Articles for tag: church staff

February 16, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Creating the Integrity of the Church

By Mark A. Taylor Peggy Noonan wrote in Saturday”s Wall Street Journal about “the general decline of America”s faith in its institutions,” and you can guess the institutions she listed: “the professions, the presidency, the Supreme Court,” and the one she mentioned first, the church. I”m assuming Noonan, a Catholic, thinks first of the church she knows best, and statistics suggest the Catholic Church in America is in trouble. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a national nonprofit research center affiliated with Georgetown University, attendance at Mass in the U.S. declined from 55 percent of the

February 11, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Thinking Theologically

By Mark A. Taylor Our theology affects all our actions and decisions“”how we live and serve and react and decide. But do most Christians and Christian leaders define their decisions by their theology? Can we do this? How? Why should we try? For answers we talked with four church leaders and Bible scholars: “¢ Ben Cachiaras, senior pastor with Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland “¢ Frank Dicken, assistant professor of New Testament at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian University “¢ J. K. Jones, pastor of spiritual formation with Eastside Christian Church, Normal, Illinois “¢ Jon Weatherly, dean of the School of Bible

January 8, 2016

Christian Standard

Parents Are Primary

Click here for a list of parenting resources ________ By Peter Buckland All too often, parents assume the church is responsible for the spiritual formation of their children. This assumption is a mistake. It is the parents” responsibility to train their children to know and love Jesus. Whether parents are biological, step, foster, grandparents, or temporary parental substitutes1, they do a better job of prompting childhood and adolescent faith in Christ than the church staff, volunteers, or programming. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 places the spiritual development of children squarely on the parents” shoulders. If we were to apply this old covenant commandment

October 25, 2015

Christian Standard

The Book that Saved My Ministry

Seven leaders tell how reading made all the difference for them. ____ TODD CLARK, teaching pastor, Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona Too Busy Not to Pray: Slowing Down to Be with God by Bill Hybels (InterVarsity Press, 1998) Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Family and Work Collide? by Andy Stanley (Multnomah, 2003) The Life You”ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg (Zondervan, 1997) Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You by John Ortberg (Zondervan, 2014) A Tale of Three Kings: A Study of Brokenness by Gene Edwards (Tyndale House, 1992) As I

October 17, 2015

Christian Standard

Gut Check

By Eddie Lowen Pixar”s movie Inside Out is clever. It”s about an 11-year-old girl whose family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. The genius of the film is its vivid and humorous portrayal of the memories, thoughts, and emotions that compete to control the girl”s behavior. If I had to select one word to capture all three of those elements””memory, thought, and emotion””I”d choose the word instinct. How good are your instincts? Let me guess: pretty good. As you read my question, you thought, I trust my gut. My instincts are above average. That”s the problem. Everyone thinks his or

September 15, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Volunteers: They”re Vital!

By Mark A. Taylor Not long after I left ministry in the local church to come to the nine-to-five office environment at Standard Publishing, I had an epiphany. I had taken for granted the volunteers who had helped me at the church. When I needed them to come to a meeting, they came. When I asked them to teach a class, they taught. When I recruited them to give up time to keep my latest notion from failing, they were there. Meanwhile, I counted everything I did for the church as part of the job they were paying me for.

August 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Yes, We Hire Members of the Same Family to Serve on Our Church Staff

By Steve Reeves A megachurch minister with decades of experience explains why and how staff members” spouses and children””including his own son””serve together with him. I have been lead pastor at Connection Pointe Christian Church, Brownsburg, Indiana, for almost 29 years. When my wife and our three preschoolers moved here in July 1986, there was a paid youth minister and a church secretary. It proved to be a wonderful place to minister and an encouraging environment in which to raise our family. Life, church work, and family matters were much simpler when we arrived, although my wife probably wouldn”t use

August 21, 2015

Christian Standard

‘Story of God’ . . . for All Mankind

By Jennifer Johnson Story of God was designed simply to enhance a sermon series””and now it just might go international. Sherri McCready originally developed visual and performance art to accompany a four-month sermon series focusing on 16 key stories from Genesis to Revelation. At the time she was the creative arts director at Highland Christian Church in Asheville, NC, and her husband, Shannon, served as lead pastor. “Shannon was burdened by how many people don”t read the Bible””or anything else,” she says. “He began researching missionaries who dealt with people groups without a written language and how they communicated the

February 24, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

A Voice at the Table

By Mark A. Taylor New York publishing executive Joanne Lipman wrote last year about the subtle barriers and “benevolent sexism” she”s experienced in an industry that says it”s open to women leaders. After reading her article, “Women at Work: a Guide for Men,” I couldn”t help but wonder: Do women working in my world, i.e. local churches and parachurch ministries, also feel stymied by the men who dominate their workplaces? I wrote several women church leaders to get an answer, and I reported last week all of them answered “yes.” Since then, I have heard from a couple more women

