Articles for tag: Church Development Fund

December 5, 2010

Christian Standard

A Story to Challenge All of Us

By Mark A. Taylor This week we”ve posted several encouraging accounts of new church plants in Greater Salt Lake City. But the bigger story tells how Christian leaders worked together and depended on God to see these happen. It”s a story about cooperation and collaboration. “The churches of the Restoration Movement had never attempted something like this,” says Steve Edwards. The collaboration began more than 15 years ago when the Salt Lake City church planting organization asked the Intermountain Church Planters Association based in Boise, Idaho, if they could work together under one name. Edwards became executive director of ICPA

December 1, 2010

Christian Standard

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 8, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Sue Ann Cordell

By Brad Dupray For 17 of the 19 years Randy Cordell has ministered with Lakeshore Christian Church, Nashville, Tennessee, his wife, Sue Ann, has been honing her skills and working toward becoming an expert in human resource management at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), a large and diverse entertainment agency. Sue Ann now manages the Nashville office as her vocation, but her life”s passion is her relationship with Christ. She and Randy have been married 34 years and are the proud parents of two children and four grandchildren. Sue Ann has been a retreat speaker for more than 25 years

October 2, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Byron Davis

By Brad Dupray Dream of Destiny is casting a vision for Christian churches and churches of Christ across America to increase their evangelistic outreach through ethnic diversity in ministry. Dudley Rutherford, senior pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, California, challenged Byron Davis to spearhead the venture as a member of the staff at Shepherd. Byron left a career in pharmaceutical sales to join the church staff. He was a member of the U.S. National Swim Team from 1994 to 1996, was an eight-time All-American swimmer at UCLA, and was a U.S. Olympic team alternate in the

September 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Jay Akin

By Brad Dupray In August 2007, Jay Akin was called to serve as senior pastor at Elberton Christian Church, a midsize church in a small town in rural Georgia, after having served in youth and associate ministries and as a campus minister. ECC, which averages 260 in attendance in a town of 4,700, makes a big impact in its local community. Jay and his wife, Cristal, love the people of the church. As Jay says, “My family has never been treated better by a church. These people have done so much to minister to my family. They treat us like

June 20, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Arron Chambers

Arron Chambers By Brad Dupray Arron Chambers is a pastor, husband, father, writer, triathlete, and he loves to eat . . . with sinners. Arron”s latest book, Eats with Sinners: Reaching Hungry People Like Jesus Did, examines Jesus” approach to creating conversations with people over a meal and how to apply that approach today. Each chapter of Eats with Sinners deals with a character trait of Jesus that made eating with sinners an effective means of sharing his message. Arron is lead minister of Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado, and a contributing editor to Christian Standard. Arron maintains the

January 6, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Chris Travis

By Brad Dupray In his new book Unnamed, Chris Travis explores the stories of eight biblical heroes who went without much recognition. In fact, the Bible doesn”t even mention their names. Based on Standard Publishing”s 2010 Vacation Bible School theme, his book combines stories of these Bible personalities with incredible accounts of modern-day unnamed heroes. Readers will discover solid biblical insight to consider what it means to live a heroic life for God in our day. Last year, Chris and his wife, Lindsay, left a staff position with LifeSpring Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, to move to New York City

December 16, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Jerl Joslin

By Brad Dupray Forest Hill Christian Church in Oklahoma City is a solid, midsize church making a major Christmastime impact on its community. Forest Hill runs about 500 in weekly attendance, but more than 7,000 attend its “Journey to Bethlehem” one weekend each Christmas season.  “Journey” leads people on a path toward a figurative Bethlehem where they ultimately encounter the Christ child. Attendees don”t just watch a Christmas story, they live the Christmas story. The church is in its ninth year of leading the program. Senior minister Jerl Joslin, who has served at Forest Hill for 18 years, tells the

December 2, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with David Bycroft

By Brad Dupray Tyro, Kansas, is a city of 250 people with a post office, a secondhand store and a church: Tyro Christian Church. David Bycroft started preaching at the church as a weekend minister in 1969 while a junior at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri. After graduation he was called by the church to preach full time and he has been leading Tyro Christian ever since. David”s wife, Kathy, grew up in the Tyro church and was baptized there in her youth. David and Kathy recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Their three children are involved in local

September 9, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Lorraine Dupray

By Brad Dupray Married just days after high school graduation, Lorraine Dupray dedicated herself to raising her family and serving the local church. As a young woman she had no idea she would eventually become a ministry pioneer, developing the staff role of “director of women”s ministry” at Knott Avenue Christian Church, Anaheim, California, in the early 1980s. She went on to serve on several boards of directors, including that of Hope International University. She led the girls” camp at Angeles Crest Christian Camp in Southern California for 30 years, served alongside her husband, Carl, in ministering to junior high

April 15, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Gene Appel

By Brad Dupray Gene Appel became senior pastor at Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton, California, on October 1, 2008, after serving as lead pastor with Willow Creek Community Church”s South Barrington (Illinois) campus. In many ways, he has come full circle, having served as an intern at Eastside while a 20-year-old student at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian College. At 25, Gene became senior minister at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and led the church from average weekly attendance of 400 to 8,000 during an 18-year ministry. Gene and his wife, Barbara, have three children, Jeremy, Alayna, and Jenna, with

March 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Church Loans, Risky Loans?

  by Darrel Rowland It”s not weakness in the stock market or real estate sales that concerns Doug Crozier the most about whether churches can repay their loans from the Church Development Fund.  It”s weakness of the flesh. “This current economic scenario scares me, but my biggest risk in making loans to churches is moral failure in the pulpit, not economic bad times,” says Crozier, CDF president. The Church Development Fund, based in California, currently has about 450 loans worth $650 million for Restoration Movement facilities in 41 states. Most are church buildings, although the list includes a handful of

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