January 20, 2026
ICOM has announced Rob Maupin as its next Executive Director, succeeding David Empson after 25 years of leadership. Maupin will begin as transitional director April 1 and assume the role September 1.
September 2, 2024
Lifeline Christian Mission recently hit the milestone of having packed 100 million meals for people in need.
November 1, 2023
By Ben Simms “How can we love people without compromising truth?” This is a complex and challenging question, yet Jesus demonstrated it throughout his ministry. In a world that increasingly seems to want to bring down the church and challenge the teachings of Jesus, we must seek to love. As culture wages war with the truth, we are constantly bombarded with messages that run counter to how Scripture calls us to live. One of our primary purposes on earth is to love people toward the kingdom of Jesus. The culture wars, while significant, can be a way for Satan to
November 13, 2018
Lifeline Christian Mission partners with churches, schools, and others to provide the supplies—and opportunities—to serve people locally and globally through food-packing events. By Ben Simms Mix. Weigh. Seal. Ship. These four simple steps involve several generations, as participants gather to package shelf-stable meals for the hungry. A meal-packing event is one of the easiest and most popular ways to engage a group of people, whether large or small, in a service project together. The fun begins as you bring your group together, whether it’s your church, school, or employees. You host the meal-packing event at your location across the
July 29, 2016
By Ben Simms Abraham was a young man who knew trouble. At 12 years old, Abraham was involved in a gang and preferred life on the streets. But God was working. A new house church was being planted in Abraham”s hometown in El Salvador. Lifeline Christian Mission”s Bible Institute students and leaders went door-to-door inviting families to this new church. Two students approached Abraham and his friends and invited them to church. That moment changed Abraham”s life. Abraham visited the church and sat on the back row, listening intently. He was intrigued. Afterwards, as Pastor José greeted all who had
July 15, 2013
BEN SIMMS Executive vice president and chief operating officer, Lifeline Christian Mission, Westerville, Ohio Vision. Passion. Humility. These are three qualities that come to mind when I think about Ben Simms. I believe his vision for ministry is God”s vision because it includes the entire world. An ever-increasing number of people are called “visionary,” but their vision is often limited to one concept, project, or area of ministry. Not so with Ben Simms. He is able to see potential and possibilities when others focus solely on the obstacles and difficulties accompanying any opportunity. Passion is an indispensable attribute in ministry, but unbridled
September 9, 2009
By Mark A. Taylor Late last year when Kent Fillinger, Ben Simms, and I were planning our annual megachurch issue, Kent and Ben had a new idea. “Why don”t we do the same research with a group of smaller churches?” I thought that idea sounded interesting, and the result is the issue you”re holding in your hands. As is always true with projects of this kind, getting churches to send us their data is the most difficult part. For this issue, we invited churches in repeated printed and e-mailed announcements. Kent and Ben made several personal contacts. We fell short
August 16, 2009
 by Ben Simms What happens when you mix hungry kids in need with churches hungry to serve? A perfect recipe for an incredible project. Dozens of churches across the United States have teamed with Lifeline Christian Mission”s Kids Helping Kids ministry in partnership with Kids Against Hunger, to bag tons of food for hungry kids in Haiti.  While not as tasty as Grandma”s turkey dinner, the food packed at each bagging event is certainly more than rice and water. The Kids Against Hunger mix is a specially formulated, fast-cooking, rice-based combination of vitamins, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and other nutrients
June 17, 2009
By Mark A. Taylor The votes are in, each round of balloting has finished, and the winner in our first-ever Church Branding Competition has been named. Congratulations to Compass Christian Church whose logo rose to the top and garnered the most votes in each of four face-offs. The competition began the week of April 19 with 16 church logos (see list below). Eight were eliminated the first week, and four more the second week, leaving the top four vote-getters. The third round of voting determined the final match-up: Parkway Christian Church (Surprise, Arizona; see below) vs. Compass Christian (a multisite
April 13, 2008
By Staff This year, CHRISTIAN STANDARD“s annual megachurch issue is bigger than ever. We offer you more pages, more information, more analysis, and a more complete picture of what”s happening in our megachurches. We include several indicators of how healthy our megachurches are as a whole. We review a book that dispels several myths about megachurches. And we interview the gatherer and analyzer of most of this information, Kent Fillinger. Kent, who serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting in Indianapolis, Indiana, compiled and wrote most of the articles in this issue, along with Ben Simms, research consultant with 3:STRANDS. They
April 13, 2008
Staff/Ben Simms Another emerging megachurch has been added to our annual list of megachurches and emerging megachurches, which is one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD’s most popular features. That brings to 114 the total number of churches listed as megachurches (those with 2,000 or more in weekly attendance) or emerging megachurches (those with average attendance of 1,000 to 1,999) during 2007. The most recent addition is Northside Christian Church, Yorktown, VA, which averaged 1,062 people in weekend worship during 2007. Northside”s Easter attendance was 1,782; there were 49 baptisms during the year. The senior minister is Larry Jones. Northside”s Web site is www.northsidecc.org. (An e-mail
April 13, 2008
By Kent Fillinger and Ben Simms WHAT IS “AVERAGE”? The 52 megachurches” average size: 4,019 The 61 emerging megachurches” average size: 1,441 All 113 churches average size: 2,628 Total attendance of all 113 churches on an average weekend: 296,926 Total attendance for Easter 2007: 486,677 Total baptisms for all of 2007: 19,107 STATE BY STATE Number of churches reported in each state: 17″”Indiana 11″”California, Ohio 8″”Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky 6″”Florida 5″”Colorado, Texas 4″”Missouri, Nevada 3″”Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, Washington 2″”Georgia, Oregon, Wisconsin 1″”Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia 26 states have a megachurch listed FASTEST GROWING Fastest-Growing Churches
April 9, 2008
By Mark A. Taylor There”s much to feel good about in this year”s annual megachurch issue. Read through these reports carefully. Look at all the numbers in the small-print sidebars. The statistics indicate many victories won, many reasons to celebrate what these churches are accomplishing. There”s Hillside Christian Church, Amarillo, Texas, for example, the fastest growing church (62 percent in one year!) reported here. Or Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona, whose growth rate since 1997 is a whopping 451 percent! With 700 baptisms in 2007, Christ”s Church of the Valley was one of five churches from our
By Mark A. Taylor When we say CHRISTIAN STANDARD is a magazine for leaders in the local church, immediately we create a problem. Just who is a leader? At no time is that question more clearly answered than when we consider the Leaders in Christian Service program cosponsored by Milligan College and Standard Publishing. Leaders in Christian Service recognizes men and women who have discovered the beauty in the paradox presented by Christ: “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26, New Living Translation ). Those who have received this reward in the past
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