Articles for tag: A Cappella Churches

June 15, 2018

Michael C. Mack

Why I, Too, Love the Restoration Movement

By Michael C. Mack   Like Rick Chromey, I love the Restoration Movement . . . but for very different reasons. Rick grew up in an independent Christian church. I had never heard of these churches until I was 27. In his article, “Why I Love the Restoration Movement,” Rick says he is thankful for his upbringing in the church; I’m thankful for a church, and a movement of churches, that exist to carry out the mission of Jesus to go and make disciples. I am an example of someone whose life was forever changed because a church in our

July 6, 2015

Christian Standard

A Conversation with John Mark Hicks

  John Mark Hicks tells what thrills him when he looks at the Christian churches and churches of Christ. “We need an infusion of church-planting enthusiasm among the a cappella churches of Christ,” he says. In this exclusive interview with Editor Mark Taylor, he explains the trend he sees with Baptists and Stone-Campbell churches coming closer to each other on the position of baptism. “Does God do something through baptism?” Answers to the question are creating new dialogue. See the interview here.

March 18, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Extending a Hand and Standing Firm

By Mark A. Taylor The cover headline on Christian Standard”s July 2, 2006 edition was “We Are NOT the Only Christians.” The lead article was from a book written by Rick Atchley and Bob Russell, a small volume about Christian unity titled Together Again*. The book”s publication coincided with the historic 2006 North American Christian Convention, whose theme and goal was to repair wounds and open doors between a cappella churches of Christ and independent, instrumental Christian churches and churches of Christ. But the book talked about more than that division. It also offered a challenge for how we view

July 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Interview with Russ Kuykendall

By Paul Boatman   Russ Kuykendall is a lifelong Christian who spent his youth and young adulthood preparing for ministry. For the past 20 years he has ministered in the arena of Canadian politics.   How did you happen to choose a career in politics? I did not really choose a political career. I chose to live a life in ministry. I was raised on a farm near Grande Prairie, Alberta. My family loved the church and wanted us to live a Christian life in interface with our wider community and events of the world. Serving Christ was my life”s

May 20, 2009

Christian Standard

More Than Talk About Unity

By Mark A. Taylor Most biblical ideals are easier to talk about than to practice. I may be able to quote Bible verses about love or patience or forgiveness or grace. But just let the neighbor”s dog wake me with its barking or my coworker across the aisle talk too loud on the phone, and let”s see how I express those virtues! Perhaps no value is easier to promote and also more difficult to experience than unity. Whenever I”m called upon to explain the Restoration Movement to someone who doesn”t know us, I”m faced with this reality. Soon into my

July 30, 2008

Christian Standard

First Steps Toward Mending Broken Relationships

By Mark A. Taylor When I”m convinced I”m right and you”re wrong, I can find many justifications for refusing to give you a call. The first step toward mending a broken relationship is sometimes the most difficult. This is especially true when it comes to religion. It”s not just that I feel those folks in the church building down the street are mixed up. I”ve got chapter and verse to prove it. Unfortunately, nowhere has this been more evident than between some in each of the three “streams” of the Restoration Movement. But would it be possible to focus on

October 28, 2007

Christian Standard

Let’s Celebrate

By Bob Russell About These Articles This article and its companion, “How Should We Celebrate?,” are excerpted from Bob Russell“s closing sermon at the North American Christian Convention in Kansas City, July 6. Bob reviewed the biblical examples of celebrating what God has done, and then he highlighted some of what God is doing among us today.     This is a time when those of us in the Restoration Movement should really be celebrating God”s victories. In the early 1800s our forefathers sensed a lack of vitality in the church and prayed for revival. They desired not just a

June 7, 2006

Christian Standard

Interview with Bob Russell

By Brad Dupray Bob Russell says he “anticipated staying four or five years” when he came to Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1966. “I saw myself going back to Pennsylvania, preaching somewhere near my hometown.” God had other plans. In 40 years of ministry at Southeast Bob has led the church to weekend attendance of 19,000. The church has become a force for evangelism, a help to those in need, and the conscience in its community. The word on the street is Bob Russell is retiring. How would you define this transition in your life? I think it’s

March 26, 2006

Christian Standard

Unleashing the Potential of the Smaller Church

By Shawn McMullen We”re a nation of smaller churches. A recent study released by Barna Research1 reported that the typical church in America has an average worship attendance of 89 adults””that a full 60 percent of Protestant churches in our country attract an average of 100 or fewer adults to weekly worship. This is not to downplay the significance of larger churches. They”re here to stay, and they play a vital role in the work of God”s kingdom. I thank God for larger churches and for those who lead and serve in them. Still, smaller churches (I”m referring to churches

February 1, 2006

Christian Standard

A Place in the History Books

By Mark A. Taylor This year’s North American Christian Convention extends a plea for unity and promises an experience of unity. It points us to an event in history: the 1906 census, which was the first to list “Christian Churches” and “Churches of Christ” as two separate groups in the United States. And it hopes to make history again in 2006, the year members of these separate but similar fellowships acknowledge their brotherhood and vow to work and worship together. Time will tell whether reality matches anticipation. All of us know that watershed dates quoted by historians are often not

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