Articles for tag: Church Planting

Church & Ministry Church Growth

California Church Sees a Steady Rise

(We shined a “Spotlight” on four large and medium churches of note in our August print issue. Here’s a bonus article about Rise City Church of Lakeside, Calif., the second-fastest-growing large church [average weekly attendance of 500 to 999] in our most recent survey.) By Chris Moon Rise City Church of Lakeside, Calif., is showing she was aptly named. The church has seen a strong, steady rise in attendance since being planted six years ago. Attendance at Rise City grew by 31.8 percent in 2018. It averaged 837 people each Sunday, making it the second-fastest-growing church in Christian Standard’s list

July 22, 2019

Planting Roots in the City (Los Angeles)

By Andrew Alesso “Wait. So, you’re a minister, right?” she blurted out in the middle of our book club’s group discussion. “Ha ha. Yeah, something like that,” I responded nervously. “I’m surprised you’re being so nice to me,” she said. And then—with no hint of sarcasm—she asked, “And you really don’t hate me?” I’d recently started the book club as a way to meet people in my city. I moved to Los Angeles to facilitate conversations like this. She had just told the group she was an evolutionary biologist. I had just acknowledged she must have a fascinating job. “Wait.

July 22, 2019

Ministries & Nonprofits Organizations & Events

Restoration House Ministries: A Light in Dark Places (New England)

By Kelly Carr “We cannot ignore going to where the people are.” That is Eric Lee’s succinct summation of the current urban church-planting focus of Restoration House Ministries in New England, where he is executive director. A focus on urban areas was not a stated goal when RHM started, Lee notes. When former executive director Dan Clymer founded RHM in 1996, the aim was simply to plant where there was a dearth of churches. It’s estimated that only 5 percent of the just under 15 million people living in the six states that comprise New England—Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,

July 22, 2019

Church & Ministry Church Planting Restoration Movement History

Mid-Atlantic States: Going Back to the City (Part 1)

After 50 Years, a New Generation of Young Leaders Spurs Urban Church Planting in the Mid-Atlantic States By Tim Cole One of the seminal events on the timeline of the Restoration Movement occurred 50 years ago. Although tensions had been brewing for decades with their conservative counterpart, the more progressive wing of our tribe formally adopted a denominational design and officially changed their name to Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1969. In urban areas, which typically espouse a more liberal stance on theological issues, a significant portion of downtown churches aligned with this newly formed denomination. Their impressive buildings,

July 22, 2019

Why We Must Go to the Cities

God’s Word, Urbanization, Generational Shifts Compel Us to Plant Urban Churches Now By Nathan “Chivo” Hawkins and Josie Barton People are drawn to cities for many reasons: education, employment, entertainment, economic and social opportunities. People have also been overwhelmed by cities; the exposure to poverty, illness, and other symptoms of brokenness have caused many people to flee urban centers. But whether pulled or repulsed, the Great Commission compels us to minister in cities. Biblical Rationale for Urban Ministry Social justice has become such a buzz phrase that followers of Jesus might dismiss urban ministry as a fad. Yet, we have

July 22, 2019

Michael C. Mack

Going to the Cities

By Michael C. Mack Cities are a key setting in God’s story. The churches in Jerusalem, Ephesus, Corinth, Athens, and many others in the New Testament were urban. And, while the Bible’s story began in a rural area (surely two people in a garden surrounded by lots of animals is rural!), it ends in an urban locale, “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem” (Revelation 21:2). Cities also present a strategic opportunity for the church today. Several statistics quoted by writers of this month’s articles stood out to me: – “The most recent U.S. Census data revealed for the first time

July 22, 2019

Laura McKillip Wood

A Partnership of Hope

By Laura McKillip Wood The sun beat down on the American visitors as they made their way through dirt streets and stepped over the open sewers that lined them. Tin and wooden shanties crowded together. Whole families with five to ten members lived in one room. The smells of smoldering cooking fires, garbage, and sewage permeated the air in the slums of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. Just the week before, a 14-year-old boy, loved by many in the community, faced the guns of a corrupt police force. Shot multiple times, the boy died immediately. The visitors knew nothing

July 22, 2019

Bible Study Theology & Bible

‘You Can’t Do Better Than That’ (Inner City Church of Christ, Baltimore)

By Melissa Wuske “We were in heaven. You couldn’t tell us we weren’t in heaven.” That’s how Eric Lorick recalls the early days of Inner City Church of Christ in Baltimore, which started in January 2014. On Sundays the church would set up for worship—and then tear down—in a rented space in a community center. “[Such] work brings us together as a church family,” he said. From those earliest days, his vision was “to make a difference, to bring hope to the hopeless. . . . You can’t do better than that in a city like Baltimore.” That vision is

