Series: News

May 2, 2014

Christian Standard

Showing God”s Love for the Disabled Community

By Jennifer Johnson “The disability community is often a hidden community,” says Ryan Wolfe, developmental disabilities pastor at First Christian Church (Canton, OH). “In every city, they largely take care of themselves. But you don”t have to read much beyond the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14 to realize this group is close to God”s heart.” Wolfe and his wife began serving the disabled in their area by volunteer coaching in the local Challenger Baseball league. “We were outsiders,” he says. “We were the only coaches who didn”t have a kid playing, so we got a lot of

May 1, 2014

Christian Standard

News Briefs from Colorado, California, and Indiana

A ‘Community Catalyst’ LAKEWOOD, CO “” A recent Denver Post article profiled Reg Cox, senior minister with Lakewood Church of Christ, and his work as a “community catalyst” who connected with two dozen church leaders, civic leaders, and others from the community to help a local elementary school. “There really has to be a way the sacred, secular and civic can work together,” Cox says in the article. “And when we do, cities and communities can be transformed. Real problems can be solved . . . we don”t have to believe the exaggerated, negative narrative that”s spun by people that

April 4, 2014

Christian Standard

Strengthening the Foundation of Faith

By Jennifer Johnson Tired of seeing teenagers head off to college and never return to church? Bob Hall has created a Sunday school class for 12th-graders. “There just seemed to be a weak foundation for their faith,” he says. As a nuclear engineer, he could answer many of the students” questions about science, and together they dug into the Bible. He taught the class for seven years. Now, at Velocity Christian Church (Glen Allen, VA), Hall has a bigger vision for a broader age group. “I read science articles and I read the comments,” he says. “We live in a

April 3, 2014

Christian Standard

New Conference for Associate Ministers

By Jennifer Johnson There are conferences for senior pastors, executive pastors, youth ministers, worship pastors, and even administrative assistants. Now Tim Anderson, associate director at CrossRoads Missions (Louisville, KY), is creating a conference for associate ministers. “I”ve been an associate minister for 26 years, in three churches””everything from the small church where I had a hand in everything to a large megachurch where I had more focused responsibilities,” he says. “It”s a unique role with unique challenges, and I wanted to do something that could help this group.” He “pitched” the idea to Bob Russell more than a year ago

March 10, 2014

Christian Standard

Bible Bowl Behind Bars

By Jennifer Johnson Bible Bowl tournaments are happening in churches, on college campuses, at conventions””and in a jail in Circleville, OH. When Kevin Littler became chaplain at the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility, he wanted to create opportunities for Bible study, and believed competition could be the draw to encourage participation. Josiah Gorman, executive director at the National Bible Bowl office in Cincinnati, encouraged Littler to contact Bill Thomas, the new minister at nearby Northridge Church of Christ. “I know the life of a senior minister is very hectic, and I was simply hoping he could recommend a volunteer to coach

March 9, 2014

Christian Standard

Aid to Stick

By Jennifer Johnson Why do we always want to Band-Aid the solution? Never mind. I know why. Whether it”s homelessness or abortion or violence in schools, it”s easier to organize a sock giveaway, stand on a picket line, or bicker about gun control than to address the systemic social issues that first led to the problem. I relearned this a few months ago when interviewing my friend Becky Ahlberg about My Safe Harbor, a nonprofit she (and Anaheim First Christian Church) launched in 2008 to serve a city ravaged by gang violence, crime, and poverty. It might have been easier

March 9, 2014

Christian Standard

Compelled to Do More

By Jennifer Johnson “Williamsburg, Virginia, is a wonderful place to live, a place full of history and beauty,” says Fred Liggin. “It”s also a city that”s in denial about its homeless population and its deep poverty.” Several years ago a family showed up at Williamsburg Christian Church asking for a place to stay overnight. Liggin, who serves as WCC”s lead minister, felt compelled to do more. “I decided we”d have to do better than a room for the night, because Jesus would not want this family and their little baby to go back on the streets,” he says. “I had

January 31, 2014

Christian Standard

Partnership Opening Doors to China

By Jennifer Johnson The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that China sends more students to study in the United States than any other country””and some of them now study with Lincoln (IL) Christian University. In 2008, LCU began partnering with the American China Civic Exchange to meet the needs of Christian students and churches in China. Today the school”s China Institute offers beginning English study, seminars, training classes, and summer camp experiences as well as two- and four-year college degree programs. “We think of the China Institute as a gateway for these students,” says Dr. James Estep, dean of the

January 30, 2014

Christian Standard

Re:gifting

By Jennifer Johnson According to Romans, 1 Corinthians, and Ephesians, each Christian has been given a spiritual gift as evidence of the Holy Spirit working in his life, and each gift is intended to build up and serve the church. Love that. What I don”t love is that I cannot, for the life of me, figure out my gift. I”ve done all the tests and they”re inconclusive at best””some say one thing, some say another. It”s entirely possible the tests are flawed, not the principle, or that the problem is with me. Then again, many generations of believers built the

January 30, 2014

Christian Standard

Getting Involved

By Jennifer Johnson Like many churches, West Side Christian Church (Springfield, IL) constantly needs volunteers. Unlike many churches, West Side recently focused an entire weekend on creatively and intentionally connecting people with ministry opportunities””and today 50 percent of their adults serve at church in some way. “The volunteering emphasis was part of our “˜Cannonball” initiative, which shared our vision for what God”s calling us to as a church and challenged people to go “˜all in” with their faith,” says Melissa Sandel, director of ministries. Sandel and her team focused on removing barriers and making it as easy as possible for

