Articles for tag: Church growth

June 20, 2017

Christian Standard

The New Face of Rural Ministry

Roachdale Christian Church has been faithful to its mission for 129 years. Over that time, it has seen its share of preachers come and go, but lately the church is looking a whole lot younger!  Since starting, the church building has been located on the same corner in Roachdale, Indiana, a sleepy little town of just over 900 in the middle of Indiana cornfields, about an hour west of Indianapolis. A circa 1888 white clapboard building was replaced in 1924 by a larger brick structure. An educational wing was added in the 1960s, and in the “90s, a worship center

June 19, 2017

Christian Standard

Large Church . . . Small Town?

By Jim Estep It”s easy to understand why small towns have small churches. We can visit a town of 3,500 and find several congregations with fewer than 100 people in each. In fact, some would say that small towns like small churches. Bristow, Iowa, for example (population 160), boasts of having “The Smallest Church in Iowa.” One can readily explain a large church being in a large city. Finding a church of 1,000 in a city of 200,000 people””that”s reasonable. Most megachurches are in “mega” cities. But, what happens when we encounter a church of 1,200 in a town with

June 9, 2017

Christian Standard

Church Building the New Testament Way

By Doug Lucas Suppose the Restoration Movement churches (Christian churches and churches of Christ) want to restore the New Testament practice of constructing or buying church buildings. What would it look like? Easy answer. To my knowledge, throughout all the New Testament, there”s not a single example of constructing or buying a building. The book of Acts records exponential church growth without buildings. And, according to Matthew 28:19, 20, our core mandate is to make disciples who will make disciples””not build buildings. Making disciples always needs to be at the center of everything we do, whether it be going, baptizing,

May 30, 2017

Mark A. Taylor

Your New Chapter””Don”t Be Afraid to Turn the Page

By Mark A. Taylor New parents sometimes feel trapped. Infants need constant attention, and Mom and Dad may grieve the diminished freedom, increased expenses, and unending on-call status that come with this new addition to their family. But after only 18 years or so, that son or daughter, now looking ahead at a life of independence, leaves home. He gets a job, and she establishes a household of her own. And some parents discover a new reason to grieve: without that child who was once such a challenge, now the house seems empty and lonely. Whether pressed by our current

May 5, 2017

Christian Standard

Questions Worth Asking (2016 Megachurch & Statistics Report)

By Kent E. Fillinger Leading a church is a complex undertaking. The challenges can seem to mount more quickly than answers or resources become available. However, asking good questions is helpful. And asking the right questions as a leader is a game changer. One question I always ask is, “What can we learn from our annual survey data to apply to life and ministry?” Here are some important findings from key survey questions, and I”ve included some application questions for you and your team to discuss. One of this year”s survey questions was, “What questions or issues is your church

May 4, 2017

Christian Standard

Statistical Snippets from Our Survey of Churches

By Kent E. Fillinger AVERAGE SIZE Megachurches: 4,898. Emerging Megachurches: 1,358. Combined average weekly attendance: 375,324.   GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 3.4 percent (up from 1.3 percent in 2015); overall, 61 percent of megachurches grew (up from 54 percent in 2015). Emerging Megachurches: 2 percent (the same as 2015); overall, 61 percent of emerging megachurches grew (up from 57 percent in 2015). Large churches: 4.3 percent (up from 4.1 percent in 2015); overall, 69 percent of large churches grew last year. Medium churches: 2.1 percent (down from 3.3 percent in 2015); overall, 62 percent of medium churches grew last year.  

