Local Churches

Local Churches highlights stories, updates, and ministry insights from congregations serving their communities. Explore articles featuring church initiatives, outreach efforts, discipleship practices, leadership transitions, and lessons learned from ministry on the ground. You’ll find examples of faithful service, creative problem-solving, and gospel-centered work that can encourage and inform leaders and members alike. Whether you’re looking for ideas to strengthen your congregation or simply want to stay connected to what God is doing through local churches, this hub gathers relevant content in one place.

May 1, 2021

Justin Horey

SPOTLIGHT: Alvadore Christian Church (Junction City, OR)

Exactly What This Very Small Church Needed Advancing their technology has never been a top priority at Alvadore Christian Church, a congregation of about 65 people in the small, rural town of Junction City, Oregon. It’s not that senior pastor Marcus Omdahl is old-fashioned. Omdahl is a sharp young leader with a wife and school-age daughter. But until recently, he understood that livestreaming was not something the congregation or the community was likely to embrace. Of course, that all changed with the spread of COVID-19 early in 2020. Immediately, Alvadore Christian, like so many other churches, suspended in-person worship services

May 1, 2021

Justin Horey

SPOTLIGHT: 2|42 Community Church (Michigan)

No Needs Meets Many Needs The first few months of 2020 brought a series of major changes to 2|42 Community Church. First, the church added three new campuses, increasing its total number of locations from four to seven. Next, founding pastor David Dummitt departed after accepting the call to serve as senior pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Then, of course, the pandemic shut down live worship services at all seven of the congregation’s campuses. Despite all of that, executive pastor Eric Rauch said the most significant event of 2020 was “The No Needs Project,” a

October 16, 2020

Christian Standard

Church Preserves City’s Apple Butter Makin’ Tradition

By Jim Nieman The annual Apple Butter Makin’ Days festival in Mount Vernon, Mo., was canceled—yet another casualty of COVID-19—but then Mount Vernon Christian Church stepped up. The church participates in the festival each year. In fact, MVCC is one of three organizations that actually makes apple butter on-site during the three-day event at the Lawrence County Courthouse square located downtown. “Our recipe is the best,” MVCC lead pastor Jeff Kruger confided. (It’s the old Stotts City Union Church apple butter recipe that has been passed down through family members.) So, upon learning the three-day event was canceled, MVCC—a church

June 10, 2020

Christian Standard

Crossroads Resumes In-Person Services, Formally Launches Online Campus (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Crossroads Christian Church, Washington Court House, Ohio, formally launched an online campus on Sunday, the church’s first weekend back with in-person services after shutting down their building in mid-March due to the coronavirus. “We did an online poll and found 35 percent of our people said they will not return to in-person church until the fall,” explained Adam Lynch, lead pastor of the church, which has been sharing recorded services online for several weeks. “Knowing that almost half of our growing church is going to be watching online, we decided to livestream and

May 20, 2020

Christian Standard

Mountain Christian’s New Podcast Accessible to All—Including Skeptics

By Chris Moon The leaders at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Md., had long thought about starting a podcast, but it took COVID-19 to spur them into action. “That was the little push we needed,” said Luke Erickson, the church’s executive pastor. Once the coronavirus hit, no in-person church services or group meetings were happening, and church staffers were looking for other ways to continue their work of disciple-making. The church launched its 6 Feet Apart video podcast—named for the familiar social distancing guideline—about a month ago. The weekly show is built around a conversation between Erickson and lead pastor

May 6, 2020

Christian Standard

CCV Sees Record Baptisms as Wooldridge Settles In

By Chris Moon Christ’s Church of the Valley in Phoenix, Arizona, recorded 4,371 baptisms in 2019. It was the most ever for the megachurch and the most recorded by any Restoration Movement congregation in the 22 years Christian Standard has compiled data from churches. “The church has always had a big focus on evangelism,” said Ashley Wooldridge, senior pastor of CCV. Christ’s Church of the Valley in 2019 also saw a big spike in average attendance, jumping 7.4 percent to 34,444. That made it the seventh fastest-growing megachurch on Christian Standard’s list. It is the largest congregation in the Restoration

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Mount Carmel Christian Church, Batavia, Ohio

Spiritual Growth Emphasis Spurs Numerical Growth By Rick Lowry Mount Carmel Christian Church in Batavia, Ohio (about 20 miles east of Cincinnati), has experienced significant growth in recent years. Didi Bacon became senior minister 21 years ago when the church averaged about 400 in worship. In 2015, Mount Carmel moved into a beautiful new facility and now consistently averages more than 1,000. Bacon and the rest of the staff are convinced a major reason for the numerical growth has been their emphasis on spiritual growth. Teaching minister Tim Peace, who works with groups, said a significant dialogue started when the

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: South Union Christian Church, Bloomington, Indiana

