Articles for tag: Church Planting

September 9, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: More to Discovery

By Kent E. Fillinger Shining a spotlight on challenges and successes at three churches . . . More to Discovery Did you grow up going to church? I did. Therefore, I don”t know what it feels like to walk into church for the first time as an adult with no church background. Toney Salva, senior minister at Discovery Christian Church, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, on the other hand has used his personal experience of not growing up in a church to design a church that targets people who do not like church, or who have no church background. Through some internal

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

Growing Like Jesus: Wisdom from Fellow Travelers

By Jennifer Taylor (Jennifer Taylor was among eight Christian leaders asked to share what helps them mature just as Jesus did. Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.) ________________________ This spring I tagged a few days onto a California business trip so I could spend time with friends. First I had coffee with John, who shared his recent decision to leave a safe ministry position and start a new church. “I waited years to discover this calling, and just tried to stay faithful until I saw the next step,” he told me. “And I”m not afraid

September 1, 2010

Christian Standard

10-10-10 Initiative Focuses Attention on Church Planting

By Jennifer Taylor October 10, 2010, is 10-10-10. It is a Sunday. And it will be the birthday for new churches across the country. The team behind the Exponential Conference, “the largest gathering of church planters on the planet,” developed the 10-10-10 Initiative to focus attention on church planting. Individuals, congregations, and even entire planting networks can participate by praying, adopting a church plant for encouragement and financial support, planning a sermon series, or even launching a new church. The Web site includes a central repository of sermon content, service ideas, and other materials (for free!), and offers affinity groups to connect participants

August 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Bart Stone

By Brad Dupray After graduating from Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University, Bart Stone spent 13 years on staff at Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Sensing a call to risk something greater for the gospel, Bart and his wife, Jodi, left the comfort of ministry at Northeast to heed the call of starting a new church in a community south of Atlanta, Georgia. Momentum Christian Church held its first service in January 2007, and has not looked back. The church is now running more than 400 in attendance in a warehouse. Bart and Jodi have two children, 9-year-old Keaton and 4-year-old

July 18, 2010

Christian Standard

Dreaming It, Modeling It, and Then Giving It Away

By Jennifer Taylor Day of Fest Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland, began “ServeFest” in 2003 as an event for Mountain members. The church contacted schools and other local organizations and spent a day landscaping, removing trash, and painting. Within a few years three more churches had joined the party, then 17, then 41. In April of this year 77 churches in five counties participated in the one-day event, unleashing thousands of people to serve across the city in 127 projects. “We have disappeared as owners of the event and it truly belongs to churches all over our region, including some

July 18, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC “˜Beyond”: Beyond Words to Action””Holistic Global Impact

By Dick Alexander I”m a late in life convert. For many years I thought the best (and only) real good we could do in overseas mission work was to plant churches. Once the churches got up and running, the Christians there could take care of other needs in their societies. I used to worry that some mission work gave lots of cups of cold water but saved few souls and had little to show for decades of investment. Maybe I was just stupid. After all, Jesus healed and preached. And good missionaries for years have not truncated ministry. Food, medical

June 13, 2010

Christian Standard

Two Views About the Future of the Restoration Movement: Let”s Keep Moving!

By Leroy Lawson This January, Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee, CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s contributing editors, and a few other key leaders met in a retreat to discuss the future. Key questions included, “Why does the Restoration Movement exist? What do we contribute? What is our vision for what Christian churches and churches of Christ should be and accomplish in the next decades? What do we want to look like 50 years from now . . . and what can we do today to begin painting that picture?” Although much time was given to freewheeling dialogue, two speakers set the tone with their

June 9, 2010

Christian Standard

Never More Movement, Never More Questions

By Mark A. Taylor I don”t remember the author of the essay or the year it appeared in CHRISTIAN STANDARD. I know it was decades ago, probably in the late “60s or early “70s. And I remember the question the writer raised: “When will the Restoration Movement start moving again?” The essay was a plea for our churches and leaders and institutions to step out of their lethargy and isolation and to actually make something happen in our world for Christ”s sake. Maybe someone listened, because no one in Christian churches and churches of Christ today is pleading for something to move.

May 9, 2010

Christian Standard

Enrolling Our Kids in the Jesus Mission

By Janet McMahon A look of disappointment, frustration, and surprise came over his face. He cried. We had just told our 13-year-old son we were leaving the only town he had ever known to move to another city and begin a brand-new church. The days and weeks that followed were full of questions, not just from our 13-year-old, but all three of our children. “Why?” “When?” “How?” “Are you sure?” At the time our kids were 16, 13, and 7, and moving kids attending high school and middle school seemed less than ideal. No doubt my children are the No.

