March 17, 2023
The Christian Church world is bigger than Goodyear, Ariz., and Refinery Christian Church is taking steps this year to ensure their people know it. Ministry staff are wearing T-shirts from other Christian churches and are sharing about their ministries during Refinery's weekly 'giving moment' throughout 2023. . . .
November 1, 2022
By Laura McKillip Wood Renee Flory had already taken a mission trip to Eastern Europe when she heard Glen Elliott (a missionary to Ukraine for five years in the 1990s and later lead pastor of Pantano Christian Church in Tucson, Arizona, for more than 20 years) speak to her church about Tavriski Christian Institute (TCI), a Christian seminary in Ukraine. During her previous trip, she had felt drawn to the people of that nation but believed God was telling her to wait. She returned to teaching kindergarten in California. But then in 2000, when she met Glen, she told him
April 20, 2022
News briefs from churches in Illinois, Florida, Missouri, West Virginia, and Tennessee, plus a Ukraine update from Glen Elliott.
March 29, 2022
Pantano Christian Church in Tucson, Ariz., and Fayetteville (N.C.) Christian Church are among the many congregations in the U.S. that are actively supporting Christian ministries, organizations, and individuals inside Ukraine.
March 9, 2022
In the midst of war, Ukrainians are reaching out to help one another survive. Ukrainians who initially evacuated certain areas have since been attempting to return to areas of intense fighting to bring food and supplies to people trapped there. . . .
March 6, 2022
Residents of western Ukraine are hosting refugees in their homes and helping them obtain provisions as these displaced people attempt to flee to Poland and other Eastern European countries.
March 1, 2022
Kharkiv has been the target of some of Russia’s fiercest attacks this week. The second-largest city in Ukraine, located about 30 miles from the Russian border, has a population of 1.4 million. Amid destruction, stories of hope have emerged. . . .
March 1, 2022
Our family served as missionaries in Kherson, Ukraine, in the 1990s. CNN has a correspondent in Kherson, so I’ve watched the invasion of “my” city on television. Here’s what I want you to know. Ukrainians are the most peaceful people I know. . . .
February 26, 2022
The president of a Christian institute in Kherson, Ukraine, along with his family and the college staff, have fled to a seminary in western Ukraine. Meanwhile, a church in Kherson now shelters 300 refugees.
April 7, 2021
New Hope Christian Church, Whitestown, Ind., donated property to Isaiah 117 so the organization can build a home “where removed children can wait in comfort to be picked up by their foster families.”
October 7, 2020
News Channel 11 in Johnson City, Tenn., interviewed several people for a story last week after it learned “Milligan University had forced a gay professor to resign or renounce their lifestyle” during spring semester. A number of students and alumni sent a form letter to Milligan’s administration and trustees several months ago asking that they commit to several promises relative to sexual orientation and “anti-discrimination” policies involving LGBTQ+ individuals. The lengthy news report said Milligan president Bill Greer met with a current student and a recent alumnus about the situation over the summer. Greer declined to be interviewed for the
June 12, 2019
By Jim Nieman Glen Elliott, lead pastor with Pantano Christian Church, Tucson, Ariz., represented PCC Sunday as they received the church of the year award for racial reconciliation from the Racial Reconciliation Community Outreach Network in that city. “I’m so grateful to be a part of a church that embraces racial equality & unity,” Elliott wrote on Facebook. Pantano has been working toward racial reconciliation for many years. “Back in 2013 a small group of black and white pastors agreed—some reluctantly—to meet to better understand each other and see if we could address this in our community,” Elliott shared with
April 24, 2019
These statistics from 2018 are gleaned from megachurch and emerging megachurch data collected by Kent Fillinger. Be sure to read Fillinger’s article, “2018 Special Church Report, Part 1: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches,” and look at the accompanying tables, “The 2018 Charts: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches”. Compiled by Kent Fillinger _ _ _ AVERAGE ATTENDANCE Megachurches: 5,363 Emerging Megachurches: 1,332 Combined average weekly attendance (125 churches): 388,243 _ _ _ GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 6.6% (up from 5.7% in 2017); overall, 74% of the megachurches grew (up from 71% in 2017) Emerging Megachurches: 4.1% (unchanged from 2017); overall, 71% of emerging megachurches
