Series: Featured

May 17, 2020

Scott Kenworthy

The Starfish Effect: Why Our Decentralized Approach Is Our Strength

By Scott Kenworthy A few years ago, I attended the International Conference on Missions with a friend from a different church tradition. As we entered the exhibit hall filled with hundreds of missionaries promoting their various initiatives, I said to my friend, “This is the strength of our movement.” When we left the same hall a couple hours later, he turned around, took one last look, and commented, “That is the weakness of your movement.” Where I saw innovation, entrepreneurship, and bold risk-taking for the sake of the gospel, he saw chaos and the lack of a centralized strategy. So,

May 17, 2020

Brent Bramer

This Is Why We Plant Churches

By Brent Bramer Mike and Kelly were jolted out of bed by screams and the smell of smoke. They ran to their two kids and hurried out to the street. The backside of the home next door was engulfed in flames and a crowd was gathering. The elderly woman who lived in the home was screaming for her husband who had just run back into the house to search for their dog. She feared he’d been inside for too long, and there was no sign of him. Mike and Kelly, their children, and the neighbors watched in horror as flames

May 17, 2020

Austin Gohn

We’re a Renewal Movement

By Austin Gohn In the fall of 2010 on the campus of Lincoln Christian University, my friend Cody began to feel an urgency about prayer. The “prayer rooms” hidden away in the dark corners of our chapel had become little more than a favorite spot for campus couples. Uncertain of what else to do, Cody declared “squatter’s rights” in an unused room at the geographic heart of our campus, despite the amorphous stain on the carpet and a cartoonish illustration of Christ’s ascension. And we started to pray. Just over a year later, a near constant flow of students buzzed

May 17, 2020

Chris Hankins

Multiplying Through Multisites

By Chris Hankins Healthy things reproduce. This reality is true in nature and, I believe, in the church. The body of Christ is healthiest when it is reproducing at every level. At Point Church, where I serve, I often say that we want to reproduce disciples, leaders, groups, services, campuses, churches, and even church-planting networks. Therefore, when I was recently asked, “Are we really reproducing churches if multisites remain attached to the mother church?” my immediate answer was, “of course!” Just because a new location of a multisite church remains a part of a larger local church does not mean

May 17, 2020

Christian Standard

A Listing of Church-Planting Organizations

We have compiled a listing of Church Planting Organizations associated with Christian churches and churches of Christ. Note that organizations often partner on church plants. This list is not a comprehensive count of church plants from the past five years but is meant to demonstrate who is actively planting churches and where. For each church-planting organization, we have listed its location, leader, website and contact information, the region where it plants, and total number of churches planted in the past 5 years. We will update this list at a future time. If your organization should be listed, please provide us

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

Why We Invite All Our New Members to Our Home for Dinner (and How We Do It)

By Drew Sherman Over the last 13 years we have hosted more than 3,000 of our church family in our home. (That’s not a misprint!) During that time, our church attendance has grown from 1,500 to more than 6,000. God called my wife and me to Highland Meadows Christian Church near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in the summer of 2002. Four years later we changed our name to Compass Christian Church because we thought it better fit our plan for multisite ministry. We were excited about our rapid growth but concerned we were growing too busy to get to know

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

The Opportunities Right Before Us

How We’ve Made an Impact in Our City in Ways We Never Envisioned By Chris Philbeck Several years ago at a megachurch pastors conference, I heard Ben Merold say something I’ll never forget: “Sometimes our opportunities become our vision.” Vision is a powerful thing, but vision in the local church can sometimes be more about advancing the plans of man than following the leading of God . . . and sometimes it is nothing more than trying to replicate existing models of success. There should be a level of uniqueness about our vision for the church God has called us

May 1, 2020

David Roadcup

Enough with the Four-Hour Elders Meetings!

The Key Elements to Making Your Time Together More Effective By David Roadcup Effective elders’ meetings are an important part of a healthy leadership culture. Our meetings should be organized times of fellowship, powerful prayer, communication, and decision-making. The focus of elders’ meetings should be on the shepherding of staff and the business matters of the congregation. Elders’ meetings can be extremely fruitful and enjoyable, or they can be hours of torment and wandering in the wilderness. It all depends on planning and on the leader of the meeting (the elder chairman) and lead minister working together for the best

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

What’s in the Water?

By Michael D. McCann When consumed, it hydrates. When boiled, it disinfects. When we bathe in it, our body is cleansed. This simple combination of hydrogen and oxygen, water truly is a precious, versatile commodity. Similarly, the waters of baptism provide the participant with unimaginable benefits. Baptism floods the spirit with divine blessings. And yet baptism is distinct from our daily uses of water that require no special qualification. Atheist and Christian, male and female, king and servant—we all receive the same benefit when water is consumed. But in baptism, the water produces powerful effects promised only to those who

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

A WARNING FROM EPHESUS . . . And Jesus’ Solution for When a Church Loses Its First Love

By Tyler McKenzie The Ephesian church was a first-century megachurch that had everything, and then, by all historical accounts, lost everything. Ephesus was the sort of city Paul liked to target: a hub of culture and a place of notoriety. He knew if he could plant the gospel in Ephesian “soil,” it would spread. Ephesus was a major commercial center—three trade highways ran through it—it was a port town, and it was tourist hub. One of the seven wonders of the world, the temple to the goddess Artemis, was located there. Some estimate the city’s population at a quarter-million people—massive

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.

March 15, 2020

Ely Lozada

Mary Magdalene: Go and Tell

(An eyewitness’ account*) By Ely Lozada Mary Magdalene had been watching for hours. Now, the jeering crowd was gone and only the women mourning Jesus remained at the cross together. An unfamiliar man approached them; he too had sorrow etched on his face. “I have permission to take away Jesus’ body, so that it may be laid to rest away from this terrible place.” She noticed he paid no mind to the sweat and blood around them, this man whose fine clothing surely would be soiled by this gruesome task. He spoke tenderly to Jesus’ mother as he told them

March 15, 2020

Mark E. Moore

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus: Respect and Honor

(An eyewitness’ account*) By Mark E. Moore Hi, my name is Joseph, but you can call me Joe. Just to clarify, there are a lot of Joes where I come from. Surely, you’ve heard of Joseph the carpenter, the stepfather of Jesus. A lesser-known Joseph traveled with the apostle Paul on his great adventures. This Joseph is mentioned several times by my friend, the physician and historian named Luke. But Luke called him by his nickname, Barnabas. I am but one of many Joes where I come from because one of the patriarchs of my people (and my namesake) was

March 15, 2020

Ryan Rasmussen

Guards at the Tomb: A Tale of Two Soldiers

By Ryan Rasmussen “What am I supposed to do with this money?” the soldier asked as he jiggled a bag of coins on the table. “It feels . . . tainted.” “Just enjoy it, man,” offered the second soldier. “How often does an opportunity like this come along for us? All we have to do is tell a little lie. No big deal.” But it felt like a big deal. A weight hung in the air as a strong wind pushed through the partially covered window of the dimly lit room. Two Roman soldiers sat counting their hush money. It

March 15, 2020

Vince Antonucci

The Apostle John: Transformed by Love

By Vince Antonucci Researchers tell us our identity drives our behavior. We think we make decisions based on a rational analysis of pros and cons. But far more often we make choices based on what James March called the “identity model.” March, a Stanford University professor who died in 2018, said when making a decision we essentially (and mostly subconsciously) ask ourselves three questions: Who am I? What kind of situation is this? What would someone like me do in this situation? What you do is determined by what you think of yourself. Growing up, I was quickly and consistently

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