January 2, 2014

Christian Standard

Neighbor Saving

By Jennifer Johnson My favorite neighbors are the Jewish couple next door. This is not because they are the only neighbors I know, although that, also, is true. But even if I knew everyone on our street I would still adore the Needlemans and their squishy, smiley, 1-year-old twins. This weekend we”re taking care of their two black labs; when Matt and I travel in a few weeks they”ll look in on our own ginormous dog. This past summer our times together included an impromptu Memorial Day cookout, a cozy Sunday evening with the kids, and a trying but ultimately

January 2, 2014

Christian Standard

Extending Our Hand All the Way

By Frank Shirvinski (In this column, Frank Shirvinski, senior minister at Chaparral Christian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, writes about the church”s initiatives to connect with its local interfaith community.) Our relationship with the Jewish community in Scottsdale started a number of years ago with the release of The Passion of the Christ. When [Mel] Gibson”s movie came to town, two synagogues and two churches took the opportunity to present a joint screening, followed by a panel discussion with local clergy. The theater was sold out””and the discussion was greatly appreciated by an audience both interested in and concerned about the state

December 12, 2013

Christian Standard

Church Development Fund Announces Presidential Transition

IRVINE, California ““ Provision Ministry Group CEO Larry Winger, along with the PMG and Church Development Fund boards, announced today a transition in the presidency of CDF from Brad Dupray to Dusty Rubeck. The news follows several months of reassessment related to the ministry”s current status and needs, which resulted in the identification of a directional shift in the essential leadership qualities needed for future growth. “Brad Dupray stepped in at a critical moment in the history of CDF to assume the role of president and provide much-needed stability during the worst economic recession we have experienced in years,” said

December 5, 2013

Christian Standard

Institute Completing First Term

By Jennifer Johnson This month, adults of every age and from every background are completing their first term at the Eastside Institute for Spiritual Growth and Leadership, a new educational initiative created by Eastside Christian Church and Hope International University. The two Fullerton, CA, ministries have partnered to develop a two-year, four-term “night school” that introduces students to the Bible, the character and nature of God, his covenant, the teachings of Jesus, the mis-sion of the church, and more. “The Institute is providing three things,” says Charles Stoicu, director. “One is a focus on Bible knowledge””many people are biblically “˜illiterate,”

December 2, 2013

Christian Standard

On the March

By Jennifer Johnson This August, Matt and I took the kids to Washington, D.C., for several days of museums and merriment. (A tip: if you have kids, the single best thing you can ever spend money on in your entire life is a hotel room with a set of bunk beds and a second TV.) Because we are rock stars at planning, our week in the city happened to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, which meant visiting the Lincoln Memorial with 9 trillion extra people. It also meant that on the morning of the event,

December 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Sometimes the Best Things Aren”t Planned

By Jennifer Johnson “We didn”t set out to recruit three African-American church planters for our 2014 plants,” says Brent Storms, president of the Orchard Group, a church planting organization based in New York City. “Our goal is always to find the very best young leaders, and Watson, Jordan, and Derrick were simply the right people.” Watson Jones will plant in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, an area rich in history and diversity, but with little church attendance and a growing Islamic community. Jordan Rice, currently a leadership resident at Forefront Church in Manhattan, will start a church in Harlem, once

October 16, 2013

Christian Standard

Oakes Steps Down as President of Central Christian College of the Bible

Central Christian College of the Bible (Moberly, MO) announced Oct. 8 that Dr. Ronald Oakes had resigned as the school’s president in a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors Oct. 4. According to the school’s website, board chairman Gene McCoy met with college staff Oct. 7 and said, “We have commended Dr. Oakes for his faithful service and dedication to a responsibility he did not seek in 2005, when we, upon faculty recommendations and with the assistance of faculty representatives on the presidential search team, asked him to serve the college as its president. We are grateful to Dr.

October 16, 2013

Christian Standard

Lipscomb Working to Save ‘Contributor’

By Jennifer Johnson Alumni from Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN) helped create The Contributor, a “street newspaper” sold by the homeless in the city to provide a source of income for themselves and a source of information on homelessness to the public. Recently, Lipscomb alumni, administration, faculty, staff and students came together to save it. In September, The Contributor “announced that unless enough money could be raised in the next month, the September issue would be its last,”Â Lipscomb writes. The college community raised more than $5,000 and LU president Dr. Randy Lowry provided a matching gift, making the total donation over $11,000. “Contributor vendors sell about 50,000 newspapers each week,”

October 5, 2013

Christian Standard

Educating Ministers as They Serve

By Jennifer Johnson “Old methods of seminary training assume an outdated model that”s primarily baptizing, marrying, and burying,” says Mark Love, dean of the School of Theology and Ministry at Rochester College (Rochester Hills, MI). “But we don”t live in that world anymore. We need to be teaching students how to read a culture and relate to it as missionaries.” To this end, Love created the Master of Religious Education in Missional Leadership, a two-year, 36-hour program designed to educate students while they serve in a local ministry. “Their ministry context is their primary classroom,” Love says. “So we combine

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