Articles for tag: Indiana

Devotionals

Embrace the Cross

By David Ray Born on an Indiana farm that had no electricity or indoor plumbing, John Wooden shot his first basketball through a hoop nailed to a barn hayloft. But he went on to lead his high school team to an Indiana state championship. Playing for Purdue, he was named All-American three times and his Boilermakers won the national championship during his senior year. Wooden”s greatest fame, though, came through a much-heralded coaching career. While leading the UCLA Bruins, he built one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time. Over 27 years, Wooden”s teams won 10 NCAA basketball championships,

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 7, 2016

Conferences & Gatherings Organizations & Events

New Service Date Has Been Gift

By Jennifer Johnson When Suncrest Christian Church (St. John, IN) began to max out its three Sunday services, the church considered a variety of ways to accommodate more people. “Lots of churches do Saturday night services, and some do Sunday night,” says Greg Lee, lead pastor at Suncrest. “I was intrigued by churches like White River Christian in Noblesville, Indiana, that created a Thursday night service. We are a multisite with some video teaching, so the idea of doing something on Thursday was a great gift””we can record the message and have two days to send it to the other

November 13, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Gary Johnson, ICOM 2015

Gary Johnson, senior minister at The Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana, talks with editor Mark A. Taylor about the unique DNA at that church and the importance of combining compassion with testimony as we make friends with those who aren”t Christians. See the exclusive interview here.

September 1, 2014

Michael C. Mack

Church & Ministry

You Might Be a Pastor at a Country Church If . . .

By Mark Wesner “¢ there are more horses than people in your county. “¢ your “auxiliary parking lot” is a cornfield. “¢ the directions to your church building include the words “covered bridge.” “¢ you have a church van . . . that you own. “¢ there”s a hitching post in your parking lot. “¢ you have two friends in the church in whom you can confide as accountability partners, and one of them is a third-grader. “¢ you pray that none of your church members” names shows up in the local newspaper”s weekly “Police Blotter” column. “¢ you pray

July 26, 2014

Church & Ministry

Two Kinds of Churches

By Gary Johnson (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) As the lead servant at Indian Creek Christian Church (The Creek) in Indianapolis, I will be forever indebted to the late Dr. Joe Ellis, one of my favorite professors at Cincinnati Christian University. Dr. Ellis told me there are two types of churches: member driven and mission driven.Â Member-driven churches account for roughly three out of four churches across America, and the desires of the members drive these congregations.Â However, only one of four churches in our nation is on mission to seek and to save

July 2, 2013

Church Leadership

40 Under 40: Aaron Brockett

AARON BROCKETT Lead pastor,Â Traders Point Christian Church,Â Indianapolis, Indiana “Masterful” was the only word in the e-mail I sent to Aaron on a Monday morning to comment on his sermon of the day before. It was the best word I could think of to express appreciation and to convey encouragement. Actually, there are many Monday mornings that this procedure could be repeated without becoming trite or overused. Aaron”s teaching is relevant while firmly grounded in Jesus and his story . . . lengthy but highly engaging . . . delivered without notes yet extremely well-prepared. He is straightforward but

January 2, 2013

Church Returns Favor by Helping Victims

By Jennifer Johnson In April 2011, Alabama was hit by more than 170 tornados””one of the largest outbreaks of tornadic storms in the area”s history. Although Huntsville (AL) Christian Church“s building wasn”t affected, its community was. “People went without power for weeks, and we used part of our building as a huge food pantry,” says associate minister Andrew Ellingwood. “We get tornadoes every year, and people always pull together. But this was so big we all needed help. Churches across the country sent food and water, and mission teams visited to participate in the cleanup efforts. Every week there was

June 6, 2012

Church Leadership

My Top 10 Reasons for Staying Put

By Steve Reeves As I reflect upon my 26 years at the congregation I serve, I am so grateful God and the church have allowed me to stay for 2.5 decades. I understand we each have unique callings to ministry, but I would appeal to local preachers that staying put in one congregation for a long period of time is the best course, if possible. Here are my top 10 reasons why. 10. Personal Family Stability Our children were 5, 3, and 2 when we began, and as my son, who is now on our staff, told me today,

