Articles for tag: Naperville Illinois

May 18, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Finding Your Way Back to God

Interview by Mark A. Taylor Dave Ferguson founded Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois, with his brother, Jon, 25 years ago. Finding Your Way Back to God was released March 3, and we talked with them shortly before that about the purpose and their dreams for their new book. (The book is now available at Amazon.com.)   Why write Finding Your Way Back to God? Jon: As many as 92 percent of people who live in the United States would say they believe in God, but research also tells us the majority of those people feel distant or disconnected from God. We sense a

January 1, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Reach Retirees for Christ

A popular expression among some churches goes something like, “Grow younger to grow larger.” Yet today, with the rising trend of retiring baby boomers (roughly 10 million per year), that motto may be as out-of-date as Grandpa”s vinyl records. Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, has come up with a successful model for reaching what senior minister Dave Ferguson calls one of the “fastest-growing demographics.” About 12 years ago, the Chicagoland church began partnering with a small, struggling congregation that met in the clubhouse of a nearby 55-plus gated retirement community, and today the weekly attendance of this Community Christian

July 20, 2014

Christian Standard

Time Pout

By Janet McMahon (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) Some of the best advice I ever received was from my friend, mentor, and then boss, Jon Ferguson, one of the founding pastors of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois. As one of the kids” ministry directors, I remember complaining to Jon that there was not enough time in the day to do all the urgent things that needed to be done. I never had enough time to strategically plan, pray, and think about the future of the ministry I was entrusted with. (Sigh . .

July 14, 2013

Christian Standard

40 Under 40: Brad Prunty

BRAD PRUNTY Lead planter, The Westline Movement, Community Christian Church,  Naperville, Illinois During his senior year of college, Brad Prunty and two of his classmates came to a church planting agency I serve and said, “We want to plant a church here together.” We hated to disappoint them, but it was clear they needed some seasoning and experience, so we turned them down. But Brad didn”t give up (nor did his friends). After working his way through the “followership” path at Community Christian Church in Chicagoland, Brad progressed to become the congregational leader of what is now a very strong part of

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

January 10, 2012

Christian Standard

In Just One Year: Love Your City

Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then.  * * * By Jon Ferguson Last fall my family moved to the north side of Chicago””we love this city. We love Chicago for its sports teams, architecture, and history, but most of all, we love Chicago for its people: hard-working, unpretentious, and good-natured””as long as you don”t take their parking space

December 7, 2008

Christian Standard

Stop Baptizing!

By Dave Ferguson Here is my challenge for every leader and paid staff person of every Christian church””stop baptizing! Just so you understand the challenge, let me say it again””STOP BAPTIZING! If you think this is merely an attention-grabber, you are only partially correct. Let me explain. I recently started leading a new small group. In preparation for the first group gathering, I met my apprentice leader at my favorite Starbucks to go over leadership expectations and to make other preparations. This was all new to him; he had never been a leader, never been in a group, and finished

September 7, 2008

Christian Standard

Golf Scores & Dashboards: Keeping Track of How the Church Is Doing

By Dave Ferguson Golfer 1: “What was your score?” Golfer 2: “Seventy-two.” Golfer 1: “That”s not too bad at all!” Golfer 2: “Thanks! I hope I”ll do better on the second hole.” When a golfer steps up to a tee, he knows how to keep score. It”s simple: Every time he hits the ball it counts as a stroke. At the end of 18 holes, he tallies up how many strokes he took, and that is his score. WHAT”S THE SCORE AT YOUR CHURCH? So, how does your church keep score? Usually churches keep score by counting the attendance and

May 25, 2008

Christian Standard

Spiritual Seismic Shifts Are Changing Our World

By Dave Ferguson “We don”t know exactly when, but we do know the earthquake is coming.” That is what seismologists who study our shifting earth are saying about impending catastrophic earthquakes. These experts can now tell us with absolute certainty where earthquakes will happen, but they don”t know exactly when. They have even created a list of the world”s most earthquake-vulnerable cities. At the top of the list is Kathmandu, Nepal, where they predict a 6.0-magnitude earthquake will occur and could kill approximately 69,000 people. Also on the hit list is Manila, Philippines, where a quake that will register close

April 13, 2008

Christian Standard

And They Met Every Day (Almost)

By Kent Fillinger Somewhere in America, a worship gathering in one of the megachurches and emerging megachurches can currently be found on every day of the week except Thursday. Worship services are no longer reserved for Sunday, although every church listed still offers at least one Sunday worship experience. In an attempt to see “the Lord add to their number daily those who are being saved,” the megachurches and emerging megachurches have explored offering services on alternative and multiple days of the week, and by using a variety of worship styles and venues to reach the lost in their communities.

April 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Multisite Momentum

By Kent Fillinger The second coming of the megachurch appears to be the multisite movement””or perhaps the next generation of multisite ministry arrived before you were even introduced to the original version. Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian (Naperville, Illinois), is an often quoted and passionate proponent of multisite ministry. He introduced a new concept””the “polysite church”””in an article in the February 24 Christian Standard. He described the polysite church as the next wave in church reproduction. A recent article in Rev! magazine titled “Mega, Schmega” (March/April 2008) described multisite ministry as the answer for the future church. Some

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