Prayer as a Way of Life . . . and Ministry By Melissa Wuske From the outside, it seems South Union Christian Church caught a lucky break—but minister Jim Cain and his church know different. The church was outgrowing its building, unsure what to do next, when it received a donation of 83 acres right off the highway in December 2018. Location has always been a challenge for the church, which is still waiting to move to its new site. “We are currently four miles off the highway, out in the country next to a stone quarry,” said Cain, who

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Ridgeview Christian Church, Rolla, Missouri

Growth in New Directions By TR Robertson When Adam Bloch began his ministry at Ridgeview Christian Church in 2013, the congregation had just gone through a tough year. Ridgeview’s longtime minister had retired, 13 church members had passed away, and morale was low. A hiring committee member told Bloch, “We can be a good place for someone to get a few years of ministry experience before they go somewhere else.” “Being in my first full-time ministry,” Bloch said, “I’m not sure if I provided any stability for a while, but after a few years Ridgeview started to grow.” Most of

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Galilee Christian Church, Jefferson, Georgia

We Wanted to Make More Disciples, So We Planned on It By Nick Vipperman In late 2018, Galilee Christian Church in Jefferson, Georgia, decided we would focus on making disciples in 2019. Those of us who have served in ministry for any amount of time know this can be a challenge; it’s easy to have our focus pulled in a hundred directions. So we took some very specific steps to see our goal come to fruition. We communicated and prayed. As we were heading into 2019, we spent many hours talking about what we wanted to do in 2019. We

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Eagle Christian Church, Idaho

After 25 Years, Church Ministry Is Soaring By Rick Chromey Nestled in the heart of southwestern Idaho is a church that’s spent a quarter century serving Treasure Valley communities, from Meridian to Emmett and Boise to Caldwell. The aptly named Eagle Christian Church has spread its wings in recent years, expanding in 2019 to three campuses in Surprise Valley (east Boise), central valley (Eagle), and west valley (Nampa/Caldwell). The church also built a new administration building last year to better accommodate staff offices and leadership meetings. Founded in 1995 in Dr. Steve Crane’s living room, Eagle Christian Church started small

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Central Christian Church, Richardson, Texas

Texas Church Takes on ‘Guest-Ready’ Initiative—and Grows in the Meantime By Chris Moon Central Christian Church in Richardson, Texas, knew it had its work cut out for it. The 55-year-old congregation had gone through hard times. In 2017, declining attendance had left just 80 people in the pews, down from more than 200. Financially, the church was struggling. It needed a pastor. And its building had some deferred maintenance needs. “They were very demoralized,” said Philip Claycomb, the church’s senior pastor. Claycomb, who also leads Nexus Church Planting & Leader Care, began working with the church quarter-time in June 2018.

April 21, 2020

Christian Standard

“We’re Going to Come Out of This Stronger”

By Jim Nieman A small, country church in South Dakota is doing its best to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the minister is convinced, “We’re going to come out of this stronger.” Preston Christian Church in Bruce, S.D., has adopted the same strategy as many other churches across the country by incorporating a drive-in service in their parking lot on Sunday mornings. A difference is that Preston Christian has been worshipping with their sister church, Brookings (S.D.) Christian Church, which is located about 20 miles away, the last three Sundays. PCC minister Tim Smith and BCC minister

April 7, 2020

Christian Standard

Indiana Church’s Mounting Challenges Started with Tornado

By Jim Nieman Tiny Bentonville (Ind.) Christian Church has been through a lot over the past 10 months. Their building was destroyed by a tornado on June 15, 2019, then the church met in two temporary locations, and now the congregation isn’t meeting anywhere because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. On top of that, plans to rebuild at the site of their church home since the 1840s have been put on hold because of a problem with the property deed. “In 1843, when the church began, the deed went to Bentonville Association, but nobody knows who the Bentonville Association is,”

March 24, 2020

Christian Standard

E91 Helping Members Live by Faith, Connect with God

East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis is closed until further notice, but it is continuing to serve in both expected and unexpected ways. “At times like these, we have a choice,” associate minister David Faust told theindychannel.com. “Do we live by fear, or do we live by faith? We’re choosing to live by faith.” In addition to livestreaming a Sunday morning worship service, church volunteers offered prayers for individuals in cars during a drive-through Communion kit distribution at the church’s main entrance on Saturday morning. The church has also helped produce the first of several planned devotional videos geared

February 12, 2020

Christian Standard

2|42 Community Church Celebrates 15th Birthday, Opens 3 Campuses (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon It was a very big weekend for 2|42 Community Church in Michigan. The megachurch marked the 15th anniversary of its launch in 2005 in Brighton, Mich., by launching three new campuses in Livonia, Monroe, and Taylor, Mich. 2|42—which is consistently listed as one of the fastest-growing churches in America by Outreach magazine—now has seven campuses. The campus in Livonia came about in a unique way, as we reported last summer. The former Compass Christian Church in Livonia (previously known as Memorial Church of Christ) had played a significant role in helping start 2|42.

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