Articles for tag: Community Outreach

November 5, 2015

Christian Standard

Pennsylvania Church Leading Public School Assemblies

By Jennifer Johnson Many churches lament their inability to impact the public schools or serve their students. But this fall, Discovery Christian Church is presenting anti-bullying programs in three local elementary and two middle schools in Cranberry Township, PA. “A few years ago we did a summer outreach camp for kids in the community,” says Discovery lead pastor Toney Salva. “We held the event in a park instead of in our church building, and one of the school counselors became aware of us and thought we might be able to help with their anti-bullying initiatives.” Discovery did one very successful assembly in

September 26, 2015

Michael C. Mack

3 Secrets to Pulling Off a BIG Serving Event (No Matter How Large or Small Your Ministry Is)

By Michael C. Mack Over the summer of 2015, Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, served its community through a wide variety of big, all-in serving events called Love the Ville (#lovetheville) that took lots of planning and coordination and made a huge impact on the community. What does it take to plan and execute big serving initiatives like the ones Northeast carried out? What are the secrets that any sized church or ministry can implement? Go and do minister Randy Gordon provides three vital planning and execution principles: 1. Talk to the right people. Maximize the relationships you already

June 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Ministry Resource of the Month: Ice Cream

By Michael C. Mack July is National Ice Cream Month. How can you use ice cream in your ministry? Momentum Christian Church in Stockbridge, Georgia, owns an ice cream truck that it uses for all types of ministry. David Powers, who oversees “Out There” ministries and community partnerships, said the truck is a way to build trust and serve in the community, but it also provides the people of Momentum a low-commitment, easy way to serve together. When Momentum launched, lead minister Bart Stone bought the 1988 postal truck off eBay, and the church converted it to serve ice cream.

March 8, 2015

Christian Standard

Redeeming Lent

By T.R. Robertson Some ignore it. Some condemn it. But others have found ways to redeem this 40-day observance with values both biblical and missional. I didn”t grow up with Lent as part of my life. My church, as well as most other congregations in the Restoration Movement of the 1960s and “70s, didn”t observe Lent at all. It was considered a nonbiblical invention of the Catholic Church. We not only looked down on Lent, we mostly ignored it. I don”t remember Lent ever being mentioned in Sunday school or in sermons. My first exposure to Lent came when I was a safety patrol guard

March 1, 2015

Michael C. Mack

March Madness and More

By Michael C. Mack Here are five ministry ideas you can use this March to reach out to your community. These can be accomplished in small groups, Sunday school classes, teams, or by the whole church. “¢ March Forth Day: March 4 is “Do Something Day!” Plan a serving event to march forth into your community with the good news! “¢ March Ministry Madness: This is a ministry fair with a basketball theme. Imagine people together in one room, sitting at round tables, eating and talking, dreaming and planning, developing ministry ideas, creating groups and teams and task forces. “¢

September 19, 2014

Michael C. Mack

The Strategic Ministry of “˜Neighboring”

By Michael C. Mack In 2009, Dave Runyon gathered a group of 20 lead ministers in the Denver area to think, dream, and pray about how their churches might join forces to serve their community. The ministers asked the local mayor a simple question: “How can we as churches best work together to serve our city?” The mayor”s response has inspired passion and a movement. “The majority of issues our community is facing would be eliminated or drastically reduced if we could just figure out a way to become a community of great neighbors,” the mayor said. Runyon and Jay

May 7, 2014

Christian Standard

Megachurches Break New Ground

By Kent Fillinger The annual survey of attendance and trends in the fellowship of Christian churches and churches of Christ always yields interesting facts, but our study for calendar year 2013 also identified three notable “firsts”: “¢ For the first time, three churches averaged more than 20,000 in weekly worship attendance. Joining Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, and Central Christian Church, Henderson, Nevada, both of which surpassed 20,000 for the third consecutive year, was Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona. “¢ For the first time in the 18-year history of this list, Southeast Christian did not have the highest

December 29, 2013

Christian Standard

Missional Fitness

By Frank Shirvinski We didn”t intend to be missional. In 2007, we were simply a group of guys from the church who enjoyed studying jujitsu and working out together. Our niche was fairly small and limited. However, as word spread, we invited friends to join us, and some of those friends even came to services at Chaparral Christian Church on Sunday. So, as our ranks grew, we began to wonder if we were doing something right. Was general fitness a place the church could connect with an existing need in the life of our community? How could we extend our

September 12, 2013

Christian Standard

Leading with Love in Las Vegas

By Vince Antonucci Travis moved from New York City to Las Vegas to make money. He was a photographer and started showing up at nightclubs and strip clubs asking, “How about you make me your photographer?” Travis became the photographer for many of Vegas”s nightclubs and strip clubs, and then strippers. Before long, Travis was sleeping with the strippers. Travis”s wife found out, and she moved out with their kids. Travis began convincing strippers that they could make more money, and soon he became their pimp. Travis is the kind of person I moved to Las Vegas to reach. We

June 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Missional Trip

By Jennifer Johnson In 2005, the leadership team at Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, read The Externally Focused Church and believed God was calling them to more intentionally move their ministry into the community. The church began hiring new staff, starting new initiatives, and beginning the long-term process of changing the church culture. Since then, in many places missional has become a buzzword for everything from the occasional community service day to a total rethinking of the church”s purpose. At Southland, however, the mission is clear; over the last eight years it has developed significant goals, determined specific geographic and

