Articles for tag: Lexington Kentucky

June 18, 2013

Christian Standard

Real Churches, Missional Ministry

By Mark A. Taylor Of all the articles about missional ministry we”ve posted this month, I like the stories from churches most. Maybe you agree. Although we”re energized by the insights of missional leaders like Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch, their ideas come to life in the strategies, experiences, successes, and failures of local congregations. Rivertree Christian Church, Massillon, Ohio; Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois; and Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, encourage us with the new paths they”re blazing. And now you can hear leaders from these three churches discuss their ministry. We”re bringing them to you via CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s

June 20, 2012

Christian Standard

A Young Minister”s Heartbreak

By Darrel Rowland At 38, Jon Weece, senior pastor of Southland Christian Christ in Lexington, Kentucky, is one of the younger leaders of our megachurches. But listen to him speak his heart with the wisdom of years on why long-term ministries can be so difficult:   I fear what our limited metrics do to many faithful servants in the kingdom. For those servant leaders who are experiencing explosive numeric growth in the ministries they”ve been entrusted with, I fear a loss of humility may visit their hearts. For those servant leaders who are not experiencing explosive numeric growth in the

June 19, 2012

Christian Standard

What”s Happening with Wayne?

Editor”s note: We asked Wayne Smith collaborator Rod Huron to give us an update on Wayne”s activities these days. During May, Wayne”s schedule included a banquet sponsored by the International Conference on Missions (formerly National Missionary Convention) and speaking at a banquet to raise money for Sayre Christian Village in Lexington, Kentucky: “They started in 1972 to build a home for the elderly, and now they have 25 acres and 250 apartments, plus a medical unit. It hasn”t been easy, but look at where they”re going””a $12 million expansion.” He also spoke at a banquet sponsored by Women for Life, a group

November 21, 2011

Christian Standard

Lesson for Nov. 27, 2011: Facing Life Without Worry (Matthew 6:19-34)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for November 27) is written by Phil Roberts, who serves with Hill-N-Dale Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. ____________ Facing Life Without Worry (Matthew 6:19-34) By Phil Roberts (Note to teachers: The italicized sections are questions designed to help involve your students in the learning process.) My wife and I are parents of a second grader and a set of triplets (technically, three surviving quadruplets). The triplets are approaching their sixth birthday and recently entered a whole new world called kindergarten. They come home daily from their full-day school with stories and

January 26, 2011

Christian Standard

Go, You (Why You Should Attend the National Missionary Convention)

By Teresa Schantz Williams I thought it would be awkward, like showing up at a wedding rehearsal when you”re not in the wedding party. Attend the National Missionary Convention? I had no credentials: I”m not a missionary or a forwarding agent, I don”t serve on a mission committee, and I”ve never been on a mission trip outside the United States. “You should come,” my sister insisted. “Going there just . . . changes you.” I didn”t ask what about me needed changing (I”m pretty sure she”d tell me). Instead, I went. On November 18, we drove from Missouri to Lexington,

January 10, 2010

Christian Standard

Stone-Campbell Dialogue Launches New Phase

By Staff Marking a decade of discussion, prayer, and fellowship centering on Christian unity, the Stone-Campbell Dialogue agreed at its recent meeting to shift its emphasis to a new phase of cultivating unity through mission and service among the three religious streams that trace their origins back to Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell. The 21-person dialogue team met November 1-3 in Lexington, Kentucky. Among topics discussed were: the Great Communion Celebration of October 4, 2009; the possibility and potential of common mission/service projects as a focus for the next phase of conversation and engagement; getting youth and

December 16, 2009

Christian Standard

We Can Be the Gift

By Mark A. Taylor Some readers will say we”ve saved our best “Get Your Hands Dirty” article for last. The feature appearing this week, “Season of Love,” makes more than 30 “Get Your Hands Dirty” articles we”ve published in 2009. The good deeds these pieces have reported are a thrilling overview of outreach and service performed by members of our fellowship: everything from overseas sacrifice to inner-city outreach. Browse through the items listed under this heading in our index, and you”ll be reminded how churches everywhere are serving the oppressed and helpless. But the Christmas stories in this final feature

November 18, 2009

Christian Standard

Meeting the Needs by Providing the Wants

By Mark A. Taylor What people need and what they want are not necessarily the same. For example, children need their vegetables, but they don”t always want to eat them. Creative moms find ways to combine good food in dishes that taste good too. Church leaders do this too. People want practical help for everyday problems. They need instruction from God”s Word and the advice of experienced Christians. One way to provide both is by giving them CHRISTIAN STANDARD and our sister publication, The Lookout. For example, we saw the Sunday-morning bulletin from a small Christian church in Tennessee. The

September 20, 2009

Christian Standard

Full Circle

  by Jennifer Taylor Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, contributes significant time and money to missons. From Mozambique and Afghanistan to New York City and New Orleans, Southland wants to change the world by sharing Jesus with people in need. But Southland also wants to transform its own city, and launched the “Circles of Influence” program in 2007 to begin more intentional service closer to home. The program encompasses several major initiatives: supporting students and teachers in area school districts, partnering with local agencies, and developing clinics to offer free health care to individuals without insurance. School System Hundreds

February 1, 2009

Christian Standard

A Great Gathering for God”s Glory (The National Missionary Convention)

