Series: News

CCU’s Trustees Apologize, Plus Other Updates about Pending Closure

As a follow-up to our story last week that Cincinnati Christian University will be closing after the fall semester, CCU board of trustees president Chris Hahn posted a letter on behalf of his fellow trustees to “apologize for the situation we are in and for how our communication of the cessation of academic operations may have caused confusion and pain.” CCU is also now providing more resources for students at its website, including a section of responses to frequently asked questions. CCU previously announced a partnership with Central Christian College of the Bible (Moberly, Mo.), which will be opening an

October 30, 2019

Anxiety & Depression Care & Counseling

HIU’s Alexander Teaching Church Leaders about Depression and Ministry

By Chris Moon When a prominent pastor committed suicide last year in Southern California, Paul Alexander couldn’t help but take notice. A lot of people he knew had a connection with the young pastor—Andrew Stoecklein—and they were deeply moved by the news. Alexander, a licensed marriage and family therapist who assumed the presidency of Hope International University in August, has spent years studying and teaching about depression and ministry. It only made sense to help. Depression is something many ministers struggle with—even though, Alexander said, it is “not comfortable or common to talk about it.” Alexander contacted Gene Appel of

October 30, 2019

Abortion Ethics & Moral Issues

Church Supports Women in Unplanned Pregnancies (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Oakwood Christian Church in Enid, Okla., has started a support program for young women in unplanned pregnancies. OCC’s local Embrace Grace program was started by Tangee Lee to help young, unwed mothers stay involved in church life, according to the Enid News & Eagle. (The national program was founded in 2012.) “We want to break that stigma that’s been built up in society that the church is judgmental and you have to be perfect to be in church,” Lee told the newspaper. Alan Seibel, associate pastor at OCC, said the program can help

October 29, 2019

Cincinnati Christian University to Close Doors after 95 Years

Cincinnati Christian University will close its doors and stop offering classes after this semester. CCU, which was founded in 1924, announced the decision on its website Monday and also shared a letter with its 500-plus students advising them of the school’s desire to work with them to find new homes at accredited institutions. To that end, CCU’s board of trustees also announced a partnership with Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Mo. Under the arrangement, CCCB is offering to continue providing accredited training to CCU ministry students in Cincinnati through establishment of a CCCB extension campus in the spring.

October 28, 2019

California Churches Cope with Surge of Wildfires

As wildfires rage across California, fueled by dry weather and strong winds, Christian churches are doing their best to operate in a difficult environment and step up to help those in need. Sebastopol (Calif.) Christian Church was unable to worship at its building on Sunday due to mandatory evacuations. That community was being threatened by the Kincade Fire near Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco. According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 2 million people had no power because of electrical company blackouts, and more than 180,000 people were evacuated. The fire has consumed more than 66,000 acres, The

October 26, 2019

Milligan College to Become Milligan University in 2020

Milligan College kicked off Homecoming weekend Friday by announcing it will change its name to Milligan University effective June 1, 2020. President Bill Greer and board of trustees chairman Ron Dove made the announcement after the fall board meeting. The decision followed two years of study and after considering input from alumni, faculty, staff, the college’s strategic planning committee, and others, according to a news release. “The name Milligan University reflects who we are today and our journey to this moment,” Greer said. “While our name and program offerings may change, who we are at our core hasn’t wavered for

October 23, 2019

Milligan’s New Ministry Leadership Program Off to Exciting Start

By Jim Nieman Milligan College’s move to strengthen its ministry program is starting to generate momentum. The school added several majors to its program last year, redesigned it to expose students to more ministry settings and incorporate more ministry practitioners, and beefed up the scholarship monies available to most students. “It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been really exciting,” Ron Kastens, director of Milligan’s new Ministry Leadership Program, said last Wednesday. “Friday morning [Oct. 18] a van leaves for Pittsburgh on a ‘ministry expedition’ . . . to help our students see what it looks like to do church in

October 23, 2019

News Briefs from Virginia, Nebraska, and Indiana

Belmont Christian Church, Christiansburg, Va., recently was part of a demonstration for a first-of-its-kind drone delivery service in the United States. The Roanoke Times reports that Wing Aviation, a sister company of Google, is launching the delivery zone that will drop off merchandise from several retailers, as well as FedEx packages up to 3.3 pounds. Wing has similar delivery zones in Australia and Finland. Wing spokesman Jonathan Bass said the company chose Christiansburg because of its ties with Virginia Tech and its drone division, Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. _ _ _ The number of people who describe themselves as Christian in

October 16, 2019

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

Renew Gathering Emphasizes Theology Behind Disciple-Making

By Chris Moon A new gathering of disciple-makers within the Restoration Movement—and beyond it—will meet Nov. 6 in Nashville. The Renew Gathering is expected to draw about 600 people. It is aimed at helping participants grasp solid disciple-making theology. The conference will serve as a precursor to the annual National Disciple Making Forum, which also will meet in Nashville and is set for Nov. 7, 8. “At Renew, you get the theology. At the National Disciple Making Forum, you get the methodology,” said Bobby Harrington, who is organizing both conferences and leads their accompanying websites, Renew.org and Discipleship.org. Harrington is

October 16, 2019

Shepherd Church Helps Shelter Fire Evacuees (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch, Calif., provided shelter and food for some of the 100,000 people evacuated from the Saddleridge Fire in north Los Angeles late last week. “Shepherd Church is open for any residents who need a place to go,” the church announced on its Facebook page last week. “Join us in praying and lifting up our community and the valley in this dangerous time. Please help us lift up all first responders, firefighters and families directly affected by the fire.” The Saddleridge fire broke out in Sylmar on Thursday night and

