Articles for tag: Indianapolis

December 18, 2019

Christian Standard

ICOM Reports on 2019 Gathering, Makes Plans for 2020 (Plus News Briefs)

Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon The International Conference On Missions shared some statistics from last month’s gathering in Kansas City, Mo., even as it makes plans for its next annual get-together in Indianapolis Nov. 19-22, 2020. The total attendance of about 8,500 during the Nov. 14-17 Kansas City gathering was on track with ICOM events of the recent past, while the Student ICOM—or SICOM—remained strong with 575 attending. There were 47 colleges and universities represented, along with 42 public decisions to enter missionary service. ICOM set records for its biggest KidZone attendance (585), total number of exhibitors (356),

July 22, 2019

Christian Standard

Let’s Revitalize Our Urban Churches!

By Michael Bowling I have a confession. I have served two inner-city congregations for a total of 35 years, yet I am no fan of urban ministry. Here’s why. The greatest challenges to healthy church communities that are dynamic witnesses to the redemptive way of Jesus have little to do with urban-specific techniques or new resources. Our challenges in urban, suburban, and rural contexts are the same: faithfulness to biblical discipleship, a theology of the church (ecclesiology) informed by the New Testament pattern, and a God-sized view of salvation. An overemphasis on new and innovative practices of “urban ministry” is

July 22, 2019

Jared Johnson

Develop the Art and Skill of Listening

By Jared Johnson The “headquarters” of e2: effective elders is in Indianapolis, a metropolitan area of nearly 1.5 million people. Whether in the bustling downtown or in suburban neighborhoods, one never fails to see someone running around—literally and figuratively—wearing those all-too-familiar earbuds. Music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more flood the auditory canals of our fellow Hoosiers. Of course, ubiquitous earbuds also communicate this strong nonverbal message: “Don’t talk to me; I’m occupied with something more important than conversing with you.” People who wear earbuds aren’t listening to us, but they are listeningto someone. Could that change? What would it take for

July 22, 2019

Jerry Harris

Righting the Wrongs of the Past

By Jerry Harris I’m a product of the suburbs. I grew up on the west side of Indianapolis in the early 1960s, part of a post-World War II migration from urban areas to planned neighborhoods that sprang up from what were formerly farm fields surrounding big cities. There were a number of reasons for this great migration. Ex-servicemen had access to loans to pursue the American dream, so they moved out of apartments in the city and purchased their own homes on their own land in burgeoning suburbs. The availability of automobiles and creation of the interstate highway system encouraged

May 1, 2019

Christian Standard

Johnson Retires from The Creek but Continuing with e2

By Chris Moon Gary Johnson has decided to have just one full-time job from now on . . . and he’s pretty excited about it. “I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve,” he said last week as he prepared for his last Sunday on the job as pastor of The Creek in Indianapolis. “I’m waiting for 8 a.m. on Monday morning to arrive when I only have to wear one hat.” Johnson retired Sunday from 30 years at the helm of The Creek, which he saw grow from 250 in attendance to more than 4,000 during his tenure—something he attributes

November 8, 2018

Christian Standard

1964: When the NMC Traveled to NYC

– October 31, 1964 – The International Conference on Missions is taking place in Cincinnati next week, November 15-18. It’s the sixth time the gathering has come to the Queen City, and the first time it’s been there under its “new” name, ICOM. Cincinnati last served as host in 2007; the conference was known as the National Missionary Convention until 2011. As is the case with the North American Christian Convention—now known as Spire—the best-attended gatherings among our fellowship of churches traditionally take place in the heartland. And so, that’s where most of the ICOM/NMC gatherings have taken place during its

October 25, 2018

Gary L. Johnson

Living as Missionaries

By Gary L. Johnson  “Clean your room.” Do you remember saying that to your child or being told that by a parent? It’s straightforward. Clear. Easily understood. A parent simply expects the child to clean his or her room. Nothing more. As a dad, I remember telling my sons to “clean your room” over and over again. Yet, instead of actually cleaning their rooms, what if my sons gathered their friends together and discussed what “cleaning your room” means, or they spoke of various cleaning methods, or even memorized the phrase, “Clean your room.” As a dad, all I wanted

October 17, 2018

Christian Standard

TCM Now Offering Classes for U.S. Students (Plus News Briefs)

TCM, which was founded in 1957 and began offering classes at its TCM International Institute in Austria in 1991, is now offering learning opportunities in the United States. “We are not slowing down our ministry in Eastern Europe or Central Asia in any way,” said David Roadcup, global outreach representative with TCM. “We are just adding the U.S. to our ministry, as well as other countries to which the Lord might be leading us.” Stateside course instruction will consist of three months of online work followed by three days of face-to-face lectures and discussion. The next cohort will begin in

July 18, 2018

Christian Standard

NACC Attendance Exceeds 6,000 (Plus News Briefs)

North American Christian Convention managing director Larry Collins provided various statistics about the recent gathering in Indianapolis June 26-28. “The NACC 2018 was a wonderful event and combined the best of all the programming tweaks that have been made over the last five years,” Collins said. Total attendance for the event was 6,032. Of that total, 4,826 people registered and an estimated 1,206 people—or about 25 percent—did not register. Among those who registered, 233 were students and 442 were children. In addition, Compassion Experience prearranged with the NACC to have a large number of folks visit their display during the