March 8, 2012

Mission & Evangelism

IDES Working to Help Tornado Victims

International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES) is working with churches around the country to help victims of last week”s tornadoes. “We are encouraging Christian churches and churches of Christ to hold a moment of prayer this coming Sunday to pray for the victims and the volunteers and to take up a love offering for IDES,” the ministry shares. Make donations online or mail checks/money orders marked “U.S. Disasters” to P.O. Box 60, Kempton, IN 46049-0060. In southern Indiana, IDES will be setting up a base camp to help with disaster relief. Although it does not yet know if it will be

September 20, 2011

Giving & Fundraising Stewardship & Generosity

Indiana Church Shows Knack for Winning Grants

By Jennifer Taylor In the last four years, Jamestown (IN) Christian Church has received 14 grants totaling more than $110,000″”including one used to learn how to write grant applications! The congregation, located about 30 miles west of Indianapolis, began researching the process in 2003 and was awarded its first grant in 2007. JCC has received grants for a variety of uses, including beautifying its 17-acre property, building a shelter house for public use, and maintaining its food and clothing pantry. In 2010 the church received a grant of matching funds from the Indianapolis Center for Congregations to hire a design

July 14, 2011

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

Indiana Church to Host Hispanic Christian Convention

Next week, Plainfield (IN) Christian Church will host the 2011 Hispanic Christian Convention. PCC”s sister congregation, Iglesia Cristiana Westside, and hundreds of members from other churches across the country will gather for the three-day convention. Ramon Rendon, minister at ICW, is the convention president this year.

April 21, 2011

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: The 2010 List

This listing of 74 churches that averaged 500-999 for worship in 2010 includes church name, city, senior minister, Web site, average attendance, and number of baptisms. (This is not a complete listing of such churches; it is a listing of Large-Sized Churches that participated in our survey.) Click here to look at the chart ofÂ 2010 LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES.

September 18, 2010

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: From Starter Church to Lifetime Opportunity

From Starter Church to Lifetime Opportunity By Kent E. Fillinger Perhaps you”ve heard aboutÂ starter marriages. Some people these days enter their first marriage expecting it to be one of several short-term experiments rather than a lifetime commitment. Some ministers fresh out of Bible college view their first ministry with similar feelings. Perhaps no one calls themÂ starter churches, but the minister”s mind-set often is to get some experience at his first congregation and then to move on to bigger and better ministry ventures. When Rod Nielsen graduated from Lincoln (Illinois) Christian College in 1981, God called him to serve as the

September 1, 2010

Glory Days in Kempton, Indiana

By Jennifer Taylor When Kempton, Indiana, officials donated a baseball field toÂ Kempton Christian ChurchÂ in 2004, the church renamed the siteÂ “Glory Field”Â and developed a T-ball league for some of the community”s littlest members. Each year the league welcomes dozens of 3- to 6-year-olds and outfits each one with a medallion, cap, and T-shirt. The church leads devotions and prayer before each game, invites the children to its Vacation Bible School, and hosts an award ceremony and meal after the season”s last game. Local businesses have donated money for a concession stand, new benches, and an announcer”s booth. Jennifer Taylor, one of

January 10, 2010

Church & Ministry Youth & Children's Ministry

VBS Changes Lives

By Joni Sullivan Bakerr Read about “Hero HeadQuarters,” Standard Publishing’s all-new VBS program for 2010 You”d think they”d tire of cleaning cookie crumbs and glitter from every imaginable surface of their churches. Tire of the smell of small sweaty bodies and the stickiness of spilled juice. But anytime you get a handful of VBS warriors together to talk about what they do with VBS at their church, you start hearing stories. Seems like everyone”s got at least one. After listening to them for a while, sharing tender laughter and sometimes a surreptitious tear, you realize what it is about VBS

May 6, 2009

Brad Dupray

Family & Relationships Parenting

Interview with Glen & Shirley Liston

Glen and Shirley Liston reflect on raising five sons in a ministry family, encouraging churches, parents, and young people to value faithful service and vocational ministry.

April 13, 2008

By Staff

How Healthy Are Our Megachurches? (An Introduction)

Christian Standard’s annual megachurch issue expands its reporting with more analysis, health indicators, and an interview with Kent Fillinger. Learn about the 2007 Megachurch Report: Deluxe Edition and how readers can help identify missing churches.

February 27, 2008

Brad Dupray