November 21, 2023
While traveling home from the 2023 International Conference on Missions—which finished up Saturday in Oklahoma City—ICOM Executive Director David Empson said he kept track of his messages. He said he was pleased with what he was hearing. . . .
By Chris Moon Summer has been a little more fun this year in Independence, KY. Nicholson Christian Church is hosting 18 different children’s camps throughout the summer for kids in the community. The camps are dedicated to such things as volleyball, engineering, woodworking, scrapbooking, basic first aid, tae kwon do, “Whodunnit,” food decorating, basketball, archery, Legos, dance, music, and soccer. The church is also hosting a weeklong theater camp for kids of all ages that will culminate in a production of the Broadway musical Mary Poppins at 7 p.m. this Friday. ________ NEWS BRIEFS Cincinnati Christian University hosted a celebration
January 15, 2017
By Ethan Magness My first formal ecclesiological training came from a song: The Church is not a building, the Church is not a steeple, the Church is not a resting place, the Church is the people. It was not an especially good song, but it had hand motions (perhaps you know them). I am grateful for this song, because it provided a sufficient ecclesiology for my early years of life. I did not merely go to church; I was part of the church. We were the church, the people of God. My second round of training came from the back
October 27, 2015
By Mark A. Taylor Maybe most wouldn”t suspect that loneliness, discouragement, temptation, and insecurity are companions of the person leading their church””especially growing, dynamic ministries like those led by the four guests in our most recent Beyond the Standard podcast. But each of them””Ben Cachiaras, Tim Harlow, Eddie Lowen, and Greg Nettle””admitted to at least one of these problems. And all four credited their association with each other as a key to rising above barriers to emotional and spiritual health. They”ve created a group where they”ve found the freedom to confess sins, share doubts, discuss problems and possibilities, and discern
October 12, 2015
Four ministers. One concern: How to find a “band of brothers” for accountability, insight, and help to finish well. By Eddie Lowen I was set apart for ministry by the first church that employed me. I was only 19 when they hired me (and 20 when they ordained me), yet they took a chance. They took a chance that I would graduate a year after my ordination. They took a chance that I would mature in many ways. They also took a chance that I would find a wife! Seriously, at the time, an unmarried pastor was rare. Most of
July 10, 2014
By Greg Nettle (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) Best advice: Wess Stafford, then president of Compassion International, was mentoring me on how to disciple my own children. He advised, “Give your children experiences, not things.” Worst advice: One of my Bible college professors advised, “Never be close friends with people in the church you lead.” Greg Nettle serves as president with Stadia, Irvine, California.
August 25, 2013
By Greg Nettle I don”t believe I can overstate that one of the most effective ways to be a disciple who makes disciples is simply to model what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In other words, to say to those in our sphere of influence what the apostle Paul says to us: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). How do we invite others to follow our example as we follow the example of Jesus? How do we become disciples who make disciples? The short answer is through relationships. But I
August 6, 2013
By Mark A. Taylor One of the questions late in our June BlogTalkRadio* program was, “How can a Christian leader get started with a missional approach to ministry?” All three of those interviewed””Jon Ferguson, Greg Nettle, and Jon Weece””agreed with the same principle: “Start by being a model of missional ministry with your own class and your own family.” Weece, especially, took up the family theme. “We”ve reoriented our whole life around serving other people,” he said. “It”s very normal, for example, for our kids to understand this is what we”re going to do on Tuesday nights; we”re going to
June 18, 2013
By Mark A. Taylor Of all the articles about missional ministry we”ve posted this month, I like the stories from churches most. Maybe you agree. Although we”re energized by the insights of missional leaders like Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch, their ideas come to life in the strategies, experiences, successes, and failures of local congregations. Rivertree Christian Church, Massillon, Ohio; Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois; and Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, encourage us with the new paths they”re blazing. And now you can hear leaders from these three churches discuss their ministry. We”re bringing them to you via CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s
June 11, 2013
By Mark A. Taylor Is “missional” just a fad? Will church leaders and seminar speakers still be talking about “missional” a decade from now? We can hope the answer to both questions is no. As churches everywhere begin to believe the missional approach is basic, natural, necessary, and biblical, the need to define and discuss it may fade away. Maybe someday church leaders everywhere will see “missional”””just like “evangelistic” or “loving” or “Christ-centered”””as central to the very definition of church. Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch express some concern about overuse and misuse of the word. Just like “externally focused” or
June 1, 2013