July 8, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for July 14, 2019: Speak Up by Giving (Philippians 4:10-20)

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. 5 (weeks 25-28; June 23–July 14, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Speak up by trusting Christ enough to give. ______ By Mark Scott Famous Methodist preacher Clovis Chappell said, “I love to preach on giving. I love to watch the generous smile and love to watch the stingy squirm.” We preach sermons by what we say, by how we live,

June 22, 2019

Jerry Harris

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Considering Robert Coleman

By Jerry Harris Some people we cross paths with in life leave an indelible mark. Robert Coleman is such a person for me. A few years ago, I was part of a group of leaders who were preparing the speaking lineup for that year’s Exponential conference. The focus that year was on discipleship and its relationship to church planting. Jim Putman, a preacher whose life and ministry have been devoted to relational discipleship, was chosen as a featured speaker and also selected to help write that year’s accompanying book. He and Bobby Harrington were looking for a third person to

June 22, 2019

Laura McKillip Wood

Transformation through Education

By Laura McKillip Wood (After writing our “Horizons” column for two years, Emily Drayne has decided to step away from this role due to time constraints and other responsibilities. We thank her for her good work. We welcome our new “Horizons” writer, former missionary Laura McKillip Wood. Laura’s name may be familiar to readers as she contributes regularly to The Lookout.) He closes his Bible and stretches his arms, rubs his neck, and yawns. He hears the night sounds outside his window and tucks his sermon, scribbled on a scrap of paper, into his Bible. Ambling to bed, this Ugandan

May 17, 2019

Church Leadership

Multisite Comes of Age

âThe multisite congregation is the single most profound change in American congregations in the past century.â âThom 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

Church Leadership

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 25, 2019

Church Leadership

Greg Johnson: Shunning Labels and Serving Leaders

By Justin Horey Missionary. Coach. Pastor. Mentor. Influencer. Entrepreneur. Greg Johnson prefers not to be labeled, but he could be described as any of those. “I don’t like titles,” he says. “Even when I was leading a megachurch, I didn’t want to be called ‘Pastor Greg.’ I’m just Greg.” International Beginnings Johnson grew up in Ethiopia, where he attended boarding school while his parents worked as missionaries. His family lived in a very remote area where there were few white people. He remembers Ethiopian nationals traveling for miles to see him and his classmates and touch their white skin. In

April 20, 2019

New Life Where Death Once Reigned

He survived the killing fields, led murderous general to Christ By Mark Ellis He grew up in the palace of the king, but after the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia, he lost his privileged lifestyle and nearly his life. After he found Christ in a refugee camp, he became a soul-winner himselfâbringing hope to one of the most notorious monsters of the killing fields. âI was raised in a Buddhist family,â says Christopher LaPel, founder of Hope for Cambodia. His father worked in the palace of King Sihanouk and as a boy, Christopher often spent time there. One

March 27, 2019

A Fortuitous Announcement for Stadia (Church Planting)

Stadia Church Planting marketing manager Josie Barton had some fun with Google’s announcement that its revolutionary cloud-based gaming system would be called . . . you guessed it: Stadia. “These past few days, we’ve been having fun introducing unsuspecting gamers to our church planting mission,” Barton wrote on Stadia’s website Sunday, noting, “it’s easy to use the wrong handle in the twitterverse.” Cloud-based gaming could mark the end of console-based systems that have ruled since the early 1980s. If gamers are excited for Stadia, Barton opined, “We need to be as excited [because] Stadia Church Planters is even better.” She then listed several

March 27, 2019

New Churches Planted in Texas and California

Two new churches have started in recent weeks. Venture Christian Church, Katy, Texas, held a four-week grand opening from Jan. 20 to Feb. 10 and saw 151 different people come to its services. Lead planter Nathan Boldt wrote that Venture’s intent is to “reach people with no connection to a church.” He added, “If I were to share one stat, it would be that about 80 percent of our crowd are unchurched. . . . We are thrilled at what God has been up to!”VCC is a plant by Nexus Church Planting and is also supported by several Texas congregations. Further west, Luminous

February 27, 2019

Baptism Theology & Bible

A Different Kind of Death, Burial, & Resurrection Story

Two New Chicagoland Churches Planted Where All Seemed Lost By Melissa Wuske Biblical stories are full of surprisesâitâ™s easy to forget that when you become so familiar with them. Seas part, cowards lead, the sick are healed, people with shady pasts are listed in the genealogy of the Son of God. Resurrection is the biggest surprise of them all. Dead things are supposed to stay dead. Sure, a sick person may recover, but whatâ™s dead is dead. God still uses the element of surprise to remind us who he is and what heâ™s capable of, to bring his kingdom on

February 2, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger