Articles for tag: Alan Hirsch

September 22, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Four Opportunities for Every Church in the New Reality

By Dave Ferguson On March 12, 2020, I made two different versions of a video, knowing only one of them would be sent to our entire church. In the first video, I said we would stick to our normal schedule with 26 services at 11 locations across Chicagoland. In the second video, I introduced a new reality by telling everyone our church facilities were closing and we were moving everything online. After I finished recording the videos, my wife and I headed to O’Hare International Airport to fly to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We were planning to see our youngest son,

February 2, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Church Multiplication Scorecard

By Kent Fillinger  A new question on our last annual church survey asked, “Using the scale created by Exponential.org, which of the following best describes your church in 2017?”              Level 1: Declining (attendance going down) Level 2: Holding Even (attendance largely unchanged) Level 3: Growing (attendance growth by 5 percent or more) Level 4: Adding/Reproducing (we directly launched another new campus or church plant) Level 5: Multiplying (a campus or church we helped to start has itself become a reproducing church) In Exponential’s e-book Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide, Todd Wilson, Dave Ferguson, and Alan Hirsch provided

July 17, 2015

Christian Standard

Mel McGowan’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Mel McGowan, president of Visioneering Studios, Irvine, California. ________ Eric O. Jacobsen: He has been one of the best theologians of space and an “interpreter” of our contemporary cities and communities through his advocacy of “New Urbanism,” which describes the maturing of the American suburban dream into a denser, more diverse, polycentric, postmodern reality. Dave Gibbons: David is my Jedi kung

June 18, 2013

Christian Standard

Real Churches, Missional Ministry

By Mark A. Taylor Of all the articles about missional ministry we”ve posted this month, I like the stories from churches most. Maybe you agree. Although we”re energized by the insights of missional leaders like Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch, their ideas come to life in the strategies, experiences, successes, and failures of local congregations. Rivertree Christian Church, Massillon, Ohio; Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois; and Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, encourage us with the new paths they”re blazing. And now you can hear leaders from these three churches discuss their ministry. We”re bringing them to you via CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s

June 11, 2013

Christian Standard

From Fad to Phenomenon

By Mark A. Taylor Is “missional” just a fad? Will church leaders and seminar speakers still be talking about “missional” a decade from now? We can hope the answer to both questions is no. As churches everywhere begin to believe the missional approach is basic, natural, necessary, and biblical, the need to define and discuss it may fade away. Maybe someday church leaders everywhere will see “missional”””just like “evangelistic” or “loving” or “Christ-centered”””as central to the very definition of church. Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch express some concern about overuse and misuse of the word. Just like “externally focused” or

May 31, 2013

Christian Standard

What”s Next for the Missional Church?

By Brian Mavis Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network. He also coleads Future Travelers, an innovative learning program helping megachurches become missional movements. Hirsch is known for his innovative approach to mission, and is considered to be a thought leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. He is not only gifted in understanding the origin of movements, he is able to envision how to create new movements within Christianity.  Hirsch is the author of The Forgotten Ways, and is coauthor of The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus, and The Faith

July 18, 2012

Christian Standard

NACC Wrap-up: Numbers and More

By Mark A. Taylor It seems everyone who attended this year’s North American Christian Convention was happy about their experience. Many speak of the wonderful resort where the conference was held under just one roof July 10-13. They praise the preaching. They comment on the refreshing insights from special guests like Alan Hirsch and Reggie McNeal. They were engaged and inspired by the creative worship led by Tim Foot. They loved laughing with Chonda Pierce. And quite a few of them played golf and enjoyed the waterpark-like pools at Orlando’s World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center. And now that

June 7, 2012

Christian Standard

Seven Positive Trends for Megachurches

By Brian Mavis I asked nine authors, academics, megachurch pastors, and missional church planters “What”s next for megachurches?”Â The nine shared enough opinions and insights for several articles, and I will develop those in upcoming issues. Several of the leaders I contacted mentioned some concerns, but this month let”s focus on identifying and distilling seven positive trends.   1. Deeper Discipleship Megachurches are growing less content with measuring attendance alone. David Faust, president of Cincinnati Christian University, said at a megachurch leaders conference he was . . . encouraged to hear a number of megachurch leaders talking about how their plans for the

April 25, 2012

Christian Standard

Missional and Attractional

By Rick Grover Versus is such a compelling word. It immediately communicates conflict, and it ushers concerned parties to set up camp on which side of vs. they believe to be correct. With a basic understanding of missional as to go and be the church and attractional as to come and see the church1, I”ve been on both sides of the vs. I prefer to see it as faith development. When my family and I moved to New Orleans to plant a church, we did so with great clarity on what kind of church we believed God was calling us

April 24, 2012

Christian Standard

The Attractional Model: “˜Come and See”

By Brian Jobe The growing population of church critics out there disheartens me. I”m not talking about the reform-minded leaders who actually love the church of Jesus and work to make it stronger. I”m referring to the so-called leaders who cloister themselves in a corner and proclaim how horrible the church is. Everybody but them is doing it wrong! As a young leader””and by that, I mean under 40″”I have been around a lot of younger guys who preach the praises of the missional church model. The premise is excellent: We need to be in the trenches, in the communities,

March 6, 2012

Christian Standard

NACC 2012: Speakers, Topics to Challenge and Refresh

  By Jennifer Taylor Some leaders attend conferences to hear just one or two of these speakers; at the 2012 NACC you can learn from them all! Mark Scott, exposition and leadership pastor at Mountainview Community Christian Church (Highlands Ranch, Colorado), will kick off the week with his Tuesday night message, “Come, Be Refreshed.” He is a popular author and speaker and former professor at Ozark Christian College (Joplin, Missouri). On Wednesday morning the main session will feature Jerry Taylor from Abilene (Texas) Christian University. Taylor teaches Bible classes at the university and is also one of the organizers of the

October 29, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . Recognizing Leadership Potential

By Mandy Smith The Contrarian”s Guide to Leadership Stephen B. Sample San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003 It seems the church is ready for some contrary thinking on leadership, not for the sake of being contrary, but to challenge assumptions that may not be scriptural or right for our era. Consider several examples: “¢ Rex Miller explains that for the past 60 years, organizations have rewarded “skills like persuasion, a high-profile image, innovation, risk taking . . . leaps up the success ladder, interpersonal skills, the ability to think on one”s feet, and so forth. . . . But congregants in the

February 24, 2008

Christian Standard

The Polysite Church

By Dave Ferguson “I”m not sure I can get them to come to church with me.” I was surprised to hear Kathy say this because literally every week she brings people who are far from God to Community Christian Church (CCC). Often I will look out into the crowd during a weekend service and see a whole row of people sitting next to her and I know these are people just beginning their spiritual search. Kathy is as passionate about helping people to find their way to God as I am. So I listened intently as she described a group

June 11, 2006

Christian Standard

Seeing the Big Picture

By Larry Chouinard Does life ever feel like a series of disconnected scenes with no discernible plot, a mere random collection of episodes fragmented by one crisis after another? Is it only the tyranny of the particulars that scripts our lives? We seem driven by a series of episodes, like a weekly TV sitcom whose events are only loosely connected. Success in life seems determined by how well we are able to juggle the particulars and achieve some kind of rhythmic balance. But for some of us, as the particulars multiply (e.g., family, job, children, health issues, financial security), maintaining

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