Articles for tag: Kent E. Fillinger

May 11, 2013

Christian Standard

One Life at a Time

By Kent E. Fillinger Ralph Mehrens served as senior minister at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, Nebraska, for 25 years. Mehrens wanted to transition well, so he planned a 15-month succession process and laid a strong foundation to help the congregation follow the next minister. Scott Beckenhauer transitioned from an eight-year youth ministry with the church to the lead minister position in 2008. “I knew the church family and they knew me, so the trust was already built,” said Beckenhauer, who became only the third lead minister in Calvary”s 42-year history. Attendance declined slightly as Beckenhauer gained his footing the

May 10, 2013

Christian Standard

Growing Over the Long Haul

By Kent E. Fillinger John Scott is a longtimer. He started as youth minister of Community Christian Church in Hemet, California, in 1987, and became the lead pastor in 1990. In 2012, CCC grew to an average worship attendance of 1,126, a 22 percent increase over the previous year. “The momentum has been building, but we busted loose last year,” Scott said. “Our staff and elders are simply amazing,” he said. “Truly gifted and big-hearted servants who have totally bought into what we”re trying to do here. The cohesiveness of this team has allowed us to stretch and risk and

May 9, 2013

Christian Standard

The Church at Antioch

By Kent E. Fillinger John Seitz arrived as senior pastor of Antioch Christian Church in Marion, Iowa, in 2000 when the church was averaging 220 in attendance. Seitz and the elders wanted to see the church grow, to reach out, and to love the lost. Antioch Christian purchased 93 acres on a main highway to create space for growth and relocated to its new facility in December 2005. The church”s attendance has almost doubled since 2006, growing 21 percent last year to an average worship attendance of 1,136. Seitz credits the growth to the grace of God working through the

May 5, 2013

Jerry Harris

A Church for People Who Don”t Go to Church

By Kent E. Fillinger The Crossing is a multisite megachurch. Its original campus is in Quincy, Illinois, a town of 40,000 people. Even though there are 85 churches in Quincy, 80 percent of the people there don”t attend any church, so Jerry Harris, senior pastor of The Crossing, decided to focus on being the church for people who don”t go to church. The Crossing was a small church of 230 people in 1998 when it decided to spend $2.5 million to buy a community college to serve as the church”s new home. As part of the deal, The Crossing shared

May 4, 2013

Christian Standard

Praying for One Transforms Church

By Kent E. Fillinger “Pray for One.” Bo Chancey sent an e-mail to everyone at Manchester (New Hampshire) Christian Church on the Thursday before he preached his first sermon there. He told them his inaugural message would be for each person to pray for one person to follow Christ. That Sunday, Chancey told the 1,200 who had gathered that if everyone would consistently pray for one person, the church would double in size in two years. Chancey continued to reinforce his “pray for one” message in his various communications. “Pray for one” is now part of the church”s cultural language. People regularly

May 3, 2013

Christian Standard

Up and to the Right

By Kent E. Fillinger Twenty years of positive growth for a church is virtually unheard of, but that is what Barry Cameron has experienced at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, Texas. When Cameron arrived in 1992, the church had never broken 250 in attendance, its facilities were limited and decaying, and it was in debt. The church outgrew its Arlington facility by 2004, when it was averaging 1,800, so it relocated to Grand Prairie. Even though the church could track 800 people who didn”t make the move, the church still grew. Last year Crossroads grew 15 percent to an

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Megachurches by the Numbers

By Kent E. Fillinger Here are some summary stats for the megachurches (more than 2,000 in weekly attendance) and emerging megachurches (an average weekly attendance of 1,000 to 1,999). A total of 63 megachurches and 67 emerging megachurches participated in this year”s survey. All statistics are based on the 2012 calendar year. In addition to the 130 megachurches and emerging megachurches, 105 large churches (which average 500 to 999 weekly) and 109 medium-size churches (an average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) participated in this year”s survey. The 344 participating churches are the most to date. Complete survey findings for

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Do You Measure What Matters?

Some churches and church leaders avoid measuring ministries in the church out of fear or from a desire not to be held accountable. Are you afraid of discovering something you don”t want to know? By Kent E. Fillinger “The church is in a difficult time. But the church doesn”t understand it”s in a difficult time because it doesn”t know the truth about itself,”* said Dave Peterson, senior pastor of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. “Rich Stearns [president of World Vision] observes that a segment within the Christian culture seems to say, “˜We”re good people doing good things, and

January 29, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Solve the Leadership Challenge?

By Kent E. Fillinger Quality leaders and effective leadership can make the difference in whether a local church or any organization succeeds or fails. So we asked a few dozen leaders from churches of all sizes to tell us how they develop leaders where they serve. (The 43 congregations surveyed have average attendances from 275 to 8,500.) Most of those surveyed (77 percent) said every staff member is responsible to train leaders and volunteers within each of their ministries. Four of the megachurches surveyed have a staff person focused solely on leadership development, yet these churches still rely on a

December 28, 2012

Christian Standard

The Power of No

By Kent E. Fillinger No is a word more church leaders need to learn. No signifies a necessary ending more churches need to choose. No is a message that needs to be embraced, but understood. But sometimes No means only that “less is less.” Here”s how and when to say the word that transcends every language. “No.” The crisp, bold black letters that jumped off of the stark, white cover of the 3-by-5-inch booklet in the magazine piqued my curiosity. I opened the booklet and read these simple, but significant, sentences: Two letters. A word that transcends every language. A word that

September 10, 2012

Christian Standard

Generous Churches

By Kent E. Fillinger “Generosity needs to be a thread woven through the fabric of the entire congregation,” said Leadership Network development director Chris Willard, “because generosity is a cultural issue.” Here”s how four churches are creating a culture of generosity among their members.  In their new book, Contagious Generosity: Creating a Culture of Giving in Your Church, Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard define generosity as “a lifestyle in which we share all that we have, are and ever will become as a demonstration of God”s love and a response to God”s grace.” Willard is the director of generosity initiatives

June 4, 2012

Christian Standard

Better with Time?

