Articles for tag: Huntington Beach

April 25, 2019

First Christian Church, Surf City USA

The Vital Role of Setting in a Church’s Master Plan By Mel McGowan Imagine a 2,400-member church that has a rare and beautiful, four-acre setting on the Main Street of Surf City USA, and just down the street from where Huntington Beach Pier juts out over the Pacific Ocean. Not long ago, if you drove by that church—yes, it’s real—all you would have seen was the brick backside and moss-covered roof of a dated A-frame sanctuary. It was so closed off, some area residents thought the century-old church had disbanded. So, when First Christian Church asked for navigational design help

November 7, 2018

Christian Standard

News & Updates

Community Bank Donates Building to Church (Plus News Briefs)

A Christian church in Illinois recently was given a former bank building as a place to expand its food pantry. The Longview Bank and Trust donated its former branch building in Chrisman, Ill., to Chrisman Christian Church. The building is adjacent to the church facility. Larry Henson, chairman of the church, told the Independent News that the church planned “to convert the old bank into a new food bank.” According to its website, Chrisman Christian Church has a “Gather Round the Table” ministry that includes the food pantry and a backpack program that provides food to children each weekend during the

July 9, 2014

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

Too Much Preparation?

By Bruce Templeton (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I’ve Ever Received.”) The worst advice I ever received was from an elder who knew a lot about running a bank, but very little about leading a church. I was “young and dumb,” but I loved the church and was willing to listen to any advice I could get! I was serving a church coming off its best year in the last 25: more baptisms, greater attendance, and a greater spirit of excitement and joy. He believed the real way to build a church was to visit people who