December 30, 2024
A Raccoon, a Mayor, and a Rural Revival
The historic First Christian Church of Monticello, KY, has experienced growth and revival under the ministerial leadership of Joe Tipton.
Articles for tag: Building Renovation
June 13, 2023
SPOTLIGHT: Fast-Growing Ohio Church Merges with Neighbor
The past year-plus has been eventful for First Church of Christ in Fairborn, Ohio—the fastest-growing “very small” church in Christian Standard’s 2022 Church Report. . . . The changes include merging, moving, and adopting a new name: New Beginnings Christian Church. . . .
May 31, 2023
SPOTLIGHT: Ocala Christian Church’s New Building, Baptistery Paying Dividends
A baptistery can make a world of difference. Ocala Christian Church discovered this during 2022 when the small church in central Florida baptized 31 people. That translated into a 27.9 percent baptism ratio (baptisms per 100 in average attendance). . . .
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.
March 10, 2021
Iowa Church Buying YMCA Property for Third Campus
Antioch Christian Church in Marion, Iowa, is taking steps to launch its third campus by purchasing a struggling YMCA facility on the west side of Cedar Rapids. After renovations, the facility is expected to open by Easter 2022.
SPOTLIGHT: Ridgeview Christian Church, Rolla, Missouri
Growth in New Directions By TR Robertson When Adam Bloch began his ministry at Ridgeview Christian Church in 2013, the congregation had just gone through a tough year. Ridgeview’s longtime minister had retired, 13 church members had passed away, and morale was low. A hiring committee member told Bloch, “We can be a good place for someone to get a few years of ministry experience before they go somewhere else.” “Being in my first full-time ministry,” Bloch said, “I’m not sure if I provided any stability for a while, but after a few years Ridgeview started to grow.” Most of
April 22, 2018
SPOTLIGHT: New Hope Christian Church, Thornton, Colorado
“God had a plan” in helping this congregation find a new building in a high-crime hub of metro Denver. By Chris Moon When pastor Jeff Aenk talks about the way his church was able to find its new building, he often uses the word miracle. “It was a total God story,” said Aenk, who leads New Hope Christian Church in Thornton, Colorado. The story started in 2016 when New Hope learned its landlord was planning to double the church’s rent—from $7,550 a month to almost $15,000. The rent would continue to increase for the following five years, up to
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,
March 2, 2015
Building Creativity
By Jennifer Johnson According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, churches spent close to $9 billion on new construction in 2002 and $3.5 billion in 2013. (Thanks, Great Recession.) Organizations analyzing church spending report congregations that own or rent existing buildings spend 20-30 percent or more of their budgets on loan payments, maintenance, and related expenses. For most churches in the U.S., buildings are necessary for building ministry, and the process isn”t cheap. I”m not interested in the tired debate about whether a church should have a nice building that costs a lot of money when so many