April 28, 2017

Christian Standard

Personal Dramas, Universal Issues

By LeRoy Lawson Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End Atul Gawked New York: Metropolitan, 2014 The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Questto Arm an America at War A. J. Jaime Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2014 There”s a Sheep in My Bathtub: Birth of a Mongolian Church Planting Movement Brian Hogan Bayside: Asteroidea Books, 2008   Atul Gawande”s Being Mortal is a book for everyone. But everyone won”t like it. It”s for everyone because it”s about dying and dying is for everyone. Everyone won”t like it because it”s about honestly accepting dying, even if you”re a doctor

January 30, 2017

Shawn McMullen

Smaller Churches . . . Here to Stay & Making a Difference

By Shawn McMullen Encouraging stories about local congregations you may not know, but churches still having a huge impact for God. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, notes that 90 percent of all churches in America average fewer than 350 in worship attendance and that 50 percent of all American churches average fewer than 100. Smaller churches have been a part of the American landscape since our country”s inception and they”re here to stay. Across the nation, smaller churches are making disciples and impacting their communities. Here are some examples. JERUSALEM CHRISTIAN CHURCH Greenville, Pennsylvania John Canon

January 23, 2017

Christian Standard

Redefining Success

By Alan Ahlgrim In Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, Kent and Barbara Hughes begin with Kent”s angry lament: “Most people I know in the ministry are unhappy. . . . They are failures in their own eyes. Mine as well. Why should I expect God to bless me when it appears He hasn”t blessed them? Am I so ego-centered to think He loves me more?” Success . . . and Disappointment We live in a success-obsessed culture. No one hopes to one day be a colossal failure; we all dream of achievement. That”s not a bad thing. God created

January 21, 2017

Christian Standard

Our Link in the Chain

By Andy Daniell How a small, struggling local church found new vitality by simply meeting the need across the street. Almost all church growth and leadership models are built around these main factors: “¢ being true to your church”s DNA and finding your role in the kingdom; “¢ being willing to test and employ various approaches related to the vision that fulfills that role; “¢ being willing to change and/or shut down ministries and initiatives based on the first two factors; “¢ allowing room for God to bless the activities and use them in ways that are beyond what”s humanly

December 30, 2016

Jerry Harris

Growing the Kingdom

By Bruce Webster The Bible”s mandate is to grow quickly, not to grow large. Look what happens when believers today take their strategy from the New Testament instead of the church in the West.  Are you like me? For many years when I read the parable of the mustard seed1, I pictured a tiny seed growing slowly like an oak tree, attaining good height as it matured. But when the people listening to Jesus heard him tell that parable, they had a very different picture. They knew the mustard plant didn”t grow very big””maximum height about 10 feet””but it grew

November 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Leveraging One-on-One Relationships for Christ

By Jennifer Johnson Jeff Vines, lead pastor at Christ”s Church of the Valley (CCV) in San Dimas, California, was a missionary in New Zealand for 10 years. In the first four years of his ministry at Shore Community Christian Church in Auckland, he grew the congregation from 350 people to more than 1,000 by challenging people to connect with “one life.” Today the same strategies are bringing growth to CCV as a whole and to many of its members. “New Zealand is a post-Christian nation,” Vines says. “I quickly learned that the best way to evangelize in that culture is

September 2, 2016

Christian Standard

Costly­””The Price of Avoiding Sermons about Money

By Eddie Lowen “Our minister doesn”t teach on giving, at least not very directly or often.” I haven”t counted how many times staff members or elders from other churches have said something similar to me, but I”m sure the tally is approaching 50 by now. It makes me wonder. . . . During the last year, how many churches have hosted a four-week series on biblical money management that emphasizes tithing (or growing generosity) to the church? How many churches regularly offer Financial Peace University or a similar series that equips people to master their finances? How many churches have

August 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Church Development Fund Announces Name Change to CDF Capital

IRVINE, CA””Church Development Fund, a ministry of Provision Ministry Group, announced this July a new name and logo. Debuting at the North American Christian Convention, in Anaheim, the new name, CDF Capital, was met with great enthusiasm. This change was made to better reflect the ministry and its long time mission: “Helping Churches Grow.” CDF Capital, originally established in 1953 as the Churches of Christ Building and Loan Fund, was founded with the express purpose of removing obstacles that hindered church growth. In 1953, the most significant obstacle was access to financial capital to purchase land and build new churches. In 1972, the

