Articles for tag: Christian Churches

September 1, 2023

Kent E. Fillinger

The Hope Quotient

The Hope Quotient

By Kent E. Fillinger  It’s been said that a person can live 40 days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only four seconds without hope. Hope is a power that energizes us with life. The available research on hope is limited, so Christian Standard conducted an online survey in May 2023 to assess how hopeful people are about the future of the church. The survey size was limited—just 141 responses—but the results were informative.   It’s worth noting that 87 percent of the survey participants reported attending church “more than once a week” or “once a

September 1, 2023

Shawn McMullen

Helping the Church Thrive Between Ministers

Helping the Church Thrive Between Ministers

An Interview with Leaders from Transitional Interim Pastor Services  By Shawn McMullen  Recently Christian Standard met with three leaders who serve with Transitional Interim Pastor Services, a ministry of NXTStep Church Services (yourncs.org), to learn about their unique approach to interim ministry.  John Cutshall, a graduate of Cincinnati Christian University, has been in ministry for more than 40 years. He spent his first 20 years in youth ministry before serving in senior ministry positions.  Greg Comp, also a graduate of CCU, is a second-generation minister. Following his graduation from Bible college, Comp served as an associate minister. At age 30

March 1, 2023

Christian Standard

Who Are the International Churches of Christ?

Who Are the International Churches of Christ?

By Bobby Harrington  I like to think of the historical roots of Christian Churches and the Restoration Movement through the lens of three fellowships that emerged from the time of Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone in the early 1800s: to our left are the Disciples of Christ and to the right are the a cappella Churches of Christ.  In reality, the picture is not that clean.  The RENEW.org Network was launched five years ago as a renewal movement within the Restoration Movement. At RENEW.org, we seek to provide clarity in our postmodern time by articulating the best

January 11, 2021

Christian Standard

Leaders Encouraged to Participate in our Annual Church Survey

How do we gauge what exactly happened in our churches during 2020 and what is the best course of action as we endeavor to resume face-to-face community during this new year? A good first step is to share your church’s experience with us via Christian Standard’s annual survey of Christian churches and churches of Christ. “Capturing the stories and statistics from 2020 is vital for us to gauge the true impact of the pandemic on our churches and establish baselines to measure future growth and changes,” said Kent Fillinger, who has been conducting our annual survey for more than a

May 17, 2020

Christian Standard

A Listing of Church-Planting Organizations

We have compiled a listing of Church Planting Organizations associated with Christian churches and churches of Christ. Note that organizations often partner on church plants. This list is not a comprehensive count of church plants from the past five years but is meant to demonstrate who is actively planting churches and where. For each church-planting organization, we have listed its location, leader, website and contact information, the region where it plants, and total number of churches planted in the past 5 years. We will update this list at a future time. If your organization should be listed, please provide us

May 9, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Our Future: with Unity?

By Mark A. Taylor If you led a workshop on the future of the Restoration Movement, you”d likely mention many positive signs about our tribe. Here are some I included when I was asked to speak on that topic: “¢ Our churches are doing dynamic ministry, trying new approaches, and succeeding with new strategies. We”re a creative bunch. “¢ Closely related to the above, our lack of hierarchy leaves our leaders free to try new ideas without needing permission from anyone. And new ideas abound among us. We”re an entrepreneurial bunch. “¢ Leaders from our group are publishing widely, with

April 25, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Our Future: as Evangelicals?

By Mark A. Taylor Are members of Christian churches and churches of Christ properly categorized as Evangelicals? We addressed this topic in the first year I served as editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD*, and now as I close my tenure, I wonder if anyone is still asking the question. The two who answered in 2003 wrote passionately and convincingly and came to completely opposite conclusions. William R. Baker described James DeForest Murch”s decision to boldly identify himself with the growing Evangelical movement in the 1940s and afterwards. “Not since Isaac Errett, founding editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD, had anyone from the Restoration

April 18, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

All the Potential in an Open Book

By Mark A. Taylor Several years ago I was helping host a retreat for emerging leaders among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. One session began with the question, “What are you reading?” and every one in the circle of 25 had something different to report. These men and women were reading widely””not only books about the Bible and church leadership, but also an assortment of biography, classic literature, and fiction. It was one of several times I”ve realized the future of our movement is strong because so many young leaders in our movement are strong. This happened around

March 7, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Her Final Lesson

By Mark A. Taylor What should we note about the life of Eleanor Daniel? Thousands of her former colleagues and students are telling what they remember about her now, after her death March 2 and her memorial service yesterday, March 6. They speak of her skill and passion as a Christian teacher. The remember her encouragement in their own teaching ministries. They recite her faithfulness in Christian service. They note the impact she made on three seminaries among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. (Some are quoting from Bruce Parmenter”™s tribute, published last December, in which he describes her

February 21, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

FAQ

By Mark A. Taylor With the acquisition of Christian Standard Media, announced February 13, itӪs only natural that some readers may have some questions. Here are some answers. Acquisition? Who acquired you?ӬChristian Standard Media, consisting primarily of The Lookout and CHRISTIAN STANDARD magazines, was acquired by The Solomon Foundation. Solomon created a wholly owned, independent, nonprofit subsidiary that will manage this ministry Solomon is in Denver, right? Does this mean youӪll be moving there? ҬNo, and yes. It is true that we have a new business address: 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202 Parker, Colorado 80134 All correspondence for the magazines,

February 10, 2017

Christian Standard

Submit News

We”re happy to post news from Christian churches, churches of Christ, and missions, colleges, and other parachurch agencies serving them. News items will appear on this Web site soon (usually within 3-5 days) after you submit them. Some items also run in the print magazine about six or seven weeks after that. All news items must include name and daytime phone number of sender. We cannot accept phoned submissions. Be sure to include name of church or organization as well as city and state. Submit all news to ch***************@********************ia.com. Digital photos (jpeg format, between 1-3mb in size) are welcome. Designate

February 6, 2017

Christian Standard

NACC Helps One Young Pastor to Bridge the “˜Gap”

By Chris Moon Mitch Chitwood grew up in the Restoration Movement. He spent his childhood attending independent Christian churches in Arizona and Nebraska. His father has served for decades as a Christian church pastor. And Chitwood today works as the operations and multisite pastor for StoneBridge Christian Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Needless to say, the 27-year-old is very familiar with the movement of Christian churches and churches of Christ that spans the United States. But for his first several years in ministry, Chitwood never fully felt part of that movement. “I always had that one-step barrier,” he says. Chitwood attributes

January 24, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Leonard Wymore””Yesterday’s Hero

By Mark A. Taylor It”s fair to say the passing of Leonard Wymore represents another marker in the end of an era. Leonard, who served as director of the North American Christian Convention from 1963 to 1986, died last Thursday, January 19. He was 95 years old. Known by many as Mr. North American, Leonard had his finger on the pulse of Christian churches and churches of Christ as perhaps no one else. He traveled widely. He heard and encouraged preachers in churches small and large across the heartland. He passionately promoted unity and church growth in a fellowship of

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