May 6, 2013

Christian Standard

How to Take Your Ministries to the Next Level

By Brian Mavis The church has a problem. The things that matter the most””spiritual growth, changed lives, ministry impact””are the toughest to measure. How are you supposed to measure things like peace, patience, kindness, a transformed heart, and kingdom impact? As the saying goes, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” Our mission is to go and make disciples of Jesus; not merely decisions for Jesus (though that is a start), but disciples. Yet it seems to me there is a disconnect between our mission and what we measure. It is not

March 25, 2013

Michael C. Mack

A Great Group Is More than a Huddle

By Michael C. Mack The best college football game ever (in my humble opinion) was the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. It pitted the favored Oklahoma Sooners (the winningest football program in the nation since World War II) against my favorite team, the Boise State Broncos. It was touted as David versus Goliath. The game was full of spectacular plays and trick plays, an 18-point comeback by Oklahoma, many dramatic game-on-the-line moments, several unbelievable fourth-down conversions, and a sensational overtime. Boise State won when Ian Johnson ran in a two-point conversion on a Statue of Liberty play. Then, if that wasn”t enough,

February 7, 2013

Christian Standard

Drive-through Prayer Draws Traffic

By Jennifer Johnson Since last April, Centerpointe Christian Church (Lexington, KY) has offered “drive-through prayer” one Wednesday night a month. A small team of volunteers stands on several corners and in front of the church waving signs to direct drivers to the building, while two couples wait to pray with anyone who pulls in. “We see everything, from families having trouble to people coming right from the bars,” says Rex Hughes, coordinator of the ministry. “Each month is a reminder of the burdens people around us carry every day.” The team hands out cold water in the summer and hot

January 21, 2013

Christian Standard

When the Minister Leaves

By Jeff Chitwood I reached two milestones in my life at about the same time: turning 50 and being at the same church for 25 years. Those milestones began a journey that would last a couple of years. A nagging question had settled in my heart and mind that would not go away: Does God have somewhere else he wants me to serve? Things were going well at the church, and I had no yearning desire to follow what some perceive as the ultimate success in ministry””go to a bigger church. But that burning question caused me to seek God in

January 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Church Returns Favor by Helping Victims

By Jennifer Johnson In April 2011, Alabama was hit by more than 170 tornados””one of the largest outbreaks of tornadic storms in the area”s history. Although Huntsville (AL) Christian Church“s building wasn”t affected, its community was. “People went without power for weeks, and we used part of our building as a huge food pantry,” says associate minister Andrew Ellingwood. “We get tornadoes every year, and people always pull together. But this was so big we all needed help. Churches across the country sent food and water, and mission teams visited to participate in the cleanup efforts. Every week there was

September 11, 2012

Christian Standard

Giving It Away

By Darrel Rowland Mounting a successful fund-raising drive is challenging enough for any church, especially in these difficult economic times. But two churches not only carried out smashing one-day giving campaigns earlier this year, they turned around and gave it away””all $176,000 of it. In fact, most of the money went to places not even associated with the church. Leaders of both churches say your congregation should try it, too. Launched in 2005, Forefront Church in Manhattan began an annual giving event called Celebration Generosity in 2009. That first year, members chipped in about $27,000 for various social service organizations

August 16, 2012

Christian Standard

Deployed

By Kavan Rogness Several months ago at University Christian Church in Manhattan, Kansas, we came up with an idea to get the church involved in the community. The bulk of the inspiration came from a staff member who attended the February 2011 Preaching and Teaching Conference at Ozark Christian College. There he heard about Vince Antonucci”s book Guerilla Lovers and the “guerilla” assignments Antonucci developed to encourage Christians to get outside their comfort zones and show God”s love through acts of kindness. We decided to challenge our congregation with the idea. The result was a military-themed sermon series called “Deployed” that not

May 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Cross Creek: Facing the Challenge of Change

By Kent E. Fillinger Leading a 68-year-old, multigenerational church in a small Southern town presents a unique set of challenges. Cross Creek Christian Church, located in rural Georgia, takes pride in its history, and its members often find comfort in maintaining the status quo. On the other hand, senior minister Rick Evans is committed to gently challenging people to move beyond their comfort zones to help the church be more effective in reaching its community for Christ. Prior to coming to Cross Creek in 2002, Rick served as a senior minister at a small church for six years. He also

May 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Consistency in Corinth

By Kent E. Fillinger Consistency and longevity are apt descriptors for 150-year-old Corinth Christian Church in Loganville, Georgia. Adam Turner, who is in his seventh year at Corinth, is still the new kid on the block (literally and figuratively). Turner, 32, has been senior minister at Corinth since 2009, after serving as the church”s youth minister for four years. In most churches, a minister with seven years of tenure would be a veteran, but not at Corinth. By comparison, Don Hardison served as Corinth”s senior minister for 42 years, until he transitioned to the part-time role of shepherding minister in

May 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Center Creek: Serving Christ in the Heartland

By Kent E. Fillinger Mike Johnson”s passion and focus was student ministry when he arrived at Center Creek Christian Church. He previously had enjoyed a decade of student ministry at a medium-size church, where he started fresh out of Bible college. Mike had seen his student ministry grow during this time, but the church remained stagnant overall. Mike searched for a new opportunity with a church that had the desire and potential to grow. He soon found Center Creek; it was similar in size to his first ministry, but he felt a positive connection with the senior minister, who expressed

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