October 15, 2019

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

SCJ Conference Plans for 2020 Announced

The 19th annual Stone-Campbell Journal Conference will take place at Johnson University Tennessee in Knoxville next March 20, 21. The theme “Politics and the Stone-Campbell Movement” will be developed by featured speakers Shaun Casey, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and Public Affairs and professor in Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service; Jess Hale, attorney with the Tennessee General Assembly; and Richard Cherok, professor of history with Ozark Christian College. Casey will present “The Impact of Stone-Campbell Ideals: My Life in Political and Public Service” and “The Office of Religion and Global Affairs under Barack Obama: My

October 9, 2019

Church & Ministry Community Outreach

Rural Church Sees a-Maze-ing Opportunity in Cornfield

By Chris Moon Rinehart Christian Church in Missouri is surrounded by cornfields . . . and that’s a good reason to celebrate during October. “This is a very rural area,” senior minister Kevin Moyers told Christian Standard. But the church of about 200 people has a heart for families. It wants to see them come to know Christ and to spend quality time together. And so RCC created a corn maze on a 10-acre patch of land adjacent to the church property and is hosting a fall festival for people in the surrounding communities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

October 9, 2019

GLCC Plans 70th Anniversary Celebration (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Mich., will celebrate its 70th anniversary Oct. 18 and 19. A Restoration Appreciation Week Chapel will be at 11 a.m. Friday with Keith Keeran speaking. The 70th Celebration Service will be at 6:30 that night at the Doty Center. A reception for GLCC alumni and friends will follow at 8. An alumni brunch/reunion is set for 9 a.m. Saturday, with “family fun” and lunch from 10:30 a.m. until noon. Weekend anniversary events conclude with a soccer game at 1 p.m. Weekend festivities will also honor Larry Carter

October 7, 2019

McCormick Announced as LCU’s Next President

The selection of Dr. Silas McCormick as the eighth president of Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University was announced Friday. McCormick will assume that position on June 1, 2020, succeeding Dr. Don Green, who has been president since 2014. McCormick, who has served the university as executive vice president since June 2018, was the unanimous selection of the school’s board of trustees. He also has served LCU as vice president of enrollment and marketing and twice as the university’s chief academic officer. According to an LCU news release, a succession team made up of trustees, faculty, and staff was drawn to both

October 2, 2019

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Third City Going the Distance to Launch Broken Bow Site

By Jim Nieman The first venture into multisite ministry by Third City Christian Church, Grand Island, Neb., started with a request for help more than a year ago. First Christian Church in Broken Bow, Neb., about 80 miles away, had lost its minister, and the folks who remained thought the church “wasn’t going to make it,” said Third City senior minister Scott Jones, “[so] they reached out to us.” The folks at First Christian knew Third City was a healthy, growing church. TCCC averages about 1,500 on weekends and has a strong after-school program that sees about 350 students weekly.

October 2, 2019

Retired Minister Hires Special-Needs Workers for Venture (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman A retired pastor at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Ky., is opening a coffee shop that employs people with special needs. Brewster McLeod served Southland for 40 years before retiring last year. Now he is preparing to open McLeod’s Coffee House early this month at 376 Southland Drive. He has hired 50 employees, all of them with special needs, faithwire.com reports. “If Down syndrome or special needs make you nervous, you probably need to come in here and relax and just treat them like anyone else,” he told WKYT News. McLeod said he

October 2, 2019

Local Churches Organizations & Events

Church Seeks Help to Fix Road at former Crossroads College Site

Bear Creek Christian Church, Rochester, Minn., is seeking to raise $75,000 in donations to help pay to repair the main road of the church’s campus, which formerly was the home of Crossroads College (known previously as Minnesota Bible College). “The problem was that this past winter wreaked havoc on our already-deteriorated road,” outreach pastor Jeff Urban told the Post Bulletin. “If we can fundraise $75,000, it will help us avoid borrowing money for this repair and keep us on solid financial footing.” The road repairs had originally been scheduled for 2020. Bear Creek’s purchase of the campus was finalized in

October 2, 2019

Johnson Considers Adding Trails, Public Access to River at Tennessee Campus

Johnson University Tennessee is considering providing public access to the French Broad River which borders part of campus. Adding multi-use trails to that same area is also a possibility. The announcement was made at the 2019 Legacy Parks Luncheon which Johnson hosted Friday. The Royal Scribe, a Johnson student publication, reported on the event. “Over the coming year, the university will begin a feasibility study looking at [creating] public access to the French Broad River from this very site,” said Carol Evans, executive director of Legacy Parks Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for the community to enjoy

September 25, 2019

Nunes Filming Free Comedy Shows at Lincoln Christian Church

By Jim Nieman Jeremy Nunes, known for his “front porch” brand of stand-up comedy—humor that’s “clean enough that you don’t have to take it to the back porch”—will perform free shows at 5 and 7 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 28, at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian Church. The shows will be filmed and then shopped to three TV networks that have expressed interest. “My first special, 17 years into comedy!” says Nunes, who has appeared on NBC, Fox, PBS, and Comcast, among other networks. He explains that Funny & Amen Productions will produce and film the show and create a master file.

September 25, 2019