Articles for tag: Church Planting

March 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Is Seminary Worth It?

By Josh Tandy I am a statistical anomaly. I am a young minister who went to seminary almost immediately after receiving my undergraduate degree. More and more, people like me are opting to bypass seminary and go directly into full-time ministry. Some of these individuals have been spectacularly successful. The incredible stories of new churches being planted and existing ones becoming vibrant again make me think about the time, effort, and resources spent on a seminary degree, and I wonder: Was it worth it? Has a world of blogs, conferences, and books made a seminary degree obsolete? It doesn”t take

March 20, 2012

Christian Standard

Interview with Terry Stine

By Paul Boatman After a career in ministry and missions, Terry Stine is completing his fifth year as president of Boise Bible College in Idaho.   Many were surprised when you became president of Boise Bible College. How did that happen? Well, my lifelong ministry objective is to preach the Word and go where God sends me. My end-of-life goal is to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.” Wherever God sends me, I go and I stay there until he moves me somewhere else. I”ve never looked to jump from one location to another.   But you have been

March 19, 2012

Christian Standard

21st-Century Challenges to Biblical Higher Education

By Gary Weedman Our colleges face the same 21st-century issues as the rest of higher education: rising costs, changing demographics, the impact of technology, the effect of globalization, and, especially for us, a question of whether what we do provides value relative to expense or need. The history of our institutions makes these challenges even more acute, since from their origins they have been independent of one another, which hinders any unified response to these 21st-century challenges. I want to address five issues that we must consider if our schools are to remain healthy and effective.   1. Show Me

February 28, 2012

Christian Standard

“˜Commissioned”: NMC Becomes ICOM

By Chris DeWelt The National Missionary Convention became the International Conference on Missions at its gathering last fall. The conference seems set to continue what it does best: challenging thousands with the opportunity and needs for world missions. From the moment I heard that Wing Wong of China was the 2011 National Missionary Convention president, I knew it would be a great gathering. My anticipation grew when Wing visited Ozark Christian College a few months before the convention and immediately endeared himself to hundreds of students. Wing”s unique combination of humor, passion for Christ, and humble spirit connected with more

February 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: Team Expansion

By Jennifer Taylor Team Expansion (Founded 1978) 4112 Old Routt Road, Louisville, KY 40299 www.teamexpansion.org Doug Lucas, President Team Expansion is serious about prayer. The ministry began as a movement of prayer when President Doug Lucas was a student at Kentucky Christian College (now Kentucky Christian University). In addition to raising support, team members also recruit prayer partners””an average of 200 for each individual or family! And Emerald Hills, the ministry”s training center, is “a prayer center first,” says Eric Derry, vice president, mobilization. From those first prayers almost 35 years ago, Team Expansion has grown to more than 300

February 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: TCM International Institute

By Jennifer Taylor TCM International Institute (Founded 1957) P.O. Box 24560, Indianapolis, IN 46224 www.tcmi.org Tony Twist, President It takes a one-time Master of Arts scholarship investment of $16,000 to equip an international leader for a lifetime of service and ministry in his home country. Compare this to the $60,000 or more needed annually to send a U.S. missionary overseas (where service is usually less than four years), and it”s obvious: equipping national leaders to reach their own countries for Christ is both effective and cost-effective. TCM exists to develop bivocational “international disciple makers” throughout Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and

February 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: Pioneer Bible Translators

By Jennifer Taylor Pioneer Bible Translators (Founded 1976) 7255 West Camp Wisdom Road, Dallas, TX 75236 www.pioneerbible.org Greg Pruett, President Pioneer Bible Translators does not exist just to translate the Bible. Instead, its mission is “discipling the Bible-less,” a holistic approach that includes working with native people groups, developing literacy, investing in the community, and planting churches. “The end goal is not just translated Scripture, but churches using Scripture,” says President Greg Pruett. “We consider a project completed only when we have helped to create networks of growing believers and multiplying churches.” The ministry began with a vision to combine the

February 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: New Missions Systems International

By Jennifer Taylor New Missions Systems International (Founded 1989) 2701 Cleveland Ave., Suite 7, Fort Myers, FL 33901 www.nmsi.org Laura Clancy, President/CEO Every word of NMSI”s name is intentional: the organization looks for new ways to help people fulfill the missions they feel called to, while using systematic approaches to planning and implementation and maintaining an international focus across the ministry. “Our niche is supporting missionaries to fulfill their calling,” says President Laura Clancy. “We look for ways to support people who can identify and articulate their call, and we focus on opportunities where we can add unique value. This

February 20, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: Christian Missionary Fellowship

By Jennifer Taylor Christian Missionary Fellowship (Founded 1949) P.O. Box 501020, Indianapolis, IN 46250 www.cmfi.org Doug Priest, Executive Director Many people have learned of Christian Missionary Fellowship because of its work in Nairobi, Kenya; since 2006 Executive Director Doug Priest has invited ministers and other Christian church leaders to visit the area and learn about The Hope Partnership. The Hope Partnership offers a strong Community Health Evangelism (CHE) program, teaches HIV/AIDs awareness and other basic health and wellness education, plants churches, and provides hope to the people living in the Mathare slums. “At the Willow Creek Leadership Conference in 2006, Bill

January 24, 2012

Christian Standard

Church Planting Organizations

Compiled by R. Paige Mathews Christian churches and churches of Christ are committed to church planting! Just a quick look at this list will remind you that church leaders from coast to coast are working to reach non-Christians with new congregations. Church planting organizations and associations were asked to share information about their ministry beyond basic contact information. That information is condensed below, for those who answered our survey.   (For your convenience, this list is available as a pdf. Just click here: Church Planting Organizations.) “¢ “¢ “¢   Alabama State Evangelizing Association Philip King 3601 Lorna Ridge Drive Hoover, AL 35216

January 23, 2012

Christian Standard

So You Want to Plant a Church?

