April 21, 2021
Room For Doubt is offering a free “Apologetics Boot Camp” in June and July to teachers in Christian high schools, homeschools, public schools, churches, and camps. . . . Plus news briefs from Florida, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, and more.
Harvest Prayer Ministries has started PrayerU, an online school of prayer for individuals, small groups, and churches.
February 17, 2021
Registration is open for the 20th annual Stone-Campbell Journal Conference, slated for April 16-17. Due to uncertainties related to COVID-19, the event recently was switched to virtual for the second consecutive year. Lincoln Christian University, which was to have hosted, will provide technical staff to facilitate the online-only event. The theme “Violence of God in the Old Testament” will be developed by featured speakers Eric Seibert, professor of Old Testament at Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Michelle Knight, assistant professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill.; and Mark Hamilton, Onstead Professor of Biblical Studies
January 20, 2021
Grace Grubert has been promoted to the new dual positions of chief financial officer and chief operations officer (CFO/COO) of Financial Planning Ministry in Irvine, Calif. Grubert joined FPM in 2008 and has been serving as director of administration during a time of great growth at the organization. FPM is a nonprofit partnership of national charities dedicated to providing a path to sound biblical stewardship through donor estate planning. In her new role, Grubert will be supported by a national team of 35 staff members serving 100 charitable partners. Together they serve 34,000 estate planned families and have helped facilitate
January 13, 2021
By Jim Nieman After 16 years on the board of IDES followed by 19 years as the organization’s executive director, Rick Jett has transitioned out of the latter role and David Stine has been named to succeed him. Since 2016, Stine has served as director of operations with IDES—International Disaster Emergency Service—a Christian church/church of Christ organization incorporated in 1973 to provide emergency assistance via missionaries who were in or near disaster situations around the world. “I am honored to continue the legacy of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of suffering people throughout the world in the name of
January 12, 2021
By Chris Moon The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t dampened Restoration House Ministries’ efforts to bring young church leaders to New England. The church-planting organization in Manchester, N.H., is in the third year of its residency program which recruits young people from across the country to gain ministry experience in the Northeast. Five residents are nearing the end of their 11-month training cycle. “It’s a work in progress,” said Aaron Rathbone, residency program director for RHM. This year’s residency program came with its own challenges, he said. The current cohort started work remotely in April 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic was
December 9, 2020
Items from Timber Lake Christian Church (Moberly, Mo.), Choateville Christian Church (Frankfort, Ky.), Johnson University, and more.
November 16, 2020
At least three Christian colleges announced changes to their fall semester plans in recent days due to the coronavirus pandemic. The most significant change occurred at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University, where students were sent home about 10 days early, a main reason being the dwindling number of students receiving in-person instruction. “It is becoming increasingly difficult for our faculty to manage courses that have numerous students in quarantine,” LCU president Silas McCormick wrote on Nov. 9. “While we would all prefer to continue holding these classes in-person, the reality is that over the next week-and-a-half, a number of classes would
November 3, 2020
The 20th annual Stone-Campbell Journal Conference is slated for Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University next April 16-17. If necessary, due to COVID-19, the conference will function virtually. The plenary sessions (and perhaps more) will be available virtually regardless. The theme “Violence of God in the Old Testament” will be developed by featured speakers Eric Seibert, professor of Old Testament at Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Michelle Knight, assistant professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill.; and Mark Hamilton, Onstead Professor of Biblical Studies at Abilene (Texas) Christian University. Seibert will present “Solving the Problem of
By Jim Nieman Christian colleges and universities were already under significant stress even before the COVID-19 tsunami came crashing over our nation. In fact, two of them—Cincinnati Christian University and Nebraska Christian College—have closed during the past year. We decided to take the temperature of institutions across the United States by asking college presidents to share their year-over-year attendance figures and to describe the challenges they are facing. It might surprise some to learn that a handful of the 16 colleges and universities that shared their data with us actually saw their enrollment increase from fall 2019 to fall 2020.
September 16, 2020
Volunteers in the North Heights neighborhood of Joplin, Mo., spent the weekend “digging up brick sidewalks and working to restore them,” according to a story in the Joplin Globe. The bulk of the work occurred in the area around the Neighborhood Life House, a church-supported nonprofit that provides programs for children and adults. Volunteers with NLH and another neighborhood group provided the manpower. The sidewalks were identified as a key neighborhood concern in a survey earlier this year. “We’re restoring lives and we’re restoring the neighborhood and trying to put some life back in it,” NLH board member Neil Robinson
Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Lincoln Christian University president Don Green recently recognized two longtime LCU workers with Distinguished Service Awards. Lynn Laughlin has retired and Freddie Tedrick will end his service with the school at the end of summer. Laughlin began working with Lincoln upon his graduation from the institution in 1964. He first served as assistant basketball coach and director of the physical education program. Eventually he served in a variety of roles: head coach of both basketball and baseball, athletic director, instructor in New Testament, admissions director, dean of students, and finally as vice president
May 17, 2020
By Austin Gohn In the fall of 2010 on the campus of Lincoln Christian University, my friend Cody began to feel an urgency about prayer. The “prayer rooms” hidden away in the dark corners of our chapel had become little more than a favorite spot for campus couples. Uncertain of what else to do, Cody declared “squatter’s rights” in an unused room at the geographic heart of our campus, despite the amorphous stain on the carpet and a cartoonish illustration of Christ’s ascension. And we started to pray. Just over a year later, a near constant flow of students buzzed
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused our Christian colleges and universities to switch from in-person learning to various forms of Internet instruction or distance delivery. Here is a listing of the colleges with very brief explanations of what each has done and links for more information: Alberta Bible College (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)Campus is closed until further notice. Classes are running on their normal schedule, but now remotely, via Zoom. More information Boise Bible College (Boise, Idaho)Boise Bible College has scaled back to critical services only. All students were to move out of residential housing by Saturday, March 28. Classes will
March 25, 2020
Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Earlier this month, Mount Pleasant Christian Church, Greenwood, Ind., surpassed $1 million in giving through its Change for a Dollar program, which was started in July 2015 and thus far has helped 250 individuals and families. The fund was created after pastor Chris Philbeck asked attendees to give an extra $1 weekly to help people in need. “It’s powerful, because it’s just such a simple formula,” Philbeck told the Daily Journal. “One dollar alone doesn’t go very far, but all together, it can be a big deal.” The ministry “allows ANYONE from ANYWHERE
March 2, 2020
By Chris Moon The coronavirus outbreak has shaken things up for mission organizations and other Restoration Movement groups that do work internationally. The China Institute at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University—which assists the 20 Chinese students and their families who live on campus—had a student arrive at Lincoln in January after the outbreak of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The student came from Wuhan, China, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, said Weilun Lee, director of LCU’s China Institute. The student was checked out by local health officials and given the all clear. “We have done all the things we
December 4, 2019
Compiled by Jim Nieman and Chris Moon Dr. Tom Mobley, 70, president of Louisville Bible College, died Monday morning at Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown, Ky., the city in which he lived. “It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that Louisville Bible College received word earlier this morning that Dr. Tom Mobley has passed away,” LBC wrote on its Facebook page. “We are eternally grateful and appreciative of his ministry at Louisville Bible College. His presence will be missed.” Through the years, Dr. Mobley served in various capacities as a Christian educator, minister, and chaplain. He served as
November 6, 2019
As a follow-up to our story last week that Cincinnati Christian University will be closing after the fall semester, CCU board of trustees president Chris Hahn posted a letter on behalf of his fellow trustees to “apologize for the situation we are in and for how our communication of the cessation of academic operations may have caused confusion and pain.” CCU is also now providing more resources for students at its website, including a section of responses to frequently asked questions. CCU previously announced a partnership with Central Christian College of the Bible (Moberly, Mo.), which will be opening an
The selection of Dr. Silas McCormick as the eighth president of Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University was announced Friday. McCormick will assume that position on June 1, 2020, succeeding Dr. Don Green, who has been president since 2014. McCormick, who has served the university as executive vice president since June 2018, was the unanimous selection of the school’s board of trustees. He also has served LCU as vice president of enrollment and marketing and twice as the university’s chief academic officer. According to an LCU news release, a succession team made up of trustees, faculty, and staff was drawn to both
July 24, 2019
By Chris Moon Antioch Christian Church in Marion, Iowa, has spent the past month doing what few churches ever have had to do—grieve the sudden death of its longtime pastor. John Seitz Sr. had served at Antioch for nearly two decades when he began to suffer from poor health following an overseas trip in January 2018. Seitz had been battling an infection, and doctors were looking for a cause. The pastor had not preached a lot this year after his church elders granted him an extended break to rest and heal. But his health continued to deteriorate. He passed away
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