November 18, 2025
What Should We Make of All the Revival Talk Among the Youth?
Many indicators suggest that there is an encouraging surge of curiosity in the supernatural, spiritual hunger, commitment to Jesus, and church attendance.
Articles for tag: Baptisms
2024 Fast Facts From Christian Standard Church Report
Fast Facts compiled from the 2024 Christian Standard Church Report.
October 31, 2024
A Trustworthy Ministry
It’s hard to know which organizations to trust today, but you can tell much about an organization that pours into you when it has nothing to gain. The Solomon Foundation was encouraging me and mentoring me long before I worked for a church associated with their network of churches.
July 16, 2024
Dedication of an Empty Tomb in Michigan
On Sunday, June 23, the Northview Christian Church of Coldwater, Mich., dedicated a newly constructed empty tomb.
January 24, 2024
Annual Survey: Please Share Your Church’s Information
There is still time to complete Christian Standard's Annual Survey of Churches. This survey of 2023 data is designed for every Restoration Movement church (Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ)—from the largest to smallest—and takes only a few minutes to complete . . .
September 1, 2023
Hooked on Hope!
How Are Our Churches—and Our Movement—Doing Today? An Honest Evaluation.
Scary Faith
God led us to reach thousands more for Christ through a capital campaign for a new building. This is our story of walking with God through whirlwinds of uncertainty.
SPOTLIGHT: Kids’ Ministry, Local Outreach Spark Baptisms at Kentucky Church
First Christian Church in Monticello, Ky., had a banner year for baptisms in 2022, according to the annual Church Report compiled by Christian Standard. Senior minister Joe Tipton said three factors accounted for the large number of baptisms at the church (which dates back to 1831) . . .
May 16, 2023
SPOTLIGHT: Nebraska Church Enjoys Strong Recovery from COVID
Sometimes, a story of growth is a story of recovery. Such is the case at First Christian Church in Norfolk, Neb.—which had one of the highest growth rates in Christian Standard’s 2022 Church Report, published in the current print magazine. . . .
May 1, 2023
The Christian Standard Church Report for 2022: A Year of Transition
By Kent E. Fillinger When I look back at the last few years through the filter of our annual survey results, I would argue that 2020 was a year of crisis, 2021 was a year of adaptation, and 2022 was a year of transition. In-Person vs. Online Worship Attendance One exciting transition churches experienced last year was more people shifted back to in-person worship from watching online. Comparing 2022 in-person worship attendance data to 2021 showed attendance increases for churches of all sizes. The megachurches (with average weekly worship attendance of 2,000 or more) suffered the greatest attendance declines during
January 24, 2023
Merger of Two Idaho Churches Fuels Kingdom Growth
COVID-19 impacted churches everywhere in 2020, but two churches in Boise, Idaho, saw their futures forever altered through a merger that has spurred two years of growth and almost 50 baptisms during 2022.
June 10, 2022
‘A Focus of Prayer’: Compass Celebrates Baptism Rebound in a Visual Way
A wall at Compass Christian Church in Chandler, Ariz., tells the story of the rebound in baptisms the megachurch has experienced thus far in 2022.
Food Pantry Ministry Leads to Baptisms (Plus News Briefs)
Four people served by the Fortville Area Resource Mission, hosted by Fortville (Ind.) Christian Church, were baptized at the church last week as about 30 people looked on. Plus additional briefs from IDES, ICOM, Johnson University, SpireConference, and more.
January 18, 2022
Churches Encouraged to Complete Our Annual Survey
All independent Christian churches and churches of Christ are encouraged to participate in Christian Standard’s annual survey, which is now available.
July 6, 2021
Person to Person Ministries Prepares for 50th Hillsboro Family Camp
From July 26 to 29, Ohio-based Person 2 Person Ministries will host its 50th Hillsboro Family Camp, bringing together Christians for fellowship, worship, and learning after a difficult year of social distancing.
May 1, 2021
Why Are Numbers Important to Church Leaders?
Numbers can create tension or conflict between church leaders based on who is higher on a list. Our concentration needs to be on the positive impact of the numbers rather than if my numbers are better than others!
Church Survey: Facts and Figures from a Funky Year
The year 2020 was, well . . . different! And, because of that, we knew it was super important to capture the stories and statistics from 2020 to gauge the true impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our churches and establish baselines to measure future growth and changes.
SPOTLIGHT: Alvadore Christian Church (Junction City, OR)
Exactly What This Very Small Church Needed Advancing their technology has never been a top priority at Alvadore Christian Church, a congregation of about 65 people in the small, rural town of Junction City, Oregon. It’s not that senior pastor Marcus Omdahl is old-fashioned. Omdahl is a sharp young leader with a wife and school-age daughter. But until recently, he understood that livestreaming was not something the congregation or the community was likely to embrace. Of course, that all changed with the spread of COVID-19 early in 2020. Immediately, Alvadore Christian, like so many other churches, suspended in-person worship services
January 1, 2021
Opportunity and Open Doors
When the Pandemic Hit, Our Leaders Went to Work to Discover the Best Ways for Us to Serve Our Community . . . One of our pastors, while addressing the coaching staff at a local college last year, described Ekklesia Christian Church as opportunists. Any time God cracks open a door, even slightly, and we see a target that aligns with our core values and seems beneficial for the kingdom, we run at it. In our six years as a church, God has opened doors that have brought about immeasurably more than all we asked or imagined. Perhaps that’s why Saturday, March 14,
May 1, 2020
2019 Fast Facts from Our Annual Survey of Churches
These “fast facts” are gleaned from survey data collected by Kent Fillinger about churches ranging in average attendance from 10 to 34,444 during 2019. This information is also available in chart form as a download. The download also includes a complete listing of the 439 churches that participated in our survey, and spotlights the 10 fastest-growing churches in each category and those churches with the highest baptism ratios (most baptisms per 100 in average attendance). Go here to ACCESS THE DOWNLOAD. Also, be sure to read Fillinger’s article, “The Difference a Decade Makes.” _ _ _ AVERAGE ATTENDANCE Megachurches: 5,765
