Organizations &amp; Events

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

ICOM 2016: Disciples Making Disciples

By Doug Priest Mitchell and Luis looked a little lost in the exhibition hall at the Lexington (Kentucky) Convention Center, home to the 2016 International Conference on Missions. They came from the Dominican Republic. Mitchell had come to the convention once before, eight years ago. But the convention had grown a lot in the past eight years, and there were 300 different exhibitors! It is no wonder they were amazed at all they saw. These men are pastors. They belong to Centro Cristiano, an association of Christian churches in the Dominican Republic that has 23 pastors. Four of the pastors

February 1, 2017

Ozark Christian College to Celebrate 75th Anniversary

Nationally known speakers and hundreds of alumni and friends will converge on the campus of Ozark Christian College in February as the college honors its 75th anniversary. OCC”s annual Preaching-Teaching Convention will take place Feb. 20″“22 on its campus in Joplin, MO. This year”s convention, “A Jesus People,” welcomes best-selling authors and Ozark grads Kyle Idleman and Jon Weece, as well as the college”s former president, Ken Idleman, among many others. The convention begins Monday evening and includes a special 75th anniversary celebration at the annual President”s Banquet on Wednesday. The convention also offers events for college alumni, networking lunches,

December 5, 2016

To Women, By Women: SCARLET HOPE

By Kelsey McKain We sat next to each other and caught up while we ate. “How”s your son?” I asked. “Oh, he”s good. He”s starting school next week. He”ll be in second grade this year!” We talked about how much he had grown and how surprised I was that he was already starting school. She asked about me, about my recent work trip, and how my husband is doing. We chatted for about 15 minutes about life, what”s new, and how we can pray for each other. Then she was called up to dance. We were sitting in a strip

December 5, 2016

To Women, By Women: RAPHA HO– USE

By Jenny Knowles Stephanie Freed was very busy doing busy things, she says, when her father, Joe Garman, issued a challenge. Cambodian Christians that Garman knew well had told him about the epidemic of child trafficking in their country””their own communities. When Garman mentioned the problem to his daughter, Freed”s response was denial: If this was an epidemic, why wasn”t anyone talking about it? That was in 2002. Freed accepted the challenge to research the truth about trafficking and was soon overwhelmed. One UNICEF statistic indicated 1.2 million children disappear into trafficking every year. What difference could one person make

December 4, 2016

To Women, By Women: GUIDING LIGHT

By Jenny Knowles Juliet Rose Hardee burst into tears when she heard a magazine wanted to know more about Guiding Light, the faith-based residential program for women overcoming addiction and abuse that she started and directs. A local TV station called for an interview the same day, and Hardee was overcome with the thought that more people will hear about the ministry. Guiding Light is in its ninth year. It was birthed in Hardee”s personal story of childhood abuse, prostitution, and drugs (see “From Vile to Victory” in the July issue of Christian Standard). Her life changed when she was

December 3, 2016

To Women, By Women: LIFECHOICES

By Jenny Knowles The LifeChoices Health Network in Joplin, Missouri, is in pursuit of opportunities to help people, and they”re taking hope on the road. Three area clinics offer the services most of us associate with pregnancy centers””counseling, ultrasounds, and new parent assistance. LifeChoices literature breaks the services down into three groups: prevention, intervention, and extension. Prevention includes the sexual risk avoidance program the network takes into 15 local school districts. Intervention is pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, sexually transmitted infection screening, and treatment. Extension is prenatal, parenting and post-abortion recovery classes, and new dad training. LifeChoices has also added a mobile

December 2, 2016

To Women, By Women: MY SAFE HARBOR

By Jennifer Johnson Families gather in kitchens: for cereal and coffee and a last check of homework before school, for dinner together in the evening, for a snack and a conversation before bed. The kitchen is the center of every home, so when Becky Ahlberg created My Safe Harbor, she knew its building had to include one. My Safe Harbor, a nonprofit organization originally launched by Anaheim (California) First Christian Church, offers a variety of programs to support, educate, and empower the women of Anaheim. Although the church is only miles from the tourism and wealth of Disneyland, its neighborhood

December 2, 2016

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

To Women, By Women: NATALIE’S SISTERS

By Katelyn Grounds Life-changing ministries often start simple, with a handful of people and a common vision. That is true for Natalie”s Sisters. In 2000, three women sat down over lunch and decided it was time to answer God”s calling on their lives to minister to women caught in the sex industry. Soon they were taking home-cooked meals to women in Lexington”s strip clubs. That”s when Bruised Reed (as it was originally known) was born. The mission statement captures the group”s vision: “. . . to create life changing opportunities for women in the sex industry by extending hope, support,

November 22, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Good Smells, Great Lives

By Mark A. Taylor I got to the Lexington Center at 1:15 Saturday afternoon, a little before I”d promised to be there. We were planning a special 2:00 event in our International Conference on Missions booth, and the attendant had promised to be there at 1:30 to help us get ready. But as soon as I entered the exhibit hall, I knew she was already on the job. I could smell the popcorn popping. Soon the aroma was filling the whole, huge facility. And even before our announced start time, we relented and allowed the people lining up to grab

