Solving the Church Leadership Crisis
A New Collaboration with NationsUniversity to Develop Leaders Where They Are Already Planted and Working
Articles for tag: Restoration Movement
April 26, 2022
Cycling Group Raises $1 Million for Global Youth Ministry
Ends of the Earth Cycling, a ministry that has hosted multiday cycling rides in 35 states, reached a goal of raising $1 million for youth ministries around the world earlier this month. The 10-year-old ministry, part of New International, . . .
April 19, 2022
Church Planters Say Ghosting a Common, Dispiriting Occurrence
The rapid turnover in a new church plant’s core launch team is not unusual, church-planting experts say. Of the 40 or so people who helped plant Canvas Church in North Carolina last September, almost half are gone . . . some simply disappeared without saying a word. “It’s weird, but it’s like, ‘Can you say goodbye?’” the lead planter said.
CCCB-SLCC Merger Nearing Completion
The merger of Central Christian College of the Bible and St. Louis Christian College is in its final stages, with the two Restoration Movement schools slated to join forces by about June 1.
Standard Publishing—Still Standing Strong
When the Standard Publishing line of true-to-the-Bible resources for all ages was acquired by David C Cook in 2015, several people who had faithfully worked on those products for years went with them. One of those workers, Margie Redford, explains that Standard Publishing "is still standing strong!"
Throwback Thursday: ‘Have We Outgrown the Plea?’ (1952)
"Have we outgrown the plea?" Will Sweeney is still right. The answer is, “No.” For to outgrow the plea, we would have to outgrow the Bible. . . .
March 1, 2022
The Search for Authentic Church Membership
What Leaders Were Saying About This Topic 90–150 Years Ago, from the Christian Standard Archives
February 24, 2022
Lincoln Christian University Revamping Its Model, May Sell Campus
Lincoln Christian University has announced sweeping changes to its program offerings as it grapples with a difficult economic environment in higher education. The university says it plans to eliminate all its non-ministry degree programs.
February 10, 2022
Throwback Thursday: Ordained by a Grandmother’s Prayer (1978)
"I cannot remember when I first decided to enter the ministry," James B. North wrote in 1978. "It seems the decision has always been with me." Later in life, he learned the rest of the story. (Dr. North died earlier this week.)
February 8, 2022
Longtime Professor, Restoration Historian, James B. North Dies
Dr. James B. North, 81, longtime professor of church history at Cincinnati Christian University, frequent lecturer on church history, and a man who wrote extensively on the history of Christian churches and churches of Christ in America, died on Monday after battling cancer.
February 2, 2022
RENEW.org Launches Job Board (Plus Other News Briefs)
RENEW.org has launched a job board for ministers and congregations in the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. Plus briefs from Johnson and Milligan universities, Ekklesia Christian Church, and more.
January 26, 2022
Charlie and Faith Russell Share Their COVID-19 Journey
Not long after Charlie and Faith Russell celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, and only days before the birth of their first child, Charlie came down with COVID-19. That was in late July 2021. Charlie was hospitalized for weeks; he calls his recovery "a miracle."
January 26, 2022
Rusty Russell: Preaching the Gospel While Helping Care for an Ailing Son
Rusty Russell thought his son, Charlie, would recover quickly when his boy was hospitalized with COVID-19 in August. That wasn't the case. Rusty, who preaches in Florida, traveled back and forth to Tennessee weekly to help during Charlie's long ordeal.
The Ministry Pipeline
Restoration Movement colleges struggle to produce enough ministry graduates to meet the growing need for pastors. College presidents explain why.
Recruitment: How Do Restoration Movement Churches Find Talented Leaders to Fuel Growth?
By Kevin Stone Since the beginning of our church in Pennsylvania, staffing has been among our biggest challenges. There is a continuous, ever-increasing need for people to lead stuff! As we all know, without a constant flow of good people, it’s very difficult to grow. Hiring from the Outside Your church has a leadership need, so you go to an outside recruiting firm for help. You know the process—you write a position description and start the search. I wish it were that simple. Our desire to prevent theological drift requires that we recruit from within the tribe, so to speak. And finding
January 1, 2022
Building a Leadership Pipeline
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13). As 2020 started, the church in America was already coping with issues ranging from racial tensions to gay marriage, all while competing with sports for a family’s attention on Sunday mornings. Then COVID-19 arrived in full
January 1, 2022
Where Do Church Planters Come From?
What do a lawyer, a football player, and a youth pastor have in common? It might sound like the setup to a bad joke, but it isn’t. All three are examples of professionals who recently left their jobs to plant independent Christian churches in the United States. Many of today’s church leaders are asking where tomorrow’s church leaders will come from. That’s a critical concern among church planters as well. In fact, Stadia president Greg Nettle says, “The number one challenge we face right now is our leadership pipeline of church planters.” Nettle and other church-planting leaders estimate it will
Pastors Are Quitting; What We Can Do to Help
Pastors in Restoration Movement churches quit at an alarming rate. According to research from the Christian Church Leadership Network, 70 percent of Bible college graduates in the Restoration Movement leave pastoral ministry within the first 10 years.* That means 7 out of 10 current Bible college students called to pastoral ministry in this movement probably will not last a decade. How might we better develop and grow healthy leaders? In what ways might we support the leaders we already have so they last a lifetime in ministry? The future of our movement and the health of our churches is at
The Preacher Pipeline Problem
A ministry friend recently worked with the Slingshot Group, a church staffing firm, to find a new ministry, and they told him he was one of 19,000 candidates they were helping. I imagine this represents people from a multitude of denominations and backgrounds, as well as those seeking a variety of church ministry roles. Either way, it’s clear there’s a sizable number of people currently in ministry who are looking for something different or somewhere new to serve. But what does the future “preacher pipeline” look like based on who’s leading our Christian churches today? A Long-Term Look at Lead
January 1, 2022
The Invisible Renaissance
What Independent Christian Churches Have to Celebrate . . . and the Challenges Ahead We live in a world of polls describing a hopelessly post-Christian culture in which the church is constantly losing ground. A 2020 Gallup Poll found the number of Americans now affiliated with a church is just 47 percent, a sub-50 percent number for the first time in 80 years. Cary Nieuwhof shared a recent Barna/Stadia Poll that stated 30 percent fewer people in Generation Z (those born 1999 to 2015) attend church than baby boomers (those born 1946 to 1964). Another Barna study informed us that
