December 16, 2025
God’s Resort: A Unique Ministry of Transitional Housing
God's Resort is a transitional ministry that equips people to move from semi-stability to full recovery through relational encounters.
Articles for tag: Foster Care
April 16, 2024
Dan Garrett Talks about His New Book, ‘From Poles to Pews’
In his new book, "From Poles to Pews: How America’s Most Infamous Strip Club Became a Church," Dan Garrett tells the story of the closure of Atlanta’s Gold Club and its unlikely transformation into Christian Church Buckhead. . . .
September 1, 2023
Hooked on Hope!
How Are Our Churches—and Our Movement—Doing Today? An Honest Evaluation.
November 14, 2022
‘Still Loving Kids’: Dan Garrett’s Ministry Cycles Back to Christian City
In the 1980s, young people from Christian City made a profound impact on Dan Garrett's youth ministry in Atlanta. Today, Garrett serves as director of church relations for the nonprofit that is still serving vulnerable kids (and also senior adults).
November 1, 2022
Roe v. Wade Overturned . . . What Now for the Church?
By Tina Wilson, Guest Columnist The landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision from 1973 was overturned in June. For many, this was an answer to decades of prayer. For some, this was a repeal of freedom. For Christians, this should be a call to action. Proper response, though, demands proper understanding of what happened. Prior to 1973, abortion was a felony in most states, except in a few that had relaxed abortion restrictions in the years shortly preceding the ruling. “Jane Roe”—a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey—challenged Texas state law on abortion. To expedite the case’s hearing in the Supreme
August 3, 2021
How the Local Church Can Make a Difference in Foster Care
A ministry that serves the foster care system isn't simple. The situations are complicated and the answers are never easy, but it’s been an incredible honor for Christ's Church of Oronogo to be invited into families’ stories.
March 15, 2021
Inmates Are First to See Church-Produced Film, ‘A Father’s Fight’
First Capital Christian Church’s first feature-length film received its world premiere last week . . . at the Harrison County Jail in Corydon, Ind. “We really wanted to have the people that we wrote the movie for be the first people to see [it],” said director Tyler Sansom.
February 17, 2021
Indiana Church’s First Feature Film Encourages Fathers to ‘Fight’
By Chris Moon First Capital Christian Church in Corydon, Ind., has produced its first feature-length film. The movie, called Fight, premieres in March in theaters in Indiana and will be available for streaming after that. The film is about a boxer who falls into addiction, jeopardizing his family in the process. “We geared this movie toward dads, to teach them there’s a lot of stuff in life worth fighting for,” said the film’s director, Tyler Sansom, who also serves as lead digital pastor for First Capital. The film was produced by the church, which has been investing heavily in its
September 22, 2020
Creswell Cares
By Crystal Kupper The word grandma used to be very scary for Jayme Walker Hill’s foster daughter. “Any time I would talk about my grandma,” said Hill, her foster daughter would share from her own life experience, saying, ‘My grandma was mean.’” “We would try to avoid that word, but she would still cry and be very fearful around older women.” Hill and her husband soon learned that their new foster daughter had been abused by her former adoptive parents, an older couple. The girl, now 19, operates at about the mental level of an 8-year-old. But this isn’t a
Pastoring a Church in a Diverse, Left-Leaning State: Three Principles That Guide Us
By Dudley Rutherford It’s no secret that California, where I live and pastor, is a blue state when it comes to the voting majority. However, not everyone leans to the left. Here you’ll find not only Democrats, but also Republicans, independents, and everything in between. Our church, Shepherd Church, is located in Southern California and is a reflection of our city’s great diversity. When I stand up to preach each weekend, we have people from every political persuasion, race, socioeconomic status, and background sitting in the audience of our worship center. Unlike many other churches across the country, every political
August 22, 2019
SPOTLIGHT: Creekside Community Church, Hot Springs, Ark.