By Darrel Rowland RiverTree Christian Church in Massillon, Ohio, has not tried to become just a little more missional. Led by visionary minister Greg Nettle, more than three years ago the church made a revolutionary commitment to a missional strategy for all its ministry. The result is breeding influence and disciple-building in a way Nettle believes is vital for the very survival of the church in America. Just a few minutes after Greg Nettle”s message and the closing song, a man with an idea pulls him aside in the hallway. “You know what? I know all these remodelers,” the contractor
April 23, 2012
By Greg Nettle It all boils down to “how well we are doing at making disciples.” After 23 years at the leadership helm of RiverTree Christian Church, I have to take at least some responsibility for the quality of disciples we are producing. Now, don”t get me wrong, I know it is God who brings about the sanctification process and that we, as humans, certainly continue to have the freedom to make good or bad choices. However, surrounding my 20-year anniversary as leader of RiverTree, I spent a lot of time praying and reflecting. And I didn”t like what was
January 22, 2012
Brent Storms became president of Orchard Group in 2009 and CEO this past July. Greg Nettle joined the Stadia team as president just a few months ago. These two young leaders recently sat down with us for a candid conversation about the future of church planting and the future of the church. Brent, what is Orchard Group”s niche and overall mission? STORMS: Our mission is to plant growing and reproducing churches in New York, the Northeast, and beyond, which often means strategic urban settings. We began in the New York metro area and in the last 20 years we”ve
January 5, 2012
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Greg Nettle It was the worst of times. . . . It was the best of times. As an underlying foundation, I believe that when the circumstances of life are at their worst, the church has the opportunity to be at her best. It was the worst because
October 5, 2011
By Jennifer Taylor A number of factors began to converge, and Greg Nettle, senior pastor at RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH), thought God might be up to something. There were partnerships with Stadia (Irvine, CA) and Compassion International; the launch of 18 churches and counting with Kingdom Synergy Partnership, a church planting network; the addition of Alex Absalom, coauthor of Launching Missional Communities, to the RiverTree staff; the launch of Love Canton, an urban church plant; and the transition of RiverTree from megachurch to missional movement. “It started to become clear that God was moving,” Nettle says. The RiverTree team
August 31, 2011
On Aug. 29, Provision Ministry Group announced the selection of Greg Nettle as the new president of Stadia, Provision”s church planting organization. “Greg is an international church planter as well as the vision caster and senior pastor of a church planting megachurch in northern Ohio,” wrote Provision CEO Larry Winger. “Instead of plucking Greg out of that context to lead Stadia, we are leaving him right where he is to keep on practicing and perfecting.” Nettle is senior pastor with RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH) and also one of the creators of Kingdom Synergy Partners, a church planting group formed
July 27, 2011
By Greg Nettle If Jesus is now in us, then it follows that, like Jesus, we must be for people. But unless people see our lives reflecting the fact that God is for them, they will continue to believe that God is against them. They”ll continue to be afraid of God. For us to restore the church to the mission of Jesus, we must communicate to people in every way possible that Jesus is for them and, therefore, that we as followers of Jesus are for them. Letting Others Know We Are for Them How should this Christology be
July 26, 2011
By Mark A. Taylor I”m reading Unleashed, Dudley Rutherford”s brainchild and Standard Publishing”s new release based on the sermons at this summer”s North American Christian Convention. And I”m a fan. I expected the book to be full of solid scriptural teaching. But I didn”t expect the book to draw me in so that I didn”t want to put it down. I didn”t expect it to make me laugh out loud or fight back tears. Unleashed will be purchased for many reasons, but my advice is, get the book for its stories. You”ll share them with your spouse. You”ll use
July 25, 2011
By Greg Nettle In the early church, Christology (what we believe about Jesus) determined missiology (what we believe about the church”s mission), which in turn determined ecclesiology (how the church must function). And since Jesus was all about proclaiming his good news so that people could be saved (Luke 19:10), the mission of the followers of Jesus must be to proclaim the good news so that people can be saved (Matthew 28:19). Therefore, the primary function of the church should be to seek and save the lost.1 Unfortunately, around AD 325, the order of things started getting out of whack.
April 28, 2011
First Christian Church (Canton, OH) and RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, OH) celebrated Easter together this past Sunday. “FCC planted RiverTree more than forty years ago!” the churches share. “We believe we share a common mission and vision from God and want to take steps to build our partnership.” Instead of one huge gathering, each congregation held its own worship services; Scott Rosen and Greg Nettle, senior pastors of the two churches, drove back and forth to “team preach” at each one. The multisite campuses of each church received the same message via video.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Sponsored
April 28, 2026
Rick Cherok
April 28, 2026
David Faust
April 28, 2026
Rick Cherok