By R. Paige Mathews For 19 years, I have committed myself to an assessment process that determines if a candidate is suitable to be a new church planting leader or team member. To as few as 10-12, or as many as 70-100 candidates in a year, I have asked the question, “So you want to plant a church?” The question usually comes on the second day of assessment, after I have read their documents and after getting to know them, albeit not fully. Therefore, I have sometimes asked the question cynically, “So, YOU want to plant a church?” Other times

January 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Power Planting

Brent Storms became president of Orchard Group in 2009 and CEO this past July. Greg Nettle joined the Stadia team as president just a few months ago. These two young leaders recently sat down with us for a candid conversation about the future of church planting and the future of the church.   Brent, what is Orchard Group”s niche and overall mission? STORMS: Our mission is to plant growing and reproducing churches in New York, the Northeast, and beyond, which often means strategic urban settings. We began in the New York metro area and in the last 20 years we”ve

December 29, 2011

Christian Standard

I Have a Family

By Jim Tune My father died just a few months ago. It hasn”t been easy, and I feel the loss keenly. His death has prompted a desire to know more about my dad, his extended family, and his heritage. As a godly father and a devoted worker for Christ, he has also marked me with a legacy””one I intend to celebrate, embrace, and pass on. No one would expect any less.   The Family I Chose From a faith perspective, I also have a family. I didn”t join it as the result of a father”s will or by accident. I

December 8, 2011

Christian Standard

Praying for Tunisia As Never Before

Most Christians want to obey Jesus” command to “ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38), but they struggle to know how to pray for a nation they”ve never visited and missionaries they seldom see. Do you want to join thousands of other Christians in united prayer for unreached people? Do you want to receive daily, specific, insightful prayer requests that will empower and intensify your prayers? The website and associated movement www.Pray4Tunisia.com is bringing God”s people together and changing the way we approach prayer for the harvest fields.

October 30, 2011

Christian Standard

You Must Read This . . . Beyond a Job Description

By Teresa Welch The Pastor: A Memoir Eugene H. Peterson New York: HarperOne, 2011 For those of you who have read Eugene Peterson”s other works, you will anticipate his memoir to be a collection of well- crafted stories about this author/professor/pastor who has already shared so much through his writings. What he provides in his newest work, The Pastor: A Memoir, exceeds those expectations. Interwoven into Peterson”s memories about his childhood, vocational discernment and formation, planting a new congregation, and responding to the needs of his community are words of exhortation and hope for the church and for those who

October 5, 2011

Christian Standard

RiverTree Providing Tools for Missional Movement

By Jennifer Taylor A number of factors began to converge, and Greg Nettle, senior pastor at RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH), thought God might be up to something. There were partnerships with Stadia (Irvine, CA) and Compassion International; the launch of 18 churches and counting with Kingdom Synergy Partnership, a church planting network; the addition of Alex Absalom, coauthor of Launching Missional Communities, to the RiverTree staff; the launch of Love Canton, an urban church plant; and the transition of RiverTree from megachurch to missional movement. “It started to become clear that God was moving,” Nettle says. The RiverTree team

September 19, 2011

Christian Standard

Opening His Word, Discovering His Love

By Dave Smith When I reflect on my almost 30 years of following Jesus, God”s Word has always been central. I remember my first feeble attempts at a quiet time. It was 1982, I was a new Christian, and trying to know God through Bible study and prayer felt awkward. But gradually I experienced the reality of communing with God and having his Spirit-empowered Word transform my life. In the spring of 1983, I knew God was calling me to vocational ministry. I still had more than two years left on my Army commitment. During those years, as my wife,

September 7, 2011

Christian Standard

Help, hope, and lives . . . Forever Changed

By Darrel Rowland Perhaps none of us can forget where we were and what we felt when we first heard of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. But perhaps many of us don”t know how God has worked through individuals and the local church to bring redemption and hope since then. This week we want to tell that story. Chip Gilgen was staring at the burning World Trade Center from a 25th-floor window of his FBI office when he saw the second plane slam into the other twin tower. Lisa Gilgen was still at work near Rockefeller Center while a coworker

August 31, 2011

Christian Standard

Nettle Selected President of Stadia

On Aug. 29, Provision Ministry Group announced the selection of Greg Nettle as the new president of Stadia, Provision”s church planting organization. “Greg is an international church planter as well as the vision caster and senior pastor of a church planting megachurch in northern Ohio,” wrote Provision CEO Larry Winger. “Instead of plucking Greg out of that context to lead Stadia, we are leaving him right where he is to keep on practicing and perfecting.” Nettle is senior pastor with RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH) and also one of the creators of Kingdom Synergy Partners, a church planting group formed

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