March 18, 2024
How do elders or pastors know their churches are sliding toward closure? Christian Standard posed that question to Stan Granberg, vice chairman of Heritage 21, which specializes in helping noninstrumental Churches of Christ that are facing closure. . . .
October 31, 2023
Phil and Marian Yakey had a hard time digesting the news about the closure of Lincoln Christian University. The couple have been connected to the college for nearly five decades. “There’s an element of shock in it,” Phil Yakey said. “We kind of always assumed the college would continue to grow and prosper.” . . .
July 1, 2023
By Kent E. Fillinger The number of unaffiliated, nondenominational Christian churches in the United States grew by almost 5,000 congregations and nearly 9 million people from 2010 to 2020, thus making it America’s largest Protestant “denomination,” according to the U.S. Religion Census. In 2010, unaffiliated, nondenominational Christian churches had an estimated 12,241,329 adherents in 35,496 congregations, which represented 4 percent of the overall population. By 2020, the number of people worshipping in those churches grew to 21,095,641, and their share of America’s religious population increased to 13.1 percent, representing 6.4 percent of the nation’s population. How Many Churches Do We
February 28, 2023
Men for Christ, a 71-year-old men’s ministry in central Kentucky, is discovering new life after the COVID-19 storm. The long-standing mission of the group has been to support new church plants. And the group has a multimillion endowment fund that supports churches with building improvement and maintenance needs. . . .
January 18, 2022
All independent Christian churches and churches of Christ are encouraged to participate in Christian Standard’s annual survey, which is now available.
July 1, 2021
The most frequently asked question from church leaders in our annual survey was, “How should we count our online attendance?”
June 25, 2021
Manhattan Christian College is about to close on the purchase of a $4 million retail center that will provide additional student housing and a new revenue stream. It also is a chance to buy back a parcel of land the school sold 36 years ago.
January 21, 2021
Church leaders are invited to participate in our annual church survey. We will be collecting data from churches of all sizes through Monday, Jan. 25.
January 11, 2021
How do we gauge what exactly happened in our churches during 2020 and what is the best course of action as we endeavor to resume face-to-face community during this new year? A good first step is to share your church’s experience with us via Christian Standard’s annual survey of Christian churches and churches of Christ. “Capturing the stories and statistics from 2020 is vital for us to gauge the true impact of the pandemic on our churches and establish baselines to measure future growth and changes,” said Kent Fillinger, who has been conducting our annual survey for more than a
January 1, 2021
Money helps fuel ministry, so it’s critical for leaders to pause and understand the state of their church’s finances as they start a new year. I encourage leaders to consider short-term strategies to keep their congregation focused on the mission and a long-term approach to develop disciples who are generous. Here are four steps you can take to improve the short-term and long-term financial health of your church. Conduct a “Giving Audit” People’s giving habits can be indications of their spiritual journey; a church typically has givers at various points on that journey. PushPay identified the following eight categories of
April 7, 2026
John B. Penrose Jr
April 7, 2026
David Faust
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok