Articles for tag: Christian Financial Resources

February 2, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Church Management Systems: Who Is Using What . . . and How?

By Kent E. Fillinger For all but the smallest of churches, leaders need an efficient and effective way to collect, organize, and utilize church-member data. A Church Management System (ChMS) is a powerful tool that can help churches with communication, giving and other financial reporting, event registration, children’s check-in, and more. In the last four years, a seismic shift has occurred in the ChMS world, according to leading expert Mark Kitts. During this time, a technology company called Ministry Brands has bought up more than 20 ChMS companies and their programs and consolidated them into a few basic platforms. This

December 17, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

‘I’ll Be (Living at) Home for Christmas’

By Kent E. Fillinger This Christmas, you might be looking forward to your adult children returning home. Or maybe they’re home already. A Pew Research Center report found that 15 percent of millennials (ages 25 to 37) were living at home in 2018, nearly double the rate of older baby boomers when they were in that age range. In fact, a smaller percentage of people in the rising generations are checking off the four major life events that historically have signified “adulthood”: leaving home, getting married, becoming a parent, and getting a job. And the percentage of adults in the

August 14, 2019

Christian Standard

Lincoln, Great Lakes Students Win SCJ Competition (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Students at Lincoln Christian Seminary and Great Lakes Christian College took home top awards in the Stone-Campbell Journal Student Paper Competition. In addition, an Abilene Christian University graduate student won the Isaac Errett Award for his paper. Andrew Nichols, of LCS, won the graduate division with a paper called “Divine Medicine: Trials According to John Cassian.” Kalman Mate, of GLCC, won the undergraduate division with a paper called “Begetting a Man: Eve’s Response in Genesis 4:1 to the Power Move Made by Adam after the Fall.” ACU grad student Joel Childers won the

July 22, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Debt Debate

By Kent E. Fillinger September is a prime time for churches to start planning next year’s budget, as most use a calendar year (January to December) budget cycle. To assist in your church’s budget projections, I’ll share some statistics and summaries on giving and debt from our 2018 church survey. Among church leaders, there are two distinct schools of thought about debt. Some are anti-debt and make being debt-free a primary goal of their church, while others see debt as a strategic tool to help finance the church’s vision. Whatever your thoughts, my hope is this data will help guide

July 10, 2019

Christian Standard

Friend of WJU Named Top CEO in America (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman Pat Gelsinger, whose association with William Jessup University, Rocklin, Calif., goes back many years, recently was named “Best CEO in America.” Bloomberg reported that Gelsinger, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley software maker VMware Inc., was ranked the top boss in employment website Glassdoor’s annual survey. A brief article at Jessup.com describes Gelsinger as “a longtime partner, supporter and friend.” Gelsinger previously served on Jessup’s board of trustees, and in 2008, Jessup awarded him an honorary doctorate of letters. A story in Business Insider from 2015 says Gelsinger and his wife give away about half of

September 19, 2018

Christian Standard

Salty Church Rescue Station a ‘Symbol of Hope’ (Plus News Briefs)

Salty Church in Ormond Beach, Fla., has opened a “rescue station” in the historic Ormond Beach firehouse that is a place where people in the community can receive a helping hand. “Ultimately, this place is a symbol of hope and help for the city,” said lead pastor Robbie O’Brien during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the rescue station, the Ormond Beach Observer reported. The church is hoping the rescue station will help prevent people from becoming homeless, entering the foster system, or landing in jail. The ministry helps people connect with governmental services and local ministries. The church renovated an old

August 1, 2018

Shawn McMullen

Hillsboro Family Camp: A Favorite Week of Summer (Plus News Briefs)

Last week the editors of Christian Standard and The Lookout spent several days at the Hillsboro Family Camp in Hillsboro, Ohio. Family Camp is sponsored by Person to Person Ministries and led by executive director Kerry Allen. For 46 years (since 1972) Person to Person Ministries has organized this annual gathering of families for the purposes of instruction, edification, and fellowship. The camp provides programming for adults, teens, and children. Many families bring tents, campers, motor homes, and vans to Restoration Acres, a 158-acre campground owned by the ministry, to participate in Family Camp. This year there were 273 camping

February 22, 2018

Christian Standard

Headlines: July 2018

By Chris Moon   Churches Unite to Carry the Cross Campton  (Ky.) Christian Church  brought the message of the cross to its region in the lead-up to Easter. The church’s “Cross Across Wolfe County” event brought churches and other believers together to carry a large wooden cross from one end of Wolfe County, Ky., to the other. The event took place on the Saturday before Easter. Churches, youth groups, and families signed up to carry the cross in 2-mile segments. The cross covered a distance of about 20 miles. Local law enforcement provided an escort for participants, and an assist

January 13, 2018

Christian Standard

How to Prepare for a Financial Storm

By Darren Key and Mike Kocolowski Managing church finances can be like preparing for a hurricane—it’s best to have a plan in place before the wind starts to spin. That way, if the worst-case scenario develops, you’ll be prepared to weather the storm.   Faith and Finances We have consulted with hundreds of churches on financial issues over the last three decades, and we know that managing a church’s cash flow is tricky. Seasonal cycles, unexpected events, and the inherent irregularity of income and expenses add to the complexity. For these reasons, keeping ample reserve funds is critical to your

December 27, 2017

Christian Standard

The Future of Finances in the Restoration Movement

By Doug Crozier It was late August 1972 when I walked into one of my first college classes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Accounting 101 was in a lecture hall large enough to hold more than 700 students. I learned a lot from Accounting 101 during that first semester, even though the large lecture hall was intimidating to this small-town kid. One of the key fundamentals of financial accounting I learned is a simple rule: Total Assets minus Total Liabilities equals New Worth (or New Assets in the not-for-profit world). In the mid-1990s, when I went work in

June 5, 2017

Christian Standard

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,

November 1, 2014

Christian Standard

3 Funds Committed to Growth

By Darrel Rowland We like to tell people that our brotherhood is among the fastest growing in America and contains far more than its share of megachurches. But there”s a unique factor in how God has blessed the Christian churches/churches of Christ that often gets overlooked: a trio of loan funds that now have a combined $1 billion-plus in assets. “I think it”s just a testament to our movement that it has three strong, vibrant funds,” said Doug Crozier, CEO of the Solomon Foundation and former head of the Church Development Fund (CDF). “As far as I know, there”s not

July 11, 2013

Christian Standard

40 Under 40: Justin Miller

JUSTIN MILLER Lead pastor,  Real Life Christian Church,  Clermont, Florida If you asked Justin Miller how he plans to influence ministry in the coming years, he”d likely shrug his shoulders and respond quizzically, “I don”t really know. I guess we”ll just keep doing what we”ve been doing.” And precisely what have Justin and Real Life Christian Church been doing? Well, over the past dozen years, Justin and the Real Life team have sensed a call to revitalize declining””or downright dead “”churches through an endeavor they call Vision Orlando. It started with their home campus in Clermont, where Justin grew up and

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