Series: Featured

May 17, 2013

Christian Standard

Former Attorney Makes a Case for Christ

By Kent E. Fillinger Brian Kruckenberg didn”t grow up in a Christian home, but he attended church several times as a senior in high school. A teacher shared the gospel with him, and he began to understand it. But he finished high school, college, graduate school, and law school without giving faith in God much thought. After a friend invited the young attorney to church, Kruckenberg soon committed his life to Christ and started studying the Bible and serving in several ministries. Kruckenberg”s passion for volunteering in his church continued to grow over the next four years, and in 2004

May 16, 2013

Christian Standard

Growing in the Cape

By Kent E. Fillinger A mother church and a legacy church provided a great foundation for the birth of Crosspoint Christian Church in Cape Coral, Florida, in January 2006. Jeff Swearingen, lead pastor at Crosspoint, was on staff at First Christian Church in Fort Myers when discussions about a church plant started. He initially resisted the idea of planting a church, but God eventually changed his mind. About 150 people from First Christian committed to help birth Crosspoint. The church also benefited financially from a local Christian church that closed, sold its property, and then invested a significant amount into

May 13, 2013

Christian Standard

How a Harley Store Became a Home

By Kent E. Fillinger What do you get when you combine an empty Harley-Davidson store with generous giving? No, this isn”t a bad joke. The answer is a growing church. LifePointe Christian Church, located in Elk Grove, California, launched on February 23, 2003, with a nucleus of about 60 people. It initially met in a local school on the edge of town. The church soon was averaging more than 200 in attendance, and after a few years was averaging more than 300. Then there was some stagnation, said senior pastor Chris Delfs, even though “the congregation loved the church and

May 12, 2013

Christian Standard

“˜If You Build It . . .”

By Kent E. Fillinger “If you build it, they will come” is an adaptation of the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams. This adage doesn”t always apply to churches, but in the case of Academy Christian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, its dreams did come true. Academy completed its fourth building expansion project on April 1, 2012, doubling its facility”s square footage and increasing the church”s visibility from the main road. Since then, the average number of weekly guests has increased from four to eight, and average attendance during 2012 increased from 415 to 529 (27 percent). Academy

May 11, 2013

Christian Standard

One Life at a Time

By Kent E. Fillinger Ralph Mehrens served as senior minister at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, Nebraska, for 25 years. Mehrens wanted to transition well, so he planned a 15-month succession process and laid a strong foundation to help the congregation follow the next minister. Scott Beckenhauer transitioned from an eight-year youth ministry with the church to the lead minister position in 2008. “I knew the church family and they knew me, so the trust was already built,” said Beckenhauer, who became only the third lead minister in Calvary”s 42-year history. Attendance declined slightly as Beckenhauer gained his footing the

May 10, 2013

Christian Standard

Growing Over the Long Haul

By Kent E. Fillinger John Scott is a longtimer. He started as youth minister of Community Christian Church in Hemet, California, in 1987, and became the lead pastor in 1990. In 2012, CCC grew to an average worship attendance of 1,126, a 22 percent increase over the previous year. “The momentum has been building, but we busted loose last year,” Scott said. “Our staff and elders are simply amazing,” he said. “Truly gifted and big-hearted servants who have totally bought into what we”re trying to do here. The cohesiveness of this team has allowed us to stretch and risk and

May 9, 2013

Christian Standard

The Church at Antioch

By Kent E. Fillinger John Seitz arrived as senior pastor of Antioch Christian Church in Marion, Iowa, in 2000 when the church was averaging 220 in attendance. Seitz and the elders wanted to see the church grow, to reach out, and to love the lost. Antioch Christian purchased 93 acres on a main highway to create space for growth and relocated to its new facility in December 2005. The church”s attendance has almost doubled since 2006, growing 21 percent last year to an average worship attendance of 1,136. Seitz credits the growth to the grace of God working through the

May 5, 2013

Jerry Harris

A Church for People Who Don”t Go to Church

By Kent E. Fillinger The Crossing is a multisite megachurch. Its original campus is in Quincy, Illinois, a town of 40,000 people. Even though there are 85 churches in Quincy, 80 percent of the people there don”t attend any church, so Jerry Harris, senior pastor of The Crossing, decided to focus on being the church for people who don”t go to church. The Crossing was a small church of 230 people in 1998 when it decided to spend $2.5 million to buy a community college to serve as the church”s new home. As part of the deal, The Crossing shared

May 4, 2013

Christian Standard

Praying for One Transforms Church

By Kent E. Fillinger “Pray for One.” Bo Chancey sent an e-mail to everyone at Manchester (New Hampshire) Christian Church on the Thursday before he preached his first sermon there. He told them his inaugural message would be for each person to pray for one person to follow Christ. That Sunday, Chancey told the 1,200 who had gathered that if everyone would consistently pray for one person, the church would double in size in two years. Chancey continued to reinforce his “pray for one” message in his various communications. “Pray for one” is now part of the church”s cultural language. People regularly

May 3, 2013

Christian Standard

Up and to the Right

By Kent E. Fillinger Twenty years of positive growth for a church is virtually unheard of, but that is what Barry Cameron has experienced at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, Texas. When Cameron arrived in 1992, the church had never broken 250 in attendance, its facilities were limited and decaying, and it was in debt. The church outgrew its Arlington facility by 2004, when it was averaging 1,800, so it relocated to Grand Prairie. Even though the church could track 800 people who didn”t make the move, the church still grew. Last year Crossroads grew 15 percent to an

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Megachurches and Other Churches: The 2012 List

Our annual megachurch chart is one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s most popular features. This year there are 63 churches listed as megachurches (those with 2,000 or more in weekly attendance) and 67 listed as emerging megachurches (those with average attendance of 1,000 to 1,999). This low-res pdf also contains information on 105 large churches (which average 500 to 999 weekly) and 109 medium-size churches (an average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) Click here to look at the chart of the 2012 Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches.