January 30, 2019
Hope International University President John L. Derry has announced his retirement. Derry will step down on Aug. 15 after 15 years as Hope’s president, HIU said in a news release. “Over the past several months, Jane and I have been praying and considering when would be the best time for us to transition to retirement,” Derry said. “A decision like this is certainly not easy and in no way reflects on our confidence in the future of the university.” The Derrys have grandchildren in Texas and Ohio and hope to spend more time with them. Since becoming president of HIU,
April 15, 2018
These statistics from 2017 are gleaned from megachurch and emerging megachurch data collected by Kent Fillinger. Be sure to read Fillinger’s article, “Special Church Report Part 1: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches,” and look at the accompanying tables (“The 2017 Charts: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches”). Compiled by Kent Fillinger AVERAGE SIZE Megachurches: 5,307 Emerging Megachurches: 1,366 Combined average weekly attendance: 390,218 GROWTH RATES Megachurches: 5.7% (up from 3.4% in 2016); overall, 71% of megachurches grew (up from 61% in 2016). Emerging Megachurches: 4.1% (up from 2 percent in 2016); overall, 57% of emerging megachurches grew (down from 61% in 2016).
By Jennifer Johnson Several of the Restoration Movement”s largest churches have created internship programs, some that involve entire cohorts of students and work with colleges and universities for academic credit. “Those are wonderful opportunities for students, and we love what those churches are doing,” says Becki Kern. “But we decided our niche would be a more customized program that works one-on-one with each individual. With that goal in mind, we launched the Reveal Residency in 2014.” Kern, who serves as campus launch pastor and director of Reveal at Pantano Christian Church, Tucson, AZ, designed the program to work with people
September 16, 2016
By Matt Gugel “Hello, my name is Matt and I”m a resident pastor.” Maybe you read “resident pastor” and think, What in the world is a “resident pastor?“ Good question! I actually live under the stage in the worship center! Obviously””at least, I hope it was obvious””that is not where I live. To help clarify what I mean by resident pastor, think of a person who wants to be a doctor. He spends his time going to school and finally comes to a place where he starts to put what he”s learned into practice. After graduation, that person must become
June 16, 2016
By Glen Elliott The church has struggled to find ways not to settle with the comfort of sameness. Significant portions of the New Testament letters deal with racial division (see Ephesians 2 and James 2 as examples) and the unity that is to be a hallmark of God”s people. That”s why Paul reminds us, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Paul says those who have been baptized and put on Christ are one in Christ regardless of ethnicity, economic status,
June 16, 2016
By Glen Elliott Evangelical leaders have been very intentional about creating unity among the faith community to make a spiritual, social, and economic difference in our city, Tucson, Arizona. Our combined prayer is the one Jesus asked us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, in Tucson as it is in Heaven.” Even after seeing huge progress among the white and a few of the Hispanic churches, we realized the racial divide still exists. So about three years ago, a group of white and black pastors decided to meet. One of the black pastors agreed to host the
November 2, 2015
Interview by Mark A. Taylor We spoke with four local church missions ministers about best practices for missions ministry. Their answers were as inspiring as they were practical. Here are approaches to the local church”s global outreach that build up the church and nourish the workers on foreign fields. We think every congregation will appreciate the insights and ideas these four shared: PAT CREECH, global outreach pastor for Crossroads Christian Church, Newburgh, Indiana; DREW DEPLER, global outreach pastor at LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, Colorado; TYLER HARI, pastor of outreach, Eastview Christian Church, Normal, Illinois; and DAVID THORESEN, director of local and international outreach,
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