May 1, 2024
A Church-Planting Church: The Legacy and Impact of East 91st Street Christian Church
E91’s church-planting impact and legacy have added mightily to the Restoration Movement’s tremendous growth. . . .
Articles for tag: Churchill Meadows Christian Church
January 27, 2014
A Conversation with Jim Tune
By Jennifer Johnson Meet Our Contributing Editors: This month we talk with Jim Tune, senior minister with Churchill Meadows Christian Church in Toronto, Canada, and director of Impact Canada about why he still believes in the Restoration Movement and thinks you should, too. You”ve developed this reputation as “the Restoration Movement guy.” And I”ve always appreciated your balanced perspective on it; on the one hand, you live in a post-Christian country and you”re more interested in telling people about Jesus than engaging in doctrinal battles. At the same time, you have a high value for the movement. What”s the story
October 14, 2013
New Signs of Hope in Eastern Canada
By Jim Tune Eastern Canada (Ontario and the Maritime provinces) was the seedbed for what finally became known as the Restoration Movement in Canada. Long before the thoughts of Barton Stone were circulated north of the 49th parallel, and several decades before Alexander Campbell visited the Canadian churches, a simple movement””similar, but not identical to that in the United States””took root in Canada. It was an appeal to model the church according to the simple doctrine and polity of the New Testament, to pursue unity, and to discard denominational labels and creeds. Scottish “restorationists” arrived upon the shores of New
July 8, 2013
40 Under 40: Kurt Kuykendall
KURT KUYKENDALL Pastor, Westcoast Christian Church, Surrey, British Columbia Determined, diligent, and faithful are words that come to mind as I consider the ministry of Kurt Kuykendall””and he”s just getting started! Kurt grew up in a small town in northern Alberta but felt called to serve in the “big city” of Toronto. In his first full-time ministry, Kurt served with me as a youth minister and then felt called to serve on the launch staff of a new church plant I was undertaking in Greater Toronto. This was quite a project and a huge step of faith for this young,
June 15, 2013
Grassroots Group Works to “˜Feed the Street”
By Jennifer Johnson It started slowly. Seven years ago, Jeff Wedge, a member at Churchill Meadows Christian Church in Ontario, Canada, wanted to recruit a team to deliver food and other necessities to the homeless. He approached CMCC senior minister Jim Tune about developing the outreach as a ministry of the church. Tune said no. “Hey, we”re totally supportive of feeding hungry people,” Tune says with a smile. “We encouraged Jeff to start his ministry, but as a church we focus on a few major community projects around the holidays.” Today “Feed the Street” reaches hundreds of homeless people throughout
October 14, 2012
Hope, Despair in India: Find This Book and Read It! (Part 13)
By Jim Tune A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry St. Louis: Turtleback, 2001 I have given copies of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry to more of my reading friends than possibly any other book I have read. All the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism of India is startlingly captured and made real to the reader. Set in 1975 in an unnamed city by the sea in India, this eye-opening novel looks at the lives of four strangers who have fallen, almost instantly, from a middle-class lifestyle to the ranks of the poor due to sudden economic upheaval. These
A Ministry to Immigrants in Canada
By Jennifer Taylor “When you first get here, even the most basic things can be difficult,” says Javier Bustillos, who is originally from Cali, Colombia, and lived in the United States before arriving in Toronto, Canada, in 2003. “You don”t know where to shop for food, what school your children should attend, where to live. It”s a confusing time.” Bustillos and a small group of other Spanish-speaking members from Churchill Meadows Christian Church (also in Toronto) began visiting a local shelter to become friends with the refugees and immigrants. “We didn”t begin with a plan,” he admits. “We just listened
Elders: A Key to Growth in the New Church
By Jim Tune In my previous article on elders and submission, I suggested that church planters may be hesitant to install elders due to a misunderstanding of biblical authority. We”ve become accustomed to thinking about abuse and power in the same sentence. We have so many poor models of leadership around us today, it is easy to cringe when words like submission, authority, and rule come up. But a new church plant can provide a unique opportunity to create a workable and biblical model unhindered by any existing and entrenched system. At Churchill Meadows we followed an intentional pathway””one embarked
May 23, 2012
Impacting Canada
By Kent E. Fillinger Toronto, Canada, is the most ethnically diverse city in the world. On the west side of Toronto, where Churchill Meadows Christian Church meets, 55 percent of the population speaks a language other than English in their homes. All totaled, more than 140 languages and dialects are spoken in the city. People of Muslim and Hindu backgrounds outnumber the people with any form of Christian background. Additionally, only 4 percent of the population is churched, which means the majority of people have no frame of reference for Christianity. Culturally, Canada resembles Western Europe more than the United
May 2, 2012
Elders, Submission, and the Rebel in Me!