By Ziden Nutt From across the Americas and around the world nearly 4,500 people gathered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for inspiration, information, and instruction at the 61st National Missionary Convention, November 20-23. They came to praise God for what he is doing among those who dwell in every tribe and nation. They came from the smallest of language groups and the largest world-class cities, and places in between. Well over 100,000 registered in support of the convention. The program was designed for all ages, from little Johnnie in a stroller to Harland Cary in his 90s who had spoken at the

December 17, 2008

Christian Standard

Interview with Jon Weece

By Brad Dupray In 2005 Christmas fell on a Sunday, so Southland Christian Church (Lexington, Kentucky) used the calendar anomaly as an opportunity for outreach. Canceling Sunday worship services to serve the community was a controversial decision, but it forever changed the way the church conducts ministry. Jon Weece is in his sixth year as senior minister at Southland and in his ninth year on staff at the church. After graduating from Ozark Christian College, Jon spent four years as a missionary in Haiti. He and his wife of nine years, Allison, are the proud parents of 6-year-old Ava and

June 29, 2008

Christian Standard

Stone-Campbell Dialogue Addresses Issues of Global Mission

By Guthrie Veech and John Mills Representatives of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Churches of Christ, and Christian Churches/Churches of Christ gathered in St. Louis June 8-10 for the 11th meeting of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue, an ongoing discussion intended to strengthen ties between the three “streams” of the 19th-century movement associated with Barton W. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell. This session of the dialogue focused on global mission. The event began with a Sunday evening worship service at First Christian Church of Florissant, Missouri, a 1,500-member congregation of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Attending the service were some

November 11, 2007

Christian Standard

My “˜Jesus With Skin On”

By Barbara Rendel God knew I would need “a Jesus with skin on.” Maybe you could live on a deserted island. Maybe you could exist for many years without having someone in your life. God knew I would need a husband. God knew I would need a family. I was born into the best family I can imagine. Our community of modest-income families knew the things that mattered most””Jesus, Christian morals, integrity, and love for one another. My family gave me the opportunity to go to a Christian college. That”s where I met my husband. I was asked to play

October 14, 2007

Christian Standard

TRIED & TRUE: Traditional Worship

By Don Seevers II Our congregation seems to have found its niche in the greater Lexington, Kentucky, area. Our congregation is enjoying good growth in both worship services, but our traditional worship service surpasses the blended/contemporary service in size on many Sundays. Why do some worship styles work in certain locales and not in others? I”m not sure, but I believe striving for excellence in all we do can make the difference. In some churches, the traditional service has been de-emphasized as other worship styles have developed. Unfortunately, it has been relegated to the position of providing a worship option

August 12, 2007

Christian Standard

Ministering to the Least of These: Southland Christian Church, Lexington, KY

By Mark Perraut Southland Christian Church Lexington, Kentucky The statistics are staggering, and the stories are overwhelming and heart-wrenching. The issues of HIV/AIDS and world hunger are so enormous we wonder how we can help at all. In order to start to help, we must understand the causes of these modern-day plagues and discover ways to break the generational cycle. Contributing factors of the HIV/AIDS pandemic include poverty, war, promiscuity, homosexuality, and the lack of adequate health care. In Africa 3 million children under the age of 15 are infected with HIV/AIDS. As many as 12 million African children have

May 20, 2007

Christian Standard

Will Work for Food

By Mike Faust Jagged hair framed the haggard face of a 30-year-old woman. She wore no cosmetics. Her bulky pants matched her XXL gray sweatshirt. I stopped to take a second look. In front of her she held a cardboard sign with four words scrawled on it: “Will work for food.” As I hurried into McDonald”s for lunch, my heart pounded as if I had just witnessed a car wreck. Who can think of food at a time like this? I spoke in chopped sentences: “There”s a woman . . . and a sign . . . she”s in trouble.”

February 4, 2007

Christian Standard

Personal Journeys

By Barbara Rendel There had been no news of anything unusual when my husband and I were traveling toward the airport at 7:00 a.m. Sunday, August 27. We were rerouted around the airport with no explanations. Wally said, “Do you suppose there has been a plane crash?” We really thought it unlikely. There had not been a commercial plane crash anywhere in the United States for five years. But Comair Flight 5191 had crashed at 6:07 a.m., and this was a major event in Lexington. There probably wasn”t a person in our relatively small community who didn”t know or have

July 26, 2006

Christian Standard

One Course, Two Kinds of Runners

By Mark A. Taylor Wayne Smith was entertaining the banquet crowd at the Energizing Smaller Churches conference in Cincinnati this spring. The retired minister of Southland Christian Church in Lexington told about a conversation with his former secretary. “Any differences between me and the new guy?” “Well, he hands me his sermon to type by Tuesday,” she answered. “Tuesday?” Smith replied. “Why, I didn’t even pray till Thursday!” I wouldn’t presume to compare myself to Wayne Smith. But I think he and I have one thing in common. We both work close to the deadline. Here at Christian Standard we

September 4, 2005

Jon Weece

Dear Missionary

Dear Missionary

A heartfelt letter to missionaries serving overseas, offering encouragement, gratitude for sacrifice, and a reminder that believers at home are praying and ready to help in practical ways.

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