By Melissa Wuske “The community knows who we are,” said Mark Maybrey, lead minister of Creekside Community Church, Hot Springs, Arkansas. “From day one, all of us in our core group of 18 people have had a missional heart for the community.” Starting with those 18 people in 2015, the church now averages about 90 each Sunday. The key in this busy resort town is meeting people where they are. When Maybrey moved to Hot Springs, people told him, “There’s always something to do. Your kids are going to love it.” But nothing prepared him for the shock that first
June 12, 2019
Northeast Dominates ‘Most Post-Christian Cities’ List (Plus News Briefs)
Compiled by Chris Moon and Jim Nieman Barna Group has released its list of “The Most Post-Christian Cities in America: 2019.” Eight of the cities and/or metropolitan areas are in the Northeast, while two are in the far West. The top three “Most Post-Christian Cities” are Springfield-Holyoke, Mass., followed by Portland-Auburn, Maine, and Providence, R.I./New Bedford, Mass. The Friendly Atheist website celebrated the news and referred to the list this way: “These are the cities where religion is most likely to be considered an afterthought.” _ _ _ News Briefs Two of our universities recently made Niche.com’s list of the
January 29, 2017
Fostering the Good News
By Jon Hembree The county where I live has a serious problem. By all appearances, Barton County, a rural area that”s almost precisely the geographical center of Kansas, is a nice place to live. It”s population isn”t quite 30,000, and the people who live here are, in many ways, hardworking and kindhearted. This county, driven by agriculture and oil, offers quite a bit for the people who live here. The county enjoys a small zoo, a number of restaurants, a local water park, and, perhaps, the pièce de résistance: a 24-hour Walmart Supercenter! Woo-hoo! When digging beneath the surface of
July 26, 2016
An Interview with Brian Mavis
Are there orphans in America? Yes, indeed, according to Brian Mavis, president of America”s Kids Belong. Mavis discussed the foster care crisis in the U.S. with Editor Mark A. Taylor at the 2016 NACC in Anaheim. See this exclusive interview here.
June 4, 2016
Open Arms Provides Hope for Kids
By Jennifer Johnson Open Arms provides homes, care, and education for children of all ages who have been neglected and abused. Most of all, Open Arms provides hope. The ministry, located in Switz City, Indiana, started as the Indiana Christian Children”s Home by a Johnson University grad named Bill Tucker more than 40 years ago. Today, Open Arms not only runs “The Miriam Home” for abandoned, abused, and troubled teenagers, but also provides training and support for foster parents and educational opportunities for young adults. “The core of this ministry has always been the children”s home because there”s such a
January 17, 2016
10 Ways to Support Orphans Without Adopting
By Danielle Hance We have all seen the dismal images of bellies bloated by malnourishment. We have cried at pictures of shoeless children and children who are smaller than healthy children half their age. According to UNICEF, there are more than 150 million orphans worldwide. What can we do to make a dent in such a large number? Some people respond by adopting an orphan. While that is a noble calling, not everyone can do this. But most of us can live out the call “to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Here are 10 ways
January 16, 2016
Thanks to the Parents Who Chose Me
By Dick Alexander From my earliest memories, I”ve known I was adopted, and I”ve always been grateful. When I was turning a year old, the doctor who delivered me, and who also was my adoptive family”s doctor, told my mother-to-be that he knew of a baby in foster care needing a permanent home. Otherwise the child would likely be sent to an orphanage. My father-to-be was 41 at the time, and Mom was 37″”both considered old to be starting a family back in that day. When I was old enough to understand, Mom told me with a laugh how the adoption
January 15, 2016
Faithful Families of the Fatherless
By Justin Horey Hundreds of thousands of children in America are living away from their parents, desperately in need of a family to keep and care for them. Many Christians have seen the need. Here are some of their stories. Alone and afraid, seated on a chair in the unwelcoming waiting room of a government office, holding a small plastic bag filled with a few personal belongings (or, worse, holding nothing at all). This is not the picture of an international refugee; this is how life in America”s foster system begins for thousands of children every year. Tom and Peggy
November 7, 2015
November Ministry Ideas
By Michael C. Mack November 21: National Adoption Day. Held the Saturday before Thanksgiving in all 50 states. On this day a number of courts and communities work together to finalize the adoptions of thousands of children in foster care. Ideas: Work with agencies in your community to support adoptions. Plan with adoptive parents in your church to advocate for adoption in your community. Plan your weekend services around adoption, inviting adoptive families from the community. Speak about God adopting Christians as his children (Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5) in your sermon or Sunday school lessons. November 27: Black Friday.
March 26, 2015
Foster Care and the Church
By T. R. Robertson Last Christmas our home was filled with the same sort of holiday laughter and sharing that most families experience. We had a houseful of grown sons, now young men in their upper 20s. Along with them came a wife, a girlfriend, and little kids. All of them call us Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa. Not one of them shares a drop of our blood or a strand of our DNA. The only one of our foster sons not there was Jeremy, whom we haven”t seen since he left our custody just before he turned 2,
