July 12, 2023
Chris DeWelt has retired as president of College Press Publishing, a company founded by his father, Don DeWelt, 64 years ago. . . . SpireConference plans preconference options. . . . Reggie Epps and Eddie Grover have passed away. . . . Chris Philbeck announces retirement plans. . . .
Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Milligan College is mourning the death of Dr. Carrie Beth Swanay, 55, longtime professor of communications. Swanay died July 24 after a lengthy battle with cancer. A memorial service was Sunday. Swanay served the Tennessee college for 29 years, starting there when the communication major was still just emerging. For 10 years, she was area chair for performing, visual and communicative arts, Milligan reported. During her tenure, she led the faculty and the arts program through several curriculum changes, and she was instrumental in the creation of several recent majors, including graphic design
October 15, 2018
By Jim Nieman How do you explain your church’s tremendous growth in 2017? That’s what we asked lead ministers of the fastest-growing churches in three attendance categories from Christian Standard’s annual survey of churches: churches of 1,000 or more (megachurches and emerging megachurches profiled in May), churches of 250 to 999 (large and medium churches—June), and churches 249 and fewer (small and very small churches—July). All three churches have one thing in common—new facilities—but that wasn’t the only explanation for their growth. We spoke with and/or emailed questions to: Aaron Brockett, lead pastor of Traders Point Christian Church (Whitestown,
May 22, 2018
AVERAGE SIZE Large churches: 724 Medium churches: 363 Combined average weekly attendance for these 174 churches: 96,012 GROWTH RATES Large churches: 2.9 percent (down from 4.3 percent in 2016); overall, 56 percent of the large churches grew (down from 69 percent in 2016). Medium churches: 1.3 percent (down from 2.1 percent in 2016); overall, 49 percent of medium churches grew (down from 62 percent in 2016). FASTEST-GROWING LARGE CHURCHES Hope City Church, Joplin, MO, 32.5 percent The Crossing Church, Batavia, OH, 28.9 percent Restoration Park Church, Medway, OH, 26.9 percent FASTEST-GROWING MEDIUM CHURCHES CrossPointe Christian Church, Valparaiso, IN, 23.6 percent The Journey
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