By Kent E. Fillinger Neuroscience and social science both suggest we are more optimistic than realistic. On average, we expect things to turn out better than they do. The belief that the future will be much better than the past is known as the optimism bias. To make progress, we need to be able to imagine alternative realities””better ones””and we need to believe we can achieve them.1 Senior ministers, especially those of large churches and megachurches, typically believe their congregation”s best days are ahead of them. But research consistently shows church growth rates diminish as the senior minister”s age and

May 29, 2012

Christian Standard

You Can Go Home Again

By Kent E. Fillinger Eric Keller grew up in Enid, Oklahoma, and attended Oakwood Christian Church. He returned to his home church for two summer internships during Bible college, and in 2003 he became the church”s student minister. Then, in 2008, Keller became senior minister at Oakwood. Some would say you can”t go back home to serve a church you attended as a child. They would point to the experience of Jesus. When he returned to his hometown to teach, some of the locals took offense, and Jesus responded, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town

May 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Cross Creek: Facing the Challenge of Change

By Kent E. Fillinger Leading a 68-year-old, multigenerational church in a small Southern town presents a unique set of challenges. Cross Creek Christian Church, located in rural Georgia, takes pride in its history, and its members often find comfort in maintaining the status quo. On the other hand, senior minister Rick Evans is committed to gently challenging people to move beyond their comfort zones to help the church be more effective in reaching its community for Christ. Prior to coming to Cross Creek in 2002, Rick served as a senior minister at a small church for six years. He also

May 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Consistency in Corinth

By Kent E. Fillinger Consistency and longevity are apt descriptors for 150-year-old Corinth Christian Church in Loganville, Georgia. Adam Turner, who is in his seventh year at Corinth, is still the new kid on the block (literally and figuratively). Turner, 32, has been senior minister at Corinth since 2009, after serving as the church”s youth minister for four years. In most churches, a minister with seven years of tenure would be a veteran, but not at Corinth. By comparison, Don Hardison served as Corinth”s senior minister for 42 years, until he transitioned to the part-time role of shepherding minister in

May 26, 2012

Christian Standard

Money Matters

By Kent E. Fillinger Total giving to U.S. nonprofits rose 7.5 percent in 2011, an increase of $24.2 billion over the 2010 total. Although religious institutions represent the largest sector of this giving, those gifts decreased from 37 percent of the total in 2010 to 36 percent in 2011.1 Therefore, while charitable giving increased overall, religious nonprofits, including churches, received a smaller piece of the pie. A Barna Group and Omni Poll from April 2011 found that “69 percent of American adults said they had reduced their giving to churches/religious centers and other nonprofits within the preceding three months and

May 23, 2012

Christian Standard

A Church Anyone Can Come To

By Kent E. Fillinger What does it mean to be a church anyone can come to? This question drives Caleb Kaltenbach and Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas. Kaltenbach fully understands it is messy to reach people who would make most Christians feel uncomfortable. When Kaltenbach arrived at Valley View two years ago, it was a predominantly white, fairly traditional, established church that had experienced its share of ups and downs. In short, it was like many other churches across the country. Now Valley View is the place of worship for homosexual couples who walk through the church lobby

May 23, 2012

Christian Standard

Impacting Canada

By Kent E. Fillinger Toronto, Canada, is the most ethnically diverse city in the world. On the west side of Toronto, where Churchill Meadows Christian Church meets, 55 percent of the population speaks a language other than English in their homes. All totaled, more than 140 languages and dialects are spoken in the city. People of Muslim and Hindu backgrounds outnumber the people with any form of Christian background. Additionally, only 4 percent of the population is churched, which means the majority of people have no frame of reference for Christianity. Culturally, Canada resembles Western Europe more than the United

May 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Center Creek: Serving Christ in the Heartland

By Kent E. Fillinger Mike Johnson”s passion and focus was student ministry when he arrived at Center Creek Christian Church. He previously had enjoyed a decade of student ministry at a medium-size church, where he started fresh out of Bible college. Mike had seen his student ministry grow during this time, but the church remained stagnant overall. Mike searched for a new opportunity with a church that had the desire and potential to grow. He soon found Center Creek; it was similar in size to his first ministry, but he felt a positive connection with the senior minister, who expressed

May 19, 2012

Christian Standard

What Every Leader Needs

By Kent E. Fillinger A national study1 of pastoral leaders by Austin Presbyterian Seminary asked the questions: “Does participation in a pastoral leader peer group make a difference? And does participation in a pastoral leader peer group make a difference in congregations?” The APS study found that in the last five years, 72 percent of the pastoral leaders polled participated regularly in a small group of peers for continuing education and support. Christian Standard”s survey showed that 76 percent of the 232 senior ministers surveyed participated regularly in a peer group last year. The APS study found that leaders in

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