Articles for tag: Church growth

June 22, 2019

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: The Crossing, Milton, Del.

A Strategy to Reach a ‘Dry and Weary Land’ By Justin Horey Every three years, the leadership team at The Crossing in Milton, Delaware, asks itself this question: “If the Lord allows us to minister here for three more years, what does he want us to focus on?” That question is part of a three-day planning retreat in which staff, elders, and key leaders prayerfully consider a strategic plan that will guide the church’s ministry. Senior minister Mark Magee has led The Crossing since June 1993, when he was just 25 years old. There were 40 people in attendance on

June 22, 2019

Christian Standard

Delivering Education ‘Just in Time’ Cross-culturally

What We Can Learn from Movements Around the World By Doug Lucas In the last couple of decades, researchers have identified more than 700 examples of rampant church growth. New believers have been coming to Christ in such numbers that they are using the term movement to describe the phenomenon. An outside research team recently identified a movement of 2 million believers. It’s nothing short of miraculous. Here is a summary of what typically happens in these movements. Telling + Training = Multiplication These movements usually start with a strong personality with relentless determination who seeks an answer to the

May 22, 2019

Christian Standard

An Opportunity to Build Biblical Literacy

By Mark E. Moore Biblical illiteracy is not a problem to be solved, it’s an opportunity to be embraced. According to a 2016 survey by Barna, 80 percent of people in the church want to know the Bible better. If the church could develop a quick and comprehensive solution for this, imagine the impact it would make. Furthermore, 60 percent of the people who say they want to know the Bible don’t attend church. So, providing access to biblical training might be one of the most attractional strategies for church growth. Research has repeatedly confirmed that Scripture has the power

May 22, 2019

Christian Standard

Vested in Our Leaders: The Pastor’s Project

Vested in Our Leaders: The Pastor’s Project By Richard Creek In 1975 I was standing in the lobby of the Veteran’s Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming, waiting to see Dr. Bruce Howar. Howar was the chief physician/administrator of the hospital, but he previously had been my family doctor back in Iowa. He had brought me into the world with the help of his nurse, my grandmother. From that time he had cared for all my broken bones, bumps, and bruises. “So, tell me,” he asked after we had greeted each other with hugs and smiles, “What are you doing with your

May 21, 2019

Christian Standard

Rusaw Takes on New Challenge

Pastor steps down after 28 year at Longmont, Colorado, church to lead Spire By Chris Moon “I’m not a hugger,” Rick Rusaw told Christian Standard as he was preparing for his last weekend as pastor with LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont, Colo., “but I’ve been giving out a lifetime’s worth of hugs this week.” Rusaw stepped down Sunday from his 28-year run at LifeBridge and now is focusing his efforts as CEO of Spire Network, the successor organization to the North American Christian Convention. Rusaw started at the church in 1991 after a stint as executive vice president at Cincinnati

May 17, 2019

Christian Standard

Multisite Comes of Age

“The multisite congregation is the single most profound change in American congregations in the past century.” —Thom Rainer, CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources By Jim Tomberlin When I started down the multisite path as a senior pastor in Colorado in the 1990s, multisite was a radical idea. In the first decade of the 21st century, multisite became the cool idea among large, cutting-edge churches. As it approaches the end of its third decade, multisite has become the mainstream idea for healthy, growing churches of all kinds and sizes. This movement is comprised of more than 5,000 denominational and nondenominational churches that

April 25, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Is Your Church Ready for Generation Z?

By Kent Fillinger It might seem hard to believe, but the millennial generation is approaching middle age! The oldest millennials will turn 38 this year, which means they were entering adulthood before today’s youngest adults were born. Many researchers and demographers are now shifting their attention from millennials to generation Z to learn more about them. Researchers quibble about when the millennial generation ends and generation Z begins—the years range from 1996 to 2002—but a Pew Research Center article from January indicates people in the two age groupings aren’t all that different. Here’s the article’s headline (so judge for yourself):

April 25, 2019

Christian Standard

UNCONVENTIONAL: The Story of Ekklesia Christian Church—the Church Matt Wilson Didn’t Plan to Plant

“God did it all.” That, in just four words, is how church planter Matt Wilson tells the story of Ekklesia Christian Church since the congregation’s launch in June 2014. In his characteristically self-effacing way, the 37-year-old Wilson says, “I don’t know how other churches grow, but every year, God comes through with some completely off-the-wall way for our church to grow.” In the last five years, Wilson jokes, “God took this little hick from South Carolina and showed him what faith was.” A Desire to Do What God Is Behind Wilson comes from a family of ministers. His father was

April 24, 2019

Christian Standard

2018 Fast Facts about Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches

These statistics from 2018 are gleaned from megachurch and emerging megachurch data collected by Kent Fillinger. Be sure to read Fillinger’s article, “2018 Special Church Report, Part 1: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches,” and look at the accompanying tables, “The 2018 Charts: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches”. Compiled by Kent Fillinger _ _ _ AVERAGE ATTENDANCE Megachurches: 5,363 Emerging Megachurches: 1,332 Combined average weekly attendance (125 churches): 388,243 _ _ _ GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 6.6% (up from 5.7% in 2017); overall, 74% of the megachurches grew (up from 71% in 2017) Emerging Megachurches: 4.1% (unchanged from 2017); overall, 71% of emerging megachurches