By Jim Tune With so many poor models of leadership around us today, we may cringe when words like submission, authority, and rule come up. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” With that line in the final chapter of Animal Farm, George Orwell delivered his critique of Karl Marx and the government of the Soviet Union. We know the story: animals rise up, a barnyard revolt is launched, and the animals displace the human owners of the farm and begin to run the farm for their own benefit. It was a paradise run by
July 14, 2011
Solomon Foundation Offering Church Loans
By Jennifer Taylor The Solomon Foundation, a new church extension fund for the Christian churches and churches of Christ, launched several months ago with headquarters in Englewood, CO. Doug Crozier, formerly president of Church Development Fund (Irvine, CA), serves as chief executive officer of the new organization. Crossroads Christian Church (Grand Prairie, TX) and Christ”s Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ) worked with Crozier and his team to fund the development and launch of the foundation. Leaders from Mount Pleasant Christian Church (Greenwood, IN), Real Life Ministries (Post Falls, ID), The Crossing (Quincy, IL), and Churchill Meadows Christian Church (Toronto,
July 1, 2011
A Church Planting Milestone in Canada
By Jennifer Taylor According to Jim Tune, senior minister with Churchill Meadows Christian Church and director of Impact Ministry Group (both Ontario, Canada), the area is home to only six other Christian churches””and their combined attendance is less than 500. So CMCC”s new building””and the more than 1,200 people who attended the opening services in March””is a milestone for Canadian church planting. “Churches are closing faster in Canada than any other area, including Western Europe,” Tune says. “Church just isn”t on the radar. In fact, people assumed our building was an industrial complex or school because they don”t have
March 30, 2011
New Building for Churchill Meadows
This past Sunday, Churchill Meadows Christian Church (Mississauga, Ontario) celebrated the grand opening of their new building. Senior minister Jim Tune and his wife, Claudia, planted CMCC in 2001 and the church broke ground on the building in June 2008. The project””Church Development Fund“s first international loan””will provide the first permanent facility for Churchill Meadows, which has grown to be the largest independent Christian church in Canada.
December 23, 2010
Canadian Church Hosts Celtic Christmas
Churchill Meadows Christian Church (Ontario, Canada) held its annual Celtic Christmas celebration this past weekend. The event features fiddlers, bagpipe music, authentic step-dancing, and other ancient elements. Popular Celtic songs and traditional Christmas carols are performed and CMCC minister Jim Tune shares a Christmas message. Read more about this and other ways churches are celebrating Christmas in this week”s Buzz!
December 18, 2010
Churches Celebrate Our Savior”s Birth
By Jennifer Taylor So many churches, so many different ways to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Each December for the last three years, My Safe Harbor (Anaheim, California)“”a nonprofit organization providing education and support for low-income single moms and their children””has coordinated a Christmas brunch for teachers at four local elementary schools. From homemade treats and decorations to music and gifts, the MSH team provides a special time of appreciation for these hard-working teachers. Members at Anaheim First Christian Church, which helped launch My Safe Harbor, sign thank-you cards and donate money for presents (including refills for the Keurig
February 26, 2006
Another One?
Do we really need another church? Robert Kitchen argues yes—because lost people still need to be reached, communities keep changing, and planting new churches remains a powerful method of evangelism.
November 27, 2005
Survival Tips for Church Planters
Even thriving church plants can swallow up the planter. Jim Tune shares hard-won principles for endurance—certainty of calling, freedom to be yourself, and boundaries that protect marriage, home, and long-term ministry.
August 21, 2005
Momentum-Makers: New Initiatives for Kingdom Growth in Canada
Church planting momentum is building in Central and Eastern Canada through rapid growth, intentional giving, national-level collaboration, and creative multisite experiments that open new doors for gospel ministry.
August 21, 2005
Doing Church in the City
A look at Keele Street Christian Church in Toronto’s Junction—its 1800s roots, changing neighborhood, multicultural congregation, and the practical challenges and ministries of doing church in a major city.
July 31, 2005
Intentionally International
A Toronto-area church plant shares practical lessons for becoming intentionally multicultural—moving from accommodation to celebration and reaching the nations locally. Includes a sidebar story of Mustafa and Sheela’s journey to Christ at CMCC.
