September 28, 2011
Lots of new churches launched the weekend of Sept. 17, 18! Pathways Christian Church (Cincinnati, OH) Mission Church (Ventura, CA) Community Christian Church (Edgewater location, Chicago, IL) Legacy Christian Church (Menomonee Falls, WI) Lifepointe Church (Downtown location, Raleigh, NC) And one additional church launched on Sept. 25: Reunion Church (Plainfield, IN) Did we miss any? E-mail bu**@*********ub.com if you have news to share!
April 25, 2011
By Kent E. Fillinger It all began at the 2007 North American Christian Convention. Church planting was the theme of the gathering in Kansas City, Missouri, that year. And Dave Ferguson, convention vice president and lead pastor of Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois, had the idea of using the convention to help launch a new church in Kansas City. Restore Community Church is the result of that vision. Ferguson shared his vision with Troy McMahon, who had been serving with him as campus pastor for Community”s first multisite location, in Romeoville, Illinois, since 1998. Interestingly, McMahon had started as a
March 28, 2011
This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for April 3) is written by Nicholas Cox who serves with Community Christian Church in White Marsh, Maryland. ____________ Remember Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:8-19) By Nicholas Cox When I moved from Maryland to Tennessee to attend seminary, I had an odd fear I couldn”t shake. Sure, there were logistics to figure out and hundreds of miles to travel. I had the normal butterflies when it came to meeting new people and facing new challenges. There was also concern caused by moving from an urban setting to a rural one; I
March 25, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor Not one but TWO new campuses of Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL) launched this past weekend! Campus pastor Dave Richa and his team rehabbed the former Shale Harbor Church in Lemont, IL. “Currently, Shale Harbor has multiple small church communities around the country,” says an article about the new site. “When Shale Harbor members felt the Lemont church wasn”t realizing its redemptive potential, they sought out the partnership with Community Christian, said Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church.” The launch team included people from both Shale Harbor and CCC. Community also launched a new campus
January 14, 2011
This week, Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL) challenged all attendees to spend less than $2 a day per person on food; the $2 a Day Challenge is designed to raise awareness and compassion for the 20 percent of the world living in poverty and the almost 50 percent of the world”s population living on less than $2 a day. Participants are encouraged to journal throughout the experience and share questions and thoughts with their small group at the end of the week.
October 4, 2010
This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for October 10) is written by Nicolas Cox who serves as minister of small groups and spiritual formation at Community Christian Church, White Marsh, Maryland. God”s Perfect Law (Psalm 19:7-14) By Nicolas Cox Whether it”s the speed limit or regulations of a homeowners association, we tend to dislike laws. Restrictions seem to rankle us. Laws point out what is black and what is white””what is wrong and what is right. It”s amazing how hard we search for a messy gray somewhere in between. We become experts in finding loopholes that will
September 28, 2010
Mark A. Taylor Congratulations to Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, the fifth largest church and the 27th fastest growing church in America. Southeast was one of 17 congregations in the fellowship of Christian churches included in the two lists, published by Outreach magazine in September. The lists were based on self-reported February and March attendance weekend attendance averages in a research project involving more than 8,000 churches, according to Outreach. LifeWay Research conducted the study. Ten of the 100 largest churches in America are among the Christian churches, including two in the top 10. (The numbers here and in the
August 30, 2009
 by Darrel Rowland Jon Ferguson, cofounder of Community Christian Church near Chicago (www.communitychristian.org) and director/cofounder of the NewThing Network (www.newthing.org) discusses the hows and whys of multisite.    Why multisite in the first place, especially vs. expansion at the original location, and vs. planting an entirely new church at the new location? At Community, we”re always asking, “Where is God at work?” or better yet, “Where may God be dreaming?” Our mission is helping people find their way back to God. Multisite and church planting have been our responses to where God is at work in our
August 30, 2009
 by Darrel Rowland Unexpected complications and challenges are common in the multisite movement. Certainly not every expansion leads to a glowing success story. For example, Discovery Christian Church in Dublin, Ohio, tried to get a site going in a nearby Columbus suburb. It didn”t work. Journey”s Crossing Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, closed a second location in the Washington, D.C., area. Community Christian Church in White Marsh, Maryland (www.communitycc.net), was preparing to launch a second site near Baltimore this year, but those plans are now on hold. Community Christian, averaging about 750 in attendance, already was actively helping plant churches
August 5, 2009
