Articles for tag: Mars Hill Church

November 25, 2011

By Jeffrey Miller Late in 2008, Todd Carmichael staggered to the South Pole after covering 700 uphill miles in 39 days. He arrived with damaged gear, frostbit lungs, extreme exhaustion””and a world record! His discipline and determination, endurance and exhaustion, are truly amazing. Equally amazing, however, is whom he beat. Her name is Hannah McKeand, and Carmichael bested her record by 104 minutes””a margin comparable to winning a marathon by less than 4 minutes.1 Whether these adventurers are Christians, I don”t know. Their exploits, however, turn my mind to a frequent accusation commonly called “the feminization of the church.” As

September 16, 2010

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Growth

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: Preacher Paints Grace in a Fresh Way

By Kent E. Fillinger Preacher Paints Grace in a Fresh Way “We”re not great at anything, and everything here is a work in progress,” says senior minister Mike Gunderson. In spite of various internal challenges, Oak Park Christian Church in Grover Beach, California, was the fastest-growing medium-sized church last year, growing 42 percent and breaking the 200 barrier. Since 2008, Oak Park has grown 53 percent to an average worship attendance of 266. Oak Park is located near Pismo Beach in an isolated, affluent, and growing retirement community of 45,000 people. There are only two other small Christian churches in

August 24, 2008

Christian Standard

Christian Living

Masculinity, Femininity, and Church Leadership

By Kelvin Jones The rise of secular feminism has made the subject of church leadership a sensitive one. The feminist movement entered the mainstream in the 1960s and rightly criticized the failure of men to respect women. Yet feminism, lacking a biblical worldview, defined sexual equality as the removal of gender distinctions and rejected biblically grounded feminine identity and sexual morality. Searching for spirituality, many feminists have turned to neopaganism, and goddess worship is accepted in several liberal denominations. In contrast to the mainline denominations, the majority of evangelical churches and Christians are complementarian. They believe the Bible teaches that

September 16, 2007

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Emerging, Emergent, Missional: What’s the Difference?

By Gary Zustiak Confused by the terms emerging, emergent, and missional? That would be normal, because many people use the words interchangeably in discussing the current church scene. I apologize if I unfairly portray any group, but we must do some generalizing if we are to provide definitions for these movements to help guide the average church member through the blogs, magazines, and books that focus on them. “¢ An emerging church is an evangelical church that seeks to engage postmodern people, especially the unchurched and postchurched, with the story of the gospel and to challenge them to a radical