October 13, 2021
Jack R. Reese’s book "At the Blue Hole: Elegy for a Church on the Edge" chronicles the rise and fall of the noninstrumental Churches of Christ. The book includes several startling facts and concerning predictions from leading researchers in the Church of Christ fellowship.
May 17, 2020
By Chris Hankins Healthy things reproduce. This reality is true in nature and, I believe, in the church. The body of Christ is healthiest when it is reproducing at every level. At Point Church, where I serve, I often say that we want to reproduce disciples, leaders, groups, services, campuses, churches, and even church-planting networks. Therefore, when I was recently asked, “Are we really reproducing churches if multisites remain attached to the mother church?” my immediate answer was, “of course!” Just because a new location of a multisite church remains a part of a larger local church does not mean
December 31, 2019
By Jerry Harris The January issue of Christian Standard focuses on the business side of church. Leaders make decisions every day about spending, staff, volunteers, fundraising, organizational structure, leader development, staff and volunteer education, debt, facility management, marketing, media, and online presence. Yet, despite all of that, it is rather amazing how little most church leaders know about business, finance, real estate, administration, or management. Many mainly rural and small churches are closing daily because they can no longer manage their own existence. Attendance and giving might be dwindling; the churches may no longer be able to pay for a
July 22, 2019
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 17, 2019
âThe multisite congregation is the single most profound change in American congregations in the past century.â âThom Rainer, CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources By Jim Tomberlin When I started down the multisite path as a senior pastor in Colorado in the 1990s, multisite was a radical idea. In the first decade of the 21st century, multisite became the cool idea among large, cutting-edge churches. As it approaches the end of its third decade, multisite has become the mainstream idea for healthy, growing churches of all kinds and sizes. This movement is comprised of more than 5,000 denominational and nondenominational churches that
February 2, 2019
By Kent Fillinger A new question on our last annual church survey asked, “Using the scale created by Exponential.org, which of the following best describes your church in 2017?” Level 1: Declining (attendance going down) Level 2: Holding Even (attendance largely unchanged) Level 3: Growing (attendance growth by 5 percent or more) Level 4: Adding/Reproducing (we directly launched another new campus or church plant) Level 5: Multiplying (a campus or church we helped to start has itself become a reproducing church) In Exponential’s e-book Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide, Todd Wilson, Dave Ferguson, and Alan Hirsch provided
September 19, 2018
By Kent E. Fillinger Nonmetropolitan or “rural” counties make up 72 percent of the land area in the United States and are home to 14 percent of the nation’s population. The landscape of small towns and rural America is changing in distinct ways. Using U.S. Census Bureau data, Brookings Institution researcher William H. Frey reported, “Not only has the nonmetropolitan population remained much whiter than the rest of the nation, it is also getting older faster and shrinking in size” (www.brookings.edu). Almost three-fourths of these rural counties are at least 70 percent white, according to Census Bureau data. The age
May 9, 2018
By David Dummitt In the last several decades, Western churches grew big. Very big. Megachurches swelled. The multisite movement allowed churches to grow wide. Last fall, minister and church planter Matt Chandler created a stir when he announced his plan to release all of his campuses to be autonomous churches. Pastors across the United States are beginning to ask, “What if we are boxing ourselves in? And what is next?” I believe we are on the cusp of a shift in church-planting methodology, and I’m dreaming of new things. What if we could be more effective in raising and releasing
April 14, 2018
By Kent E. Fillinger This marks my 14th consecutive year of staying up late for weeks on end crunching numbers, looking for trends, and jotting down insights about our Restoration Movement churches to share with you. This year is special because it’s the first time Christian Standard opened up the annual survey to churches of every size. More than 400 churches from 39 states ranging in size from 12 to 28,216 responded to the survey, and I’m grateful for each one! I’m going to share in-depth results from the survey and analyze the data in my next few monthly articles.