By Mark A. Taylor Troy McMahon walked into his local Starbucks June 18 and was surprised his friend, the barista, mentioned Troy”s recent trip to San Francisco. “How did you know about that?” Troy asked. “I”ve been following you on Facebook,” came the answer. The coffee server doesn”t attend Restore Community Church where Troy preaches””yet! But he”s one of many people the church planter reaches by using the sometimes maligned Internet social networking site Facebook. Paul Williams struck a responsive chord with his curmudgeonly critique of Facebook May 31. “On Facebook it seems all of life has been trivialized and
  By Amy Hanson Today”s older adult ministries are much different than 30 years ago. There is no longer one single approach that makes a 50-plus ministry successful; rather, there are a variety of methods being used to reach this rapidly growing age demographic. Here are just a few of the innovative and effective strategies being used by churches across the country.  Small Groups as a Tool for Evangelism Community Christian Church (www.communitychristian.org), a multisite church in Naperville, Illinois, has a site at Carillon, a 55-plus living community. Earl Ferguson, pastor at Carillon, says small groups have been
April 19, 2009
 By Kent Fillinger A SWOT analysis is the classic model for strategic planning. It examines an organization from the standpoint of its internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats it faces. We asked three lead pastors of megachurches to comment on their individual congregations and on megachurches in general using the framework of a SWOT analysis: “¢ Jud Wilhite, 37, has been senior pastor since 2003 of Central Christian Church (Henderson, Nevada), which has an average weekend worship attendance of 12,822. “¢ Scott Enyon, 47, has been senior pastor since 1994 of Community Christian Church
December 7, 2008
By Dave Ferguson Here is my challenge for every leader and paid staff person of every Christian church””stop baptizing! Just so you understand the challenge, let me say it again””STOP BAPTIZING! If you think this is merely an attention-grabber, you are only partially correct. Let me explain. I recently started leading a new small group. In preparation for the first group gathering, I met my apprentice leader at my favorite Starbucks to go over leadership expectations and to make other preparations. This was all new to him; he had never been a leader, never been in a group, and finished
October 12, 2008
By Troy McMahon I was sitting on a park bench at Ozark Christian College, next to the young woman who would soon become my bride, when I made the decision. I was going to live a life without regrets. I had just attended the National Youth Leaders Conference where I heard Tony Campolo speak. He shared some statistics about people in their 90s. When asked what they would do differently in their lives if they had to do it all over again, three themes emerged. First, they would take more risks; second, they would reflect more; and third, they would
September 21, 2008
By Staff Standard Publishing and Milligan College partnered to honor eight outstanding Christian leaders in two separate recognitions at this year”s North American Christian Convention. The Leaders in Christian Service award went to five individuals who have demonstrated servant leadership in their congregations, careers, and communities: Steve and Teresa Bachman, business leaders, members of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY. Jack Coffee, retired UPS executive, member of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY. David Hamilton, vice president with Elkins Constructors, member of Christ”s Church in Jacksonville, FL. John Wiggins, Havens Insurance Agency, member of Plainfield (IN) Christian Church. The Student Leader in
September 7, 2008
By Dave Ferguson Golfer 1: “What was your score?” Golfer 2: “Seventy-two.” Golfer 1: “That”s not too bad at all!” Golfer 2: “Thanks! I hope I”ll do better on the second hole.” When a golfer steps up to a tee, he knows how to keep score. It”s simple: Every time he hits the ball it counts as a stroke. At the end of 18 holes, he tallies up how many strokes he took, and that is his score. WHAT”S THE SCORE AT YOUR CHURCH? So, how does your church keep score? Usually churches keep score by counting the attendance and
By Brad Dupray As an elder for 28 years at Community Christian Church in Tamarac, Florida, John Chace has experienced just about everything an elder can experience, including mushrooming growth, as Community”s attendance has grown from 900 to 2,000 in the past five months. John was in the news business for 42 years, including nearly three decades with the Florida Sun-Sentinel, where he recently retired as community news editor, after also serving as city, national, international, and state editor. He and his wife of 40 years, Pat, were high school sweethearts in Cincinnati. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati
May 25, 2008
By Dave Ferguson “We don”t know exactly when, but we do know the earthquake is coming.” That is what seismologists who study our shifting earth are saying about impending catastrophic earthquakes. These experts can now tell us with absolute certainty where earthquakes will happen, but they don”t know exactly when. They have even created a list of the world”s most earthquake-vulnerable cities. At the top of the list is Kathmandu, Nepal, where they predict a 6.0-magnitude earthquake will occur and could kill approximately 69,000 people. Also on the hit list is Manila, Philippines, where a quake that will register close
April 13, 2008
Megachurches and emerging megachurches are offering worship services on multiple days and in multiple styles. Research across 113 churches suggests certain patterns—especially two service days and one or three worship styles—correlate with stronger growth.
February 24, 2008
A ministry leader asks what to do for people who won’t step into a church service. Dave Ferguson explores why multisite isn’t enough for many and calls churches to become “polysite” in everyday places.
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