May 5, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Bill and Mike Buher

Bill Buher and his wife, Mary, raised their two sons in an a cappella church of Christ in southern Indiana and then, a few years ago, transferred membership to Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington. Bill was called to serve as an elder at Sherwood Oaks and was one proud dad when his son Mike was similarly called to serve at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland. Bill, retired for about 10 years, finds plenty of ways to keep busy serving Christ. Mike is an audit partner for Grant Thornton, an international accounting firm. Did you grow up in the

April 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Megachurches: The Church of the Decade Is Real Life Ministries (Web-only Feature)

By Kent Fillinger Real Life Ministries is currently the sixth-largest Christian church/church of Christ in the country. Started by Jim Putman with only four families in 1998 in Post Falls, Idaho, Real Life has grown to an average worship attendance of 8,500. Real Life first appeared on CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s megachurch list in 2001 with an average attendance of 1,497. Real Life has remained focused on “making disciples in relational environments” and resisted chasing fads or shooting for “the big show” like some other churches. “The church should not be a gathering place, but a launching pad,” said Putman, who believes the

April 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Megachurches: Navigating at Compass

By Kent Fillinger Bedford Christian Church began in 1966 with 12 couples and has evolved into a church-planting church. In 1994, Bedford relocated and changed its name to reflect its new location. The church adopted the name of the adjoining subdivision and became Highland Meadows Christian Church. The church grew from 500 to a peak attendance of 1,500 in 2000. By the time current senior minister Drew Sherman arrived in 2002, however, attendance had been declining slightly for two years. Sherman realized many people in the church were hurting, so he gradually embarked on casting the vision for loving people

March 14, 2010

Christian Standard

Here”s What”s Happening at Our Christian Colleges

By Staff We asked colleges and seminaries associated with Christian churches and churches of Christ to provide updates on what”s happening at their institutions. Here”s what they had to say (these are listed alphabetically): Alberta Bible College The Rock is a new first-year program designed to ignite a new generation! While it provides students with classical foundational knowledge and practical ministry experiences, a new ingredient is various types of coaching designed to help students discern where “their deep gladness meets the world”s deep need” (Frederick Buechner). In other words, the goal is to help students discern who and where God

February 28, 2010

Christian Standard

Leadership Coaching in the Local Church (Developing Leaders of Leaders)

By Janet McMahon “The fruit of my work grows up on other people”s trees.” (Bob Buford)1 The phone call went something like this, “I was praying for you last night; how did it go?” I was juggling my 6-month-old son on one hip while wedging the phone between my ear and shoulder. “It went OK . . . I think,” I replied. What was this conversation? This was a coaching call. I had led my first women”s small group at Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, the night before. The call was from Sue, my coach. She wanted to know

January 10, 2010

Christian Standard

We Call It Kids Camp

By Dave Smith “I like you Mr. Dave.” I looked down at 6-year-old Max, son of Polish parents, and one of the children at Northshore Christian Church”s Kids” Camp, and replied, “I like you too, Max.” And after a week of shepherding some 15 second-graders, I decided I also liked kids” camp. Many of our new churches throughout the Northeast have a summer kid”s camp. In other places, we call them Vacation Bible Schools. This year I spent a week helping Northshore with its fifth kids” camp. Northshore Christian Church began in the fall of 2005 in Riverhead, New York,

January 3, 2010

Christian Standard

Local Church Membership”“Who Needs It?

By John Castelein I am pleased with the turnout. Chatting in our living room are two elders from our local church, George and Henry, and four seminary students. Jim is an intelligent MDiv student with a noninstrumental background. He can be somewhat argumentative. Diane is a new counseling major. The other students do not know she is a divorced mother who faithfully attends her church without any support from her boyfriend, the father of her little girl. Cole is single and wonders whether he belongs in seminary. Larry wants to be a church planter and has a great passion to

December 6, 2009

Christian Standard

Lessons from the Fishin” Hole

by Marcus Bigelow Last night I stopped at The Fishin” Hole in Greenville, Missouri. Greenville is a long way from most everywhere. I was looking for a friend who supposedly was eating there. I was to join him for dinner. He wasn”t there, but I decided to eat anyway, following the maxim that a full parking lot usually indicates good food. This Yankee boy walked in to find the “friendliest place in town.” Almost every table was filled. The waitresses were at a dead run. “Take any ol” table,” the cashier told me, so I sat down at one of

November 29, 2009

Christian Standard

Restoration Revolution

  by Russell Johnson More people are coming to Christ today than at any time since the resurrection. A sense of urgency has gripped the hearts of many leaders praying, “God give us your vision for this mission . . . “. Many astute observers of Christian history are convinced the Restoration Movement is on the threshold of a worldwide impact. National Missionary Convention Director Dave Empson and key leaders across America recently began a collaboration to share Jesus with all peoples. Beginning in 2010, “Restoration Revolution” is a 10-year kingdom venture that will focus on four arteries of mission

November 29, 2009

Christian Standard

INTO AFRICA: Ray and Effie Giles

  by Kathy Harless “We left a church in Ethiopia.” Ray Giles wrote in tears in late 1977, yet a quiet victory filled his heart. His family and other Christian Missionary Fellowship missionaries had been hastily evacuated in the spring with the advent of a strong Marxist government.  For nine years before that, Ray and Effie Giles worked alongside teammates in evangelizing, educating, and planting churches among the unreached Oromo and Gumuz peoples. Ray”s greatest concern was whether they had prepared the new and maturing Christians for the persecution that lay ahead. Yet, a church was being forged in Ethiopia

November 18, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Greg Nettle

By Brad Dupray Greg Nettle is celebrating his 20th anniversary as senior pastor of RiverTree Christian Church, Massillon, Ohio, this year, and he is also celebrating a collaboration of churches from throughout Ohio. About 30 churches have joined in Kingdom Synergy Partnerships (KSP) with a goal of starting 50 churches in a 10-year period. Although RiverTree is running about 3,000 in weekend attendance, Greg sees the value of every church, large and small, as an important link in the partnership model. Greg and his wife, Julie, have been married 16 years and are the proud parents of two children, Tabitha

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