Articles for tag: Community Outreach

Giving & Fundraising Stewardship & Generosity

Meeting Others” Needs on Behalf of the Church

By Jennifer Taylor After studying Nehemiah and the offering recorded in its final chapters, First Christian Church in Champaign, IL, collected its own special offering as a response of gratitude for God”s goodness””then gave some of it back to FCC members. Senior pastor J.P. Jones and his team designated $20,000 of the offering for the local community and involved the church in giving it away. Each week for four weeks, a different group received $5,000 with instructions to use the money to meet the needs of others on behalf of the church. The team selected a variety of people

August 5, 2011

Adoption & Foster Care Family & Relationships

Making a Difference for Foster Care Kids

Students at Journey Christian Church (Midlothian, VA) recently received a grant from The Community Foundation, a local charitable organization, to help kids unable to live with their parents. On Sunday the teens gathered to learn about the problem from area leaders in social work and protective services; after the event Journey distributed empty luggage for the students to fill and return. The bags will be given to children in their county who have been removed from their homes. “We can make a difference for [foster care] kids in the most vulnerable and tumultuous moments of their lives,” the church writes.

July 2, 2011

Christian Living

“˜God Bless America”

By Mark A. Taylor More than a decade ago, my congregation hosted a patriotic pageant each year called “Sea to Shining Sea.” We had a huge adult choir, a children”s choir, a live orchestra, actors, and dancers. We welcomed color guards from all the armed services. We sang every patriotic song you know, including one that invited veterans from every branch of the service to stand and receive the cheers of the crowd. Fireworks accompanied the songs, and after the last note, everyone sat with necks craned to the sky and enjoyed 20 minutes of the rockets” red glare. Our

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

May 4, 2011

Churches Relaunched

By Jennifer Taylor After 26 years of service, Peachtree City (Georgia) Christian Church (PTC3) was ready to expand. But instead of planting a church in a school or movie theater, the church relaunched two local congregations as thriving new campuses. Last summer, PTC3 partnered with County Line Christian Church in Brooks, Georgia, the second-oldest Christian church in the state. New signs and landscaping improved the “curb appeal” of this historic church, and campus minister Jason Pierce is excited about the renewal of energy among worshippers. In January PTC3 added East Point (Georgia) Christian Church as a third campus. Although the

May 4, 2011

Shifting the Focus to Neighborhood Ministry

By Jennifer Taylor “Neighborhood Ministry has become our nerve center,” says Ashley Wooldridge, executive pastor at Christ”s Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ). “It is the reason our church is growing.” CCV senior pastor Don Wilson created Neighborhood Ministry three years ago to more effectively accomplish the church”s mission of winning people to Christ, training them to become disciples, and sending disciples to impact the world. Each person at CCV is encouraged to join a neighborhood group””a weekly gathering of people who live in the same neighborhood or subdivision. The groups meet each week in a study based on the

March 23, 2011

Christian Living

Soul Food

By Jennifer Taylor Every Thursday, White River Christian Church (Noblesville, Indiana) gives away free bread””and points hundreds of people to the Bread of Life. A few years ago, the church opened a food pantry”””a storage closet, really,” says senior pastor Tim Brock””staffed by 10 volunteers. Today the “pantry” operates from a huge bowling-alley-turned-warehouse next door and feeds hundreds of people each week. “This is now one of the largest food distribution centers in central Indiana,” Brock says. “And we really value the dignity of the people who come for help, so we created a “˜grocery store” environment that allows

January 17, 2011

Church & Ministry Youth & Children's Ministry

Revitalizing Your Children”s Ministry

By Karen Wingate “Growing, dynamic churches are rooted in a powerful philosophy that recognizes kids matter to God,” says Rick Chromey, author of Energizing Children”s Ministry in the Smaller Church. Those are discouraging words to a church that sees the population of its children”s department slipping into oblivion. Struggling churches know that without the next generation, their congregation”s future is in jeopardy. Is it possible to revitalize a dying children”s ministry? “Yes,” says Teri Lewis, director of the Son Harbor children”s ministry program at Plymouth Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of 250 in Deland, Florida. In 2003, a “good” Sunday

December 13, 2010

Church on Tour

By Jennifer Taylor Crossroads Christian Church (Newburgh, Indiana) encourages its thousands of members to participate in churchwide outreach events, volunteer with ministry partners like Habitat for Humanity, and attend seminars on generational poverty, evangelism, and more. But Eric Cummings, community outreach pastor at Crossroads, says the church”s “inner-city van tours” are the most valuable educational tool they”ve developed. Each month, 10-12 adults participate in the two-hour experience, seeing the reality of crime, poverty, and homelessness while also stopping at many of the schools, government agencies, and ministries working to help the city”s residents. “We don”t get out of the van,

October 28, 2010

Church & Ministry Church Planting

New Spanish-Speaking Church Launched

Central Christian Church (Wichita, KS) launched a new Spanish-speaking church on Sunday evening, Oct. 24. Iglesia Cristiana Casa de Luz (House of Light Christian Church) held its first services in one of Central”s auxiliary buildings also used for the church”s community outreach ministry. Edwin Ojedis will serve as pastor.