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Megachurches by the Numbers

By Kent E. Fillinger Here are some summary stats for the megachurches (more than 2,000 in weekly attendance) and emerging megachurches (an average weekly attendance of 1,000 to 1,999). A total of 63 megachurches and 67 emerging megachurches participated in this year”s survey. All statistics are based on the 2012 calendar year. In addition to the 130 megachurches and emerging megachurches, 105 large churches (which average 500 to 999 weekly) and 109 medium-size churches (an average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) participated in this year”s survey. The 344 participating churches are the most to date. Complete survey findings for

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Do You Measure What Matters?

Some churches and church leaders avoid measuring ministries in the church out of fear or from a desire not to be held accountable. Are you afraid of discovering something you don”t want to know? By Kent E. Fillinger “The church is in a difficult time. But the church doesn”t understand it”s in a difficult time because it doesn”t know the truth about itself,”* said Dave Peterson, senior pastor of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. “Rich Stearns [president of World Vision] observes that a segment within the Christian culture seems to say, “˜We”re good people doing good things, and

April 27, 2013

Christian Standard

Changing Church Culture

By Jim Powell Recently, several leaders from a local church asked to meet with me to discuss their congregation”s decline. They wanted advice on how to turn things around. When I sat down to visit with them, I noticed all of their questions were exclusively programmatic in nature. What kind of music do you play? What do you wear on Sundays? How do you present announcements? Do you serve coffee and doughnuts? There is value in asking such questions because we need to contextualize the gospel, and having relevant methods can make a difference. Yet I was concerned that they

April 25, 2013

Christian Standard

Stewards of Audio Volume

By Eric Radecki In the field of church music today, dealing with audio volume comes with the territory. It”s not a simple topic, and it”s worthy of a serious and honest discussion. Daniel Schantz”s article “The Half-Inch Solution” broached the subject but failed to go beyond generalizations and opinions. In this article I hope to offer practical help in dealing with the audio volume levels in your church by providing a responsible interpretation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines within a theological context.   “Loud” is in the Bible Scriptures seem to indicate that much of the music

April 22, 2013

Christian Standard

Restoring God”s Justice

By Jason Rodenbeck Friday night I watched celebration on the news. The second Boston Marathon bomber had been captured. A city was finally resting after a horrific nightmare. And an angry (and increasingly frightened) nation breathed a sigh of relief. Why “frightened?” Whether because there are more of them or we are just hearing about more of them, tragedies like this one seem more prevalent and closer to home than ever. Even in a country where we generally feel safe and secure, we feel a growing uneasiness as the world seems to spin out of control. There is evil everywhere

April 18, 2013

Christian Standard

Steps to Healthy Growth in Ministry Relationships

By Susan Lawrence “My senior staff member just went behind my back and told my volunteer team about plans for significant change in my ministry before I was informed. What”s up with that?” “Why can”t my team just do what needs to be done without being babysat? What happened to personal motivation and responsibility?” “It”s time for change, and I don”t care what the rest of the staff thinks. They need to get on board or leave.” Working with ministry staff and volunteers is tough. Individuals bring their teams different personalities, experiences, and skills; and those differences can lead to

April 14, 2013

Christian Standard

The Chemistry Quotient

By Carl Kuhl Have you heard about The Three Ingredient Cookbook? True to its name, every recipe has only three ingredients. One of my friends got it as a wedding present when she was inexperienced in the kitchen, the idea being that even she would be capable of these recipes. But here”s the thing about The Three Ingredient Cookbook: if you leave out one of the ingredients, it doesn”t work! Some more complicated recipes call for a dozen or more ingredients, and if you are out of one particular spice, you usually can omit it with no problem. But when

April 13, 2013

Christian Standard

Good Policies Can Prevent Conflict

By Don Green I can still remember the nugget of wisdom shared at a minister”s retreat I attended nearly 40 years ago. The speaker was Dr. Bruce Parmenter, a seminary counseling professor who mentored many of us. As he spoke of the challenges that confront ministers, he observed that in marriage and in ministry, one of the primary ways to prevent conflict is to have a carefully negotiated, mutually agreed upon, clearly defined set of expectations. That invaluable lesson has served me well through the years and gives impetus to working with leaders in developing a covenant of expectations that

April 12, 2013

Christian Standard

It”s Hard to E-mail Your Way Through Matthew 18

By Jim Dalrymple It has been said, “Wherever two or more are gathered, there will be conflict.” In today”s digital world, conflict speaks a new language. Yet text tapped out on a screen comes with limitations and liabilities. Let”s face it””e-mails do not convey vocal inflection, and text messages do not allow for body language. It is too easy to fire off e-mails like cannonballs from a ship. All too often such exchanges between two people also bring others into the battle. In my experience with conflict, it is hard to e-mail your way through Matthew 18. In Matthew 18:15-20,

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