December 20, 2023
News Briefs for Dec. 20
Briefs from ICOM, Orchard Group, Kentucky Christian University, Great Lakes Christian College, Johnson University, and more . . .
Articles for tag: Brent Storms
July 18, 2022
‘Hungry for Something New’: Orchard, Harvester Teaming Up to Plant a Church in Ferguson, Mo.
Orchard Group and Harvester Christian Church are partnering to plant a new church in Ferguson, Mo. “The city is hungry for something new, something fresh—but more important, something genuine,” church planter Lenny Brown said.
June 22, 2021
RHM, Orchard Group Partnering to Reach New England
Restoration House Ministries and Orchard Group have announced a partnership that their respective boards of directors believe will strengthen and accelerate church-planting efforts in New England.
January 31, 2021
‘7 Reasons to Back Church Planters’
In Orchard Group's 2020-2021 Report, president/CEO Brent Storms shared these “7 Reasons to Back Church Planters” . . .
June 5, 2017
Urban Churches, Creative Solutions
By Brent Storms Where to meet presents special challenges for new congregations in expensive, congested cities. Urban churches are finding solutions that offer lessons for anyone”s church building decisions. One of the biggest challenges of starting a church in a city center or urban context is finding the right facility for Sunday gatherings. Space is limited. Landlords are skeptical. Prices are (often) outrageous. One example of the challenges: hotly contested lawsuits have bounced from court to court over whether churches should be allowed to rent New York City public schools for religious services. Some churches have been in public schools,
April 18, 2016
Opening Doors
“You don”t have to leave the movement to lead beyond it.” Six perspectives on a provocative statement ________ By Jennifer Johnson These leaders love the Restoration Movement and its principles, but they also work and minister “outside” of it with the churches they serve, the partnerships they pursue, and the parachurch ministries they lead. Here are their thoughts on what it means to go beyond the movement, why it matters, and how it can honor God. Brent Storms The biggest question for me is how does one “get in” and “get out” of our movement? We”re coming across planters and church
July 26, 2015
Toney Salva’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 Toney Salva, founding and lead pastor, Discovery Christian Church in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. ________ Five individuals have impacted my life in the most profound ways. I grew up without a godly male role model until I met Scott Reinemeyer, my youth minister. He taught me what it meant to be a follower of Jesus and discipled me through my teen years
June 15, 2015
Responding to Jim Putman
We asked three leaders to react to Jim Putman’s article describing his church’s decision to plant churches instead of develop multisites. By Brent Storms, president, The Orchard Group (www.orchardgroup.org) ONE OF THE BIGGEST FACTORS in starting healthy churches is the quality of the lead planter. One of the characteristics of the best church planters is that they are great communicators. The only way to develop one”s communication gift is to be afforded frequent opportunities to speak and receive helpful feedback. I share Jim”s concern that the trend toward campuses that are video venues effectively reduces the opportunities younger leaders have to preach. That
December 2, 2013
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
January 11, 2013
How Do You Define Your Leadership? Brent Storms
By Brent Storms When I started playing soccer, it was hard to find shin guards that didn”t come up past my knees. I didn”t get very good until about the time my voice changed. I played three years on the varsity team in high school (we were terrible) and four years in college (we were pretty good). I stopped playing in adult leagues a few years ago when most games ended with an injury of some kind. I”ve always been a forward, an offensive player. Of course, every forward loves to score goals, and I”m no exception. But there”s something else
April 12, 2012
Orchard Group Teaming Up to Plant Church in Ireland
By Jennifer Taylor Limerick, Ireland, currently has just a handful of Evangelical churches, but this fall the Orchard Group will help an Irish church planter start one more. Dermot O”Mahony, a native of Limerick, moved to the United States after college to work with a growing church, gain ministry experience, and extend his education. He and his wife, Marie, settled in Arizona, where Dermot served as an intern, and then an outreach minister, with Christ”s Church of the Valley in Peoria, and took classes at Hope International University (Fullerton, CA). When CCV decided to help the O”Mahonys start a church
January 22, 2012
Power Planting
Brent Storms became president of Orchard Group in 2009 and CEO this past July. Greg Nettle joined the Stadia team as president just a few months ago. These two young leaders recently sat down with us for a candid conversation about the future of church planting and the future of the church. Brent, what is Orchard Group”s niche and overall mission? STORMS: Our mission is to plant growing and reproducing churches in New York, the Northeast, and beyond, which often means strategic urban settings. We began in the New York metro area and in the last 20 years we”ve