November 21, 2016

Studying the City: Hope International University

By Jennifer Johnson Several of the colleges and universities affiliated with our movement understand the need to reach their own cities while preparing students for an urban future. Here”s what one of them is doing. ________ HOPE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Fullerton, California The U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as “comprising one or more central places, and the adjacent densely-settled surrounding territory, that together have a minimum of 50,000 people.” So while cities like New York and Chicago certainly qualify as urban, so do urban sprawl areas like Anaheim, California. “Anaheim is home to 350,000 people,” says Kip Lines, professor

November 20, 2016

Studying the City: Ozark Christian College

By Jennifer Johnson Several of the colleges and universities affiliated with our movement understand the need to reach their own cities while preparing students for an urban future. Here”s what one of them is doing. ________ OZARK CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Joplin, Missouri At first glance, Ozark seems an unlikely place to study urban ministry. “Most of our students come from small-to-medium-size towns,” says Mike Ackerman, professor of church planting and New Testament. “Some of them have never even been to a large city. But we need to care about cities because the world is moving to cities.” Previous study opportunities included

November 19, 2016

Studying the City: Johnson University

By Jennifer Johnson Several of the colleges and universities affiliated with our movement understand the need to reach their own cities while preparing students for an urban future. Here”s what one of them is doing. ________ JOHNSON UNIVERSITY Knoxville, Tennessee, & Kissimmee, Florida Across the country, Johnson University has developed a variety of programs for its own students, for local high school and middle school students, and for the surrounding communities. In Knoxville, Kenny Woodhull leads the Urban Alliance, a Johnson initiative that partners with local organizations to offer educational experiences, mentoring, and leadership development. “A few years ago, a

November 14, 2016

Lipscomb Takes Students to Prison

By Jennifer Johnson Leading Bible studies in prison? Old news. Coordinating worship services in prison? No problem. But holding college classes in prison””for both inmates and traditional students? Since 2007, Lipscomb University”s LIFE program””short for Lipscomb Initiative For Education“”has brought undergraduate students from its Nashville campus to the Tennessee Prison for Women, also in Nashville, to learn everything from conflict management to business communication””and to learn from each other. “I often quote the old biblical passage about “˜silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you,”” says Dr. Richard Goode, professor of history at Lipscomb and

October 1, 2016

Studying the City: How Three Schools Are Preparing Students for Urban Ministry

By Jennifer Johnson Two years ago, the United Nations predicted that by 2050, 66 percent of the world”s population would live in urban areas and reported that in the United States 82 percent already do. As the global community continues to move into cities, it”s becoming crucial for today”s young people””regardless of their major or vocational plans””to understand how to serve, minister, live, and thrive in urban environments. Several of the colleges and universities affiliated with our movement understand the need to reach their own cities while preparing students for an urban future. Here”s what three of them are doing.

September 22, 2016

Two Schools Consider Merger

Cincinnati (OH) Christian University and Kentucky Christian University, located in Grayson, are engaged in discussions that may result in the merger of the two schools. On Jan. 17, 2017, CCU and KCU plan to begin a partnership agreement in which KCU will provide executive level management assistance to CCU, under the ongoing guidance of the CCU Board of Trustees. Formal approval of the management consultancy agreement is expected at the October meetings of the CCU and KCU boards of trustees. “During this management period, the two schools plan to work together and with their respective constituencies and accrediting bodies to

September 1, 2016

Retiree Helping Lead Fight Against Child Exploitation

By Jennifer Johnson “I can”t tell you I went willingly,” Opal Singleton says. “I was retired and didn”t want to get involved. But God arranged the whole thing.” Million Kids began in 2008 to support the work of Rapha House, a nonprofit organization that works to end the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. “At the time, Rapha House focused on Cambodia, Thailand, and Haiti, but I began to see more and more trafficking here at home in Southern California,” Singleton says. “In 2010, local law enforcement asked me to be a training coordinator, so I began writing curriculum about

August 19, 2016

Church Development Fund Announces Name Change to CDF Capital

IRVINE, CA””Church Development Fund, a ministry ofÂ Provision Ministry Group, announced this July a new name and logo. Debuting at the North American Christian Convention, in Anaheim, the new name,Â CDF Capital,Â was met with great enthusiasm. This change was made to better reflect the ministry and its long time mission: “Helping Churches Grow.” CDF Capital, originally established in 1953 as the Churches of Christ Building and Loan Fund, was founded with the express purpose of removing obstacles that hindered church growth. In 1953, the most significant obstacle was access to financial capital to purchase land and build new churches. In 1972, the

August 12, 2016

Christian Colleges, 2015-16 (Chart)

Our annual chartÂ provides attendance and faculty figures, income and expenditures,Â contact information, and more for 29 colleges affiliated with Christian churchesÂ and churches of Christ. Click here to view the 2015-16 college chart.

August 11, 2016