of his auction proceeds on 12 yearlings to the Lord . . . if God blessed him with $1 million in sales. Lane said he was expecting only about $800,000 during the Keeneland September Yearling Sale that concluded Sept. 23. But those 12 yearlings ended up
October 3, 2018
Foscoe Christian Returns Home 4 Years after Fire (Plus News Briefs)
Foscoe Christian Church, Boone, N.C., held services in their just-completed home for the first time on Sunday, more than four years after a Jan. 7, 2014, fire destroyed their church building after a furnace malfunctioned. “There’s a lot of relief, a lot of gratefulness, a lot of thankfulness and a lot of folks we’re indebted to,” elder Chris Calloway told the Watauga Democrat last week. “It’s been a long process, a difficult process, but a very uplifting process. We’ve had a lot of folks step forward and really step up in a multitude of ways.” The brick building includes a
October 1, 2018
September 26, 2018
Crosspoint Church Opens Worship Center (Plus News Briefs)
Crosspoint Christian Church in Cape Coral, Fla., celebrated the opening of its 18,000-square-foot worship center on Sunday. The church, which started meeting in a high school in 2006, launched the new facility with a special Instagram photo booth (above) and a food drive, asking members to bring canned food to the church service, according to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze. The food will go to the Cape Coral Caring Center, a local food distribution center. “We know that in our community, there are people every day who don’t know how they are going to feed their children,” lead pastor Jeff
September 19, 2018
Stone Announces Retirement from Southeast
(Updated Sept. 24) Dave Stone, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., has announced he will retire sometime in the next six to nine months. Teaching pastor Kyle Idleman will replace Stone in the lead role at the church. “This is a process that has been in the works for a number of years,” Stone said in a story published on the Southeast Christian Church website. “My wife, Beth, and I decided on this timing about five years ago. We felt that 2019 would be the wisest time for the transition to take place.” Stone made the announcement