October 14, 2010

Church & Ministry Church Planting

Partnering with God to Help a New Orleans Church

By Jennifer Taylor Indian Creek Christian Church (Indianapolis, Indiana) is more than halfway through “Project 52″“”a 52-day challenge to complete construction on a new church building in New Orleans with at least 5,200 hours of labor and an additional $52,000 in funding. Five years after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city, New Orleans residents “are still rebuilding their lives, particularly spiritually,” writes Indian Creek senior minister Gary Johnson. “That”s why a group of people has formed a church called The Gathering and have established it . . . where some of the greatest destruction occurred.” The time, money, and labor

September 20, 2010

Interview with Jay Akin

By Brad Dupray In August 2007, Jay Akin was called to serve as senior pastor at Elberton Christian Church, a midsize church in a small town in rural Georgia, after having served in youth and associate ministries and as a campus minister. ECC, which averages 260 in attendance in a town of 4,700, makes a big impact in its local community. Jay and his wife, Cristal, love the people of the church. As Jay says, “My family has never been treated better by a church. These people have done so much to minister to my family. They treat us like

September 17, 2010

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: Walking Through the Wilderness

Walking Through the Wilderness By Kent E. Fillinger Faithfulness leads to fruitfulness, but this process requires patience. Ron Mobley and Northwest Christian Church,Â Acworth,Â Georgia, have experienced this truth over the last two decades. When Mobley arrived as senior minister in 1989, he found a very established, inwardly focused church that had alienated several ministers and many members of the community through the years. In spite of the church”s poor track record, Mobley saw potential for growth. Mobley spent his first five years establishing relationships and serving the church. There was an effort to build a family life center on the church”s

September 11, 2010

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: A Church Planting Hick from French Lick

A Church Planting Hick from French Lick By Kent E. Fillinger Jasper, Indiana, is not likely on yourÂ bucket list of places to visit. If you are like me, you need the help of MapQuest to even find it. And Jasper also isn”t the type of town a typical church planter or church planting organization would pinpoint for a new church. But Darrel Land is not your typical church planter. At age 26, he was confident God was calling him to plant a church in this small, rural community of 14,000 people in southern Indiana. Land grew up about 30 minutes

August 11, 2010

Church & Ministry Church Planting

Interview with Bart Stone

By Brad Dupray After graduating from Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University, Bart Stone spent 13 years on staff at Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Sensing a call to risk something greater for the gospel, Bart and his wife, Jodi, left the comfort of ministry at Northeast to heed the call of starting a new church in a community south of Atlanta, Georgia. Momentum Christian Church held its first service in January 2007, and has not looked back. The church is now running more than 400 in attendance in a warehouse. Bart and Jodi have two children, 9-year-old Keaton and 4-year-old

June 16, 2010

Pizzeria with a Purpose

By Mark A. Taylor I”ve just finished reading the testimony of a minister who wanted to get better acquainted with the members of his community. So, with the help of his wife and four kids, he started a pizzeria, and three-and-a-half years later, he”s convinced he made the right choice. “We knew more people in our small town after six months of making pizza, than we did in 10 years of pastoring the church,” he wrote in a comment to Scot McKnight”s review ofÂ Eats With SinnersÂ atÂ beliefnet.com. The minister explains that his family now connects with more than 600 families per

April 11, 2010

Megachurches: The Church of the Decade Is Real Life Ministries (Web-only Feature)

By Kent Fillinger Real Life Ministries is currently the sixth-largest Christian church/church of Christ in the country. Started by Jim Putman with only four families in 1998 in Post Falls, Idaho, Real Life has grown to an average worship attendance of 8,500. Real Life first appeared onÂ CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s megachurch list in 2001 with an average attendance of 1,497. Real Life has remained focused on “making disciples in relational environments” and resisted chasing fads or shooting for “the big show” like some other churches. “The church should not be a gathering place, but a launching pad,” said Putman, who believes the

August 9, 2009

Serving, Reaching, and Transforming in Cleveland, Ohio

Â by Scott Pugh I grew up thinking church was boring and irrelevant. My attitude completely changed when I gave my life to Christ at a pool hall after a Christian reached out to me. But a lot of other people still think the way I did. They don”t go to church, or have been hurt by the church, and are just plain fed up with anything religious.Â How are Christians going to reach these folks? We know the church must reach beyond its walls to seek the lost like Jesus did. And that”s what we”re trying to do through

July 5, 2009