July 10, 2018

Christian Standard

Making an IMPACT in Indy

By Jim Nieman On June 24, the Fairfax Christian Church family in inner-city Indianapolis celebrated their final weekend of worship together under longtime minister Tom Richason, and on July 1, the church became the newest site of Mount Pleasant Christian Church’s IMPACT Ministry. Chris Philbeck, senior pastor of Mount Pleasant—a church of about 4,700 located in Greenwood, Ind., about a dozen miles south of Indy—says MPCC hopes to “bring renewal to this new ministry opportunity.” Fairfax voted unanimously to transfer ownership to MPCC on Feb. 25, but no ministry changes occurred until the first of this month. Like many urban

June 30, 2018

Christian Standard

Youth Sports Families Offer a ‘Heads-Up’

By Caleb Kaltenbach PARKER, CO—Just as senior pastors look forward to the fall season attendance bump, youth sports families across the nation delivered a “heads-up” regarding their attendance. “We’ve never given a ‘heads-up’ about our attendance, but when many of us formed a National Youth Sports Family Social Media Group, we thought it was a good idea,” said Dana Jensen of 66th Street Christian Church, Sedalia, Ohio. Jensen said her pastor’s reaction was a bit unsettling. “He was in such a happy mood that morning, but when I told him that starting in September we’d be gone for two and a

June 27, 2018

Michael C. Mack

Christian Standard Interview: Back at the NACC

Why Nathan Loewen and other gospel-believing Disciples of Christ pastors are attending the North American Christian Convention in Indianapolis this year.   By Michael C. Mack Much has changed and much has remained the same in the Restoration Movement over the past 90-plus years. The separation was set in motion, many say, over a two-year period beginning with the 1926 Disciples of Christ convention in Memphis, Tennessee, and then the response by the more biblically conservative church leaders who organized the first North American Christian Convention in 1927. Over the next 45 years or so, the two groups drifted apart

September 7, 2017

Christian Standard

A Heart for Our City

By Aaron Brockett Six years ago, I wasn”t sure how I felt about multisite. I wanted to believe the best about all the hype I had heard about becoming one church meeting in multiple locations, but I didn”t want to throw my support behind it prematurely. I especially didn”t want to lead Traders Point Christian Church in this direction if we hadn”t clearly established the “why” behind it. I believe God calls every church to multiply (Acts 2), however I don”t think this means every church should become a multisite church. (The many reasons for this lie outside the focus of

July 21, 2016

Christian Standard

So Grateful

By Chris Garrett I”ve told my story many times over the years. Sadly, I”ve found it a common one. A young woman marries her high school sweetheart, has a baby boy, and one year later, the father doesn”t want to be married anymore and leaves. Struggling with the aftermath, mom and child live in poverty, experience years of physical and sexual abuse during a second marriage, and that boy grows up living a life full of poor choices born out of a deep struggle with self-worth. That was my story, but it didn”t end there. I love to tell people

May 29, 2016

Christian Standard

Relationships, Trust Key to Race Car Ministry

By Jennifer Johnson Some people are missionaries in their own countries, sometimes moving to an urban area and putting down roots in new neighborhoods. Others are missionaries to countries far away, where they speak a different language and learn to love new foods. David Storvick is a missionary, too; although he hasn”t left his home in Indianapolis, he”s ministering to a specific group with its own culture and customs””race car drivers. “I spent the first half of my life as an engineer,” Storvick says. “I enjoyed that work, but after I got into racing in 1999 and started working as

May 18, 2016

Christian Standard

Johnson University Partners to Extend Reach

Johnson University, with campuses in Tennessee, Florida, and online, is launching Johnson University ExtendEd. Through ExtendEd sites, the University will provide Christian education opportunities to more students on a localized basis. Initial launch locations include Indianapolis, IN; Phoenix, AZ; Louisville, KY; and Knoxville, TN. Starting in August 2016, Johnson University ExtendEd will offer affordable, local business and ministry degrees at partner locations around the country. Partners include Southeast Christian Church in Louisville; Christ”s Church of the Valley in Phoenix; Knoxville Interdenominational Bible Institute in Knoxville; and Connection Pointe Christian Church, Greenwood Christian Church, Indian Creek Christian Church, Park Chapel Christian

January 12, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Should Musicians Plan Our Worship Services?

By Mark A. Taylor Here”s why a church should recruit excellent musicians to lead worship: The people we”re serving as well as those we hope to reach are hearing professionally produced music everywhere they go. Many of them love music, and they listen to “their music” in their car, at the gym, when they walk, and sometimes at work. But even nonmusical people encounter music every day. Music creates the emotion and signals the mood in everything from Star Wars to sitcoms. The most memorable TV and radio ads include music. (I heard an interview the other day with a

April 28, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Listening to Lead

By Mark A. Taylor Maybe you”ve seen this happen at your company. The business has been sold. The new bosses arrive, and they”re very confident they know how to run the show. If they didn”t think they could do it better than the last guys they wouldn”t have forked over all that money to buy the operation. So they wade in with firm goals and bold plans to take the business forward. In the process, these new managers announce “new ideas” with the explanation, “This has never been tried here before.” But even though the long-timers watching from the shadows

April 21, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Heartfelt Leadership

By Mark A. Taylor When you go to a conference for church leaders, you expect to come home with a folder full of methods, strategies, and tactics for growing your church. This is especially true when a megachurch minister is the keynote speaker. What secrets does he know about growing a church? What”s working in today”s culture? What approaches are guaranteed to bring success? What techniques have been most effective where he serves? But when Aaron Brockett kicked off the Intentional Church Conference at First Christian Church, Decatur, Illinois, last week, he didn”t talk about methods at all. Or numbers.

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