September 9, 2011
Beauty from Ashes
By Mark A. Taylor Time and again we see and feel God”s presence most clearly in the midst of human tragedy. It”s as if we need to strip away all our pretense of self-sufficiency before we can fully submit to God, who was the only one in control all along. Consider the ongoing reports of Christians at work in the aftermath of the terrible Joplin tornado. What besides such a crisis would have stimulated the outpouring of service and generosity that Joplin residents have received at the hands of Christians from across the continent? What else could have brought the
September 7, 2011
Help, hope, and lives . . . Forever Changed
By Darrel Rowland Perhaps none of us can forget where we were and what we felt when we first heard of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. But perhaps many of us don”t know how God has worked through individuals and the local church to bring redemption and hope since then. This week we want to tell that story. Chip Gilgen was staring at the burning World Trade Center from a 25th-floor window of his FBI office when he saw the second plane slam into the other twin tower. Lisa Gilgen was still at work near Rockefeller Center while a coworker
December 1, 2010
God on a Mission in Salt Lake City
By Brent Storms Kyle Costello was born in Provo, Utah, while his parents were attending Brigham Young University. He was raised in a small town on the Utah/Nevada border. Because his family was Mormon, they made frequent trips to Salt Lake City. As a 19-year-old, Kyle prepared for his two-year “mission.” He began to anticipate some of the questions people might ask him when he knocked on doors. His quest for answers began innocently enough. He really wanted to know how to defend his faith. But the more he explored, and the more he raised questions with his father (now
October 7, 2010
Checking References of Ministerial Candidates
By Brent Storms In my local church ministry, and now in my position as president of a church planting organization, I have considered more than 1,000 candidates for open positions in ministry. I have screened and interviewed hundreds, and have hired more than 30 people for ministry positions. As I look back on the hiring process, I understand there are few elements more important than checking references and previous employers. Let me share three examples. Not long ago I met a candidate for the position of lead planter for a new church to be started in one of our northeastern
September 27, 2009
A Look at This Year”s NACC: Going Home
by Thomas F. Jones Jr. See Steve Reeves’s assessment of the 2009 NACC See D. Clay Perkins”s assessment of the 2009 NACC Â Â Â My hometown is Follansbee, West Virginia. It is located in the northern panhandle of the state about 20 miles north of Wheeling and 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It”s a steel mill town located on the Ohio River and has fewer than 3,000 residents. I don”t go there often these days but when I do, everything seems to fall into place. Going to the North American Christian Convention is like going home once a
February 15, 2009
Why Is the NACC Important? I Go for My Family
by Brent Storms  Our family attended the North American Christian Convention in Louisville in 1981 when I was 8 years old. My brother was 6, and our sister was a baby. My parents wanted to attend the Ozark Bible College reception to reconnect with some of their classmates and friends. They did not want to keep my brother and me up late. So they locked us in our hotel room. Really, they did. They explained to us that they were not leaving the building. They would be right downstairs in one of the hotel ballrooms. We were instructed to
February 15, 2009
The NACC Minister & Spouse Retreat
Maybe the most amazing thing about this summer”s North American Christian Convention isn”t the convention itself, but a convention-sponsored event later in the summer. We”re talking about the 2009 Minister and Spouse Retreat, Tuesday, August 11, through Thursday, August 13, at the Lifeway Conference Center, Ridgecrest, North Carolina. This getaway offers a tranquil setting nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just north of Asheville, North Carolina. It will be the perfect spot for ministry couples who would like to relax together at a program planned just for them. And what a program it is! “¢ Debra and Daniel Smith, authors
February 11, 2009
Another Visit with an Old Friend
ABy Mark A. Taylor s I get older I”m frequently surprised by the age of some people I”ve always considered young. Young people are getting older these days! Like Jeff Stone. I remember him well when he was a child. But now he”s the salt-and-pepper-headed president of this year”s North American Christian Convention. He said he wanted some perspectives from “younger leaders” for this special convention preview issue. Good idea. The only problem is that none of the writers this week is under 30, only two are under 40, and at least one of them is closer to 60. But