March 28, 2019

Christian Standard

Let the Church Be the Church

I recently came upon this “Reflections” column by Floyd Strater from our December 12, 1982, issue. For many decades, as I recall, the editor of Christian Standard would ask a group of 12 or 13 people—a new group annually—to contribute four essays during the year. The topics were not assigned. Sam E. Stone told me he would strive for a variety of writers each year: men, women, preachers, professors, missionaries, and others from a broad geographical area. Floyd Strater was serving as minister with Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim, California, at the time he wrote this. He preached there

March 25, 2019

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Manchester Christian Church, Manchester, New Hampshire

A Decentralized Approach to Church Growth By Steve Carr The church must look different tomorrow than it does today. This is the conviction of Bo Chancey, lead minister of Manchester Christian Church in New England. It is a fascinating observation, considering Manchester Christian, which now averages about 4,000 weekly, is already the largest Protestant church in New Hampshire, the second most dechurched region in America. Still, the church’s strategy relies upon continual risk-taking and nontraditional approaches to growth. Change is an essential part of Manchester Christian’s DNA. “Churches always change, because the church is people, and people are constantly changing,”

March 25, 2019

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Compass Christian Church, Chandler, Arizona

Elders, Staff, Discipleship Program, Prayer Culminate in Baptisms By Melissa Wuske Compass Christian Church “has had a heart for evangelism since day one,” said senior pastor Brian Jobe. But in recent years, the church’s growth has been astounding—even in an area crowded with megachurches and in the midst of a culture of church hopping. Jobe said the Greater Phoenix church’s eldership has been crucial to “putting the church in a place to receive God’s blessing” during his three years there—including a year overlapping with pastor Roger Storms, who had served the church for 29 years and helped instill “mission-mindedness, flexibility,

March 25, 2019

Michael C. Mack

Decision Points, Pain, and Church Growth

By Michael C. Mack Why do some churches grow and multiply, some plateau, and others decline? It™s a question I™ve considered for a long time. As I studied the article and charts Kent Fillinger prepared for this month, it reinforced my theory that growing churches do certain things and have a particular mind-set largely absent in stagnant and declining churches. I™ll try to explain. In my personal life, I™ve seen a direct correlation between my physical health and my tolerance for pain. For years I lived with carpal tunnel syndrome and eventually lost quite a bit of functionality in both

February 2, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Church Multiplication Scorecard

By Kent Fillinger  A new question on our last annual church survey asked, “Using the scale created by Exponential.org, which of the following best describes your church in 2017?”              Level 1: Declining (attendance going down) Level 2: Holding Even (attendance largely unchanged) Level 3: Growing (attendance growth by 5 percent or more) Level 4: Adding/Reproducing (we directly launched another new campus or church plant) Level 5: Multiplying (a campus or church we helped to start has itself become a reproducing church) In Exponential’s e-book Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide, Todd Wilson, Dave Ferguson, and Alan Hirsch provided

January 29, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Transformational Trends

By Kent Fillinger Since transformation is a main theme of this issue, I decided to explore three trends that are reshaping culture and will likely re-create the look and feel of our churches. My goal is not to stir up controversy but to change the questions we are asking in order to spark new conversations among church leaders.   The Single Situation “Half of Americans ages 18 and older were married in 2016, a share that has remained relatively stable in recent years but is down 9 percentage points over the past quarter-century,” according to the article “8 Facts about

November 26, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for December 2, 2018: The Church Grows in Asia (Acts 19:8-20)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 12 (weeks 45–48; November 11—December 2, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Confess areas of one’s life in which Christ has not been given total allegiance as Lord and pray for mission work in areas known for “magic” and other demonic activity. ______ By Mark Scott  In December we celebrate the incarnation of Christ. Jesus came into the world for many reasons (Luke 19:10;

November 5, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for November 11, 2018: The Church Grows Through Missions (Acts 13:2-16, 26-30, 38, 39)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 12 (weeks 45–48; October 14—December 2, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Understand the importance of mission work and pray for and otherwise support current missionary efforts. ______ By Mark Scott  God likes things to grow: families (Genesis 1:28), gardens (v. 29), nations (11:8, 9), and churches (Acts 5:14). In fact, God expects his church to grow (Matthew 13:31, 32) and it is unnatural

October 26, 2018

Christian Standard

Elders Chart the Path Forward

E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By Rick Grover Over the past six years, our congregation has gone through more than its fair share of change, disappointment, loss, and now renewal. And through it all, our elders have remained united. We

October 15, 2018

Christian Standard

What Makes the Fastest-Growing Churches Grow?

By Jim Nieman   How do you explain your church’s tremendous growth in 2017? That’s what we asked lead ministers of the fastest-growing churches in three attendance categories from Christian Standard’s annual survey of churches: churches of 1,000 or more (megachurches and emerging megachurches profiled in May), churches of 250 to 999 (large and medium churches—June), and churches 249 and fewer (small and very small churches—July). All three churches have one thing in common—new facilities—but that wasn’t the only explanation for their growth. We spoke with and/or emailed questions to: Aaron Brockett, lead pastor of Traders Point Christian Church (Whitestown,

October 1, 2018

Christian Standard

Mission-Driven Success

By TR Robertson   Rocky Fork Fellowship in tiny Hallsville, Missouri—population 1,500—grew from 40 to more than 400 in its first 10 years while meeting in the local middle school cafeteria. On March 4, 2018—11 years after the church’s founding—Rocky Fork gathered for their first Sunday together in a new building just south of town. A combined 841 worshippers attended two services. The following week, three Easter services brought in a total attendance of 977. Not surprisingly, the founders and leaders of the congregation have grown used to fielding questions about the secret to their success. “We try to pinpoint

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