September 3, 2017
By Kent Fillinger To reflect the themes this month and next””urban ministry and rural ministry, respectively””I”ve written a two-part article that captures the present realities for both and adds some insights on suburban areas as well. I”ve examined our recent church survey data and other relevant research to identify notable differences and national trends for each type of ministry location. I don”t intend to proclaim one location type as better than another, but rather to share some commonalities and differences based on research findings and facts from the larger story taking place in our country. My goal is to help
August 11, 2017
By Kent Fillinger From Abingdon, Virginia, to Woodland Park, Colorado, medium-size churches are a vital part of our annual church survey. Over the last three years, 160 different medium-size churches (average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) from 37 states have participated in our research study. On average, 93 medium churches have responded each of the last three years. Most recently, 88 medium churches completed the survey. I hope to see the number of medium churches that participate grow in the future! Here”s a quick statistical overview of the 88 medium-size churches based on 2016 data. The list of these
June 4, 2017
By Mark A. Taylor We wanted experience from church leaders who have led their congregations to build. We were able to spend an hour with four who brought insight and a couple of warnings for any congregation considering a building campaign: Gene Appel, senior pastor with Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, California; Gary Johnson, lead servant with The Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana; Darrel Land, senior minister with Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Indiana; and David Vaughan, senior minister with Whitewater Crossing Christian Church in Cleves, Ohio. Here are excerpts from that conversation. Tell us about your last building project. Appel:
May 5, 2017
By Kent E. Fillinger Leading a church is a complex undertaking. The challenges can seem to mount more quickly than answers or resources become available. However, asking good questions is helpful. And asking the right questions as a leader is a game changer. One question I always ask is, “What can we learn from our annual survey data to apply to life and ministry?” Here are some important findings from key survey questions, and I”ve included some application questions for you and your team to discuss. One of this year”s survey questions was, “What questions or issues is your church
May 2, 2016
By Kent Fillinger Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd released a song a few years ago called “Something to Live For.” Churches and individuals could echo the lyrics of the song; we, too, need something we can live for, hold on to, and believe in. Hebrews 6:18, 19 says, “We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Bill Hybels said, “The church is the hope of the world.” Hopes This year”s survey asked churches to share “one hope or
March 29, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor Churches and church leaders around the world are breathing a collective sigh of relief this week. Easter is over. All the hard work anticipating big Easter attendances is finished. Larger numbers of volunteers were recruited. Worship services were added (some megachurches began Easter services on Thursday evening). Musicians practiced harder and longer; choirs and worship teams prepared their best. Preachers gave special effort to make sure their sermons were polished and ready. New churches and multisites launched on Easter Sunday, with the hope to attract newcomers on the one Sunday when tradition prods the largest
June 15, 2015
We asked three leaders to react to Jim Putman’s article describing his church’s decision to plant churches instead of develop multisites. By Brent Storms, president, The Orchard Group (www.orchardgroup.org) ONE OF THE BIGGEST FACTORS in starting healthy churches is the quality of the lead planter. One of the characteristics of the best church planters is that they are great communicators. The only way to develop one”s communication gift is to be afforded frequent opportunities to speak and receive helpful feedback. I share Jim”s concern that the trend toward campuses that are video venues effectively reduces the opportunities younger leaders have to preach. That
June 14, 2015
By Jim Putman Our facilities were jammed. Our leaders were overextended. Our growth was stymied. We had three choices: Build larger. Create multisites. Or plant new churches. This is why we chose the third option. Eight years ago the church I lead, Real Life Ministries, was averaging 8,500 people in five weekend services. We were far past the 80 percent rule in our main services (i.e., our auditorium was beyond 80 percent full; we wouldn”t grow any larger in those services). And the times of the other services were not convenient enough to be attractive to newcomers. Our staff and
May 2, 2015
By Kent E. Fillinger Numbers evoke an array of emotions. How many readers, for example, regularly step on their bathroom scales with more than a bit of trepidation? But the Bible is full of numbers, and almost every healthy church is counting something. We believe the special report of church statistics published here each year is a great time to recognize the uniqueness of our tribe of churches and to capture and celebrate the historic work God is doing. A record 347 churches responded to the survey this year, and I hope we double or triple that number next year!
October 17, 2013
By Ed Stetzer Multisite appears to be the new big thing. Multisite churches have been regarded as the cure for all of the church”s ills, the most evil plague on the body of Christ, and everything in between. Opinions of multisite churches run rampant, but facts are often ignored in evaluating what has undoubtedly become the new normal for large and growing churches””and even for some small churches. The number of multisite churches is growing rapidly. In the 1950s, there were just a few. In 2012, there were more than 5,000 different churches with two or more geographic campuses. Sixty-two
January 29, 2013
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
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