January 8, 2015

Christian Standard

A Healthy Church Manages Debt Well

By Don Anderson Thank you for even starting to read an article about an important topic that is seldom considered exciting. I am certain I could find church leaders who would argue that an indebted church cannot be considered “healthy.” And others would argue that debt has little to do with a church”s overall health. I think the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. Debt can be like a noose squeezing the necks of leaders, or it can be a useful tool for eliminating real obstacles to growth, such as the lack of seating or parking. Debt and commercial

December 2, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

24 Days Till Christmas!

By Mark A. Taylor  No, this is not more pressure to get your shopping done early. Instead, here”s a list of possibilities for making your December a little less hectic and a little more meaningful. You may decide to follow my advice every day from now till the Big Day. But if only a couple of these ideas sound good to you, that”s enough. The point is to refocus, relax, and remember why we”re celebrating in the first place. Today, December 2″”Make a list of several neighbors and decide how you”ll connect with at least one of them during the

September 16, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

A Choice, Not a Prayer Request

By Mark A. Taylor I”ve written before about a friend in ministry who was dealing with some difficult people. “Why don”t you show them why they need to approach this problem in a different way?” I asked her. “Because people don”t change,” she said. “My telling them another way is better won”t make any difference. They”re going to do this the way they want to do it, not the way I say they should.” If she”s right, how do we ever see change happen? At least a part of the answer comes in the excellent essays by Casey Tygrett  and

July 19, 2014

Christian Standard

Intentional About Intentions

By Matt Proctor (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) I worked for a time at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and in a talk with church staff, senior minister Bob Russell once described the inevitability of conflict, “We”re not always going to get along. Someone said, “˜Where two or three are gathered in my name . . . there”s going to be an argument.”” He then pointed out the human tendency, in the midst of conflict, to suspect the worst about the other person. We assume their motives are malicious, or at least less-than-trustworthy.

June 18, 2014

Christian Standard

Interview with Gary Johnson

By Paul Boatman   Gary Johnson serves as lead pastor/elder with The Creek, formerly Indian Creek Christian Church, in Indianapolis, Indiana.   How has your approach to God been altered over the years? Growing up, I went to church week after week without ever realizing that one could have a personal walk with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. I was following a religion, not pursuing a relationship. Leah”s family introduced me to a relationship with Jesus.   And has your approach to Christian leadership changed too? About 15 years ago I went through a period of deep introspection. We

September 27, 2013

Christian Standard

Images of Colorado Flooding

LifeBridge Christian Church staff member Drew Depler, who is coordinating disaster relief efforts for the Longmont, Colorado, church, provided CHRISTIAN STANDARD with a number of photos of flooding near the church, and recovery efforts in and around the church. The photos were taken in the days after the flooding started. A slow-moving cold front that stalled over the state clashed with warm, humid air from the south, producing heavy rain starting September 9, 2013, and ultimately catastrophic flooding. Disasters have been declared in more than a dozen Colorado counties.

September 27, 2013

Christian Standard

Interview with Ken Henes

By Paul Boatman Ken Henes is in his 18th year as director of Wisconsin Christian Mission Association (WCMA)””a church planting organization for the state. Since 2008 he has also served as preaching minister of Westwood Christian Church in Madison, Wisconsin.   What are the challenges to church planting in the northland? We start with a small support base””about 40 Christian churches in Wisconsin, two-thirds of them with average attendance of less than 100. Only one church, Central Christian in Beloit, ranks as a megachurch. Historically, we followed the old style of church planting””a small nucleus that was typically many years

June 17, 2013

Christian Standard

Keepers

By Eddie Lowen   When staff members demonstrate these qualities, hang on to them. “Would you hire him again?” The question was asked by the lead pastor of a faraway church who was deep into the process of hiring away one of our ministers. After I answered, there was an awkward pause, and then he asked, “Are you serious?” Hiring staff is an intimidating responsibility for senior leaders of churches. While there aren”t many horrible people in ministry, there are plenty you don”t want. They survive by knowing how to talk a good game. So, be afraid””be very afraid””afraid enough, at

May 24, 2013

Christian Standard

“˜Do Unto Others”

By Barney Wells After four decades of church leadership as a minister, elder, and lately as a church consultant, I have come to see the importance of a simple rule that is too often overlooked. But if it were followed, it would make life for elders, church staff, and congregations more harmonious. And very likely it would lead the watching world to take a higher view of the church. That rule is twice mentioned in Scripture (Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31), children memorize it in Sunday school, and it is stamped on pencils and cross-stitched on samplers. We call it

April 20, 2013

Christian Standard

Lessons from a Fat Wallet

By Eddie Lowen Not long ago, removing my wallet from my pants pocket became difficult. That”s a good thing, right? On Subway restaurants” TV commercial, a thick wallet is evidence of frugal spending and increasing net worth. Dave Ramsey likes fat wallets. However, my wallet was gaining girth from items other than legal tender and dead presidents. Membership cards were to blame. Multiple membership cards. Some were plastic, others card stock. I emptied my wallet and discovered nearly a dozen membership cards to seemingly every organization in our city and beyond. A sampling of my memberships includes: Sam”s Club, which

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