May 20, 2016

Michael C. Mack

Three Options to Save an Endangered Church from Extinction

By Michael C. Mack A cultural and economic storm threatens many small and midsize churches. “Unless we respond to this coming tsunami,” says Karl Vaters, pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California, “churches like mine will soon be as rare as printed newspapers, landline phones, and brick-and-mortar bookstores.” Especially churches in large metropolitan areas with a mortgage and a pastor”™s salary to pay, will start to disappear over the next couple of decades, says Vaters in the fall 2015 issue of Leadership Journal. Cornerstone has experienced a turnaround in attendance, number of volunteers, and ministry over the past

May 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Statistical Snippets from Our Survey

By Kent Fillinger AVERAGE SIZE Megachurches: 4,901 Emerging Megachurches: 1,375 Combined average weekly attendance: 386,035 GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 1.3 percent (down from 3.5 percent in 2014); overall, 54 percent of the megachurches grew (down from 68 percent in 2014). Emerging Megachurches: 2 percent (down from 5.4 percent in 2014); overall, 57 percent of emerging megachurches grew (down from 65 percent in 2014). Large churches: 4.1 percent (down from 4.9 percent in 2014). Medium churches: 3.3 percent (up from 3.1 percent in 2014). FASTEST-GROWING CHURCHES Worthington (OH) Christian Church, 35.1 percent New City Church, Phoenix, AZ, 33.3 percent New Day Christian

May 2, 2016

Christian Standard

Hopes, Fears, & Priorities (2015 Megachurch & Statistics Report)

By Kent Fillinger Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd released a song a few years ago called “Something to Live For.” Churches and individuals could echo the lyrics of the song; we, too, need something we can live for, hold on to, and believe in. Hebrews 6:18, 19 says, “We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Bill Hybels said, “The church is the hope of the world.” Hopes This year”s survey asked churches to share “one hope or

April 19, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

All Growth Matters

By Mark A. Taylor Since 1997 CHRISTIAN STANDARD has been publishing annual lists of megachurches among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. In those 19 years, the megachurch phenomenon has exploded, not only in this fellowship but across the whole evangelical world. And with the growth has come criticism, cynicism, and complaint. Two years ago I interviewed Jud Wilhite, Dave Stone, and Don Wilson for our Beyond the Standard program. Each of them led one of the largest megachurches on that year”s list. I still remember what I wrote about that experience. These three “shared practical ideas and thoughtful

March 20, 2016

Christian Standard

What Got You Here Won”t Get You There

By Tim Harlow There are some wonderful benefits to leading the same church for 26 years. It”s actually very difficult to make much headway into your community as a church leader without longevity. However, when people ask me for the hardest thing about longevity, this is my answer””what got us here doesn”t usually get us there. I don”t mind change. I don”t mind that I”ve preached through the years of overhead projectors to slide projectors to video to HD video. I don”t mind that I grew up in a church with a bus ministry and a puppet troupe, but I”m

March 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Redefining Success Without Lowering Your Standards

By Karl Vaters Pastors may be the hardest-working, most undervalued members of our society. And that goes double for the small church and bivocational pastors I spend a lot of time with. So why are we so dismissive of our own worth? I”m not talking about humility, which is always appropriate. I”m talking about a toxic mind-set that traps many of us. We tell people in our churches that God is interested in them for who they are, not for what they do. We tell them it doesn”t matter how much money they earn, how big their business is, what

Help Keep Christian Standard Free & Accessible with a Tax Deductible Donation

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Does Your Church Want to Support Christian Standard?

Would your church consider including support for Christian Standard in its annual missions budget? Your support would help us not only continue the 160-year legacy of this unifying ministry, but also expand the free resources, cooperative opportunities, and practical guidance we provide to strengthen churches in the U.S. and around the world.

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Secret Link