July 1, 2021
Four Lessons I Learned from Seven Heroic Women
In this July/August issue we celebrate seven women who certainly qualify as heroes, and all of us, women and men, can learn from them.
Articles for tag: Restoration Movement
Lame Ideas Can Lead to Healing Ideas
Have you ever excitedly run your flag up the flagpole of ideas, only to have nobody salute? It’s not a pleasant experience.
June 30, 2021
Arizona Pastor Ministers to Harley Riders
Larrie Fraley oversees missions work at Christ's Church of the Valley in Arizona while ministering to Harley-Davidson riders across the Phoenix metro. “I kind of look at [them as] my flock.”
A Christian Standard Survey: Postpandemic Communion Practices
In May, we conducted an informal survey about how COVID-19 affected the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in corporate church services.
June 8, 2021
Surveys Share Opinions on Morality, Legality of Marijuana by Faith Group
A recent survey indicates Christian church and church of Christ pastors fall in the middle of the spectrum among Protestant pastors in terms of their views on the morality and legality of using marijuana.
May 26, 2021
Job Prospects Strong Among Christian Churches
Despite a global pandemic that limited in-person church services for much of the past year, the job market for pastors in the Restoration Movement remains robust, say those who closely follow the trends.
May 1, 2021
To Hire the Right Staff, Ask the Right Questions
Here are the top three things I looked for when hiring staff.
Mountain Mission School: One Hundred Years of Service
Mountain Mission School of Grundy, Va., celebrates its centennial anniversary this month. When the school was started, 17 denominations had mission schools in the Appalachia area; today, Mountain Mission School is the only one still operating.
April 13, 2021
New Resource Helps Churches and Ministers Find the Right Match
A minister transition is a challenging time for a church . . . and the process is not easy on ministers either. Find Your Next Minister/Ministry is a new service from the CCL Network to help both churches and ministers thrive in the transition process.
Former CCU Campus to Become a Charter School Site
The longtime site of now-closed Cincinnati Christian University is changing hands. CCU’s 54-acre campus has been sold to IDEA Public Schools, a Texas company that operates 120 schools in Texas and Louisiana.
April 7, 2021
Defining Moments: Celebrating a 155-Year Anniversary that Almost Didn’t Happen
In early 2017, if The Solomon Foundation not come to the rescue, Christian Standard would not be celebrating its 155th anniversary today.
150 Years of Christian Standard
Today, on this 155th anniversary of Christian Standard, we share an article from five years ago by Richard Cherok that describes how this journal has both informed and influenced the Stone-Campbell Movement from the time of its first issue in 1866.
April 1, 2021
The Most Important Aspect of Meeting Together
I visited many churches for various reasons during 2020. In quite a few houses of worship, I experienced roughly the same thing. As the doors opened, I could feel vibrations from the percussion and bass in my chest. The smell of coffee would drift toward my nose and awaken me. The welcoming team would greet me and ask about my week with genuine interest. “Don’t forget to check in on social media!” they would say. Sign-up sheets for “groups who do life together” and other activities to “get involved” were on strategically placed tables. Finally, I’d enter the sanctuary, grab
April 1, 2021
Open
I had always assumed suicide rates were higher in the winter months. Cold winds, icy streets, gray skies, and more time alone indoors were all things I equated with sadness and depression. This most recent winter brought an even colder chill—a storm in the form of a pandemic that shut down activities, closed stores, and stopped people from gathering. And with this storm came the gusty wind of political tension. People bundled themselves up with fear, worry, and a deep sadness in what had been lost over the past 12 months. Save.org—a website operated by Suicide Awareness Voices of Education—shares
March 30, 2021
‘An Antidote to Loneliness’ for Pastors
Loneliness is a perpetual problem among pastors, and it only has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two experts who specialize in care for pastors—Dr. Wes Beavis and Alan Ahlgrim. “There’s not a pastor out there who does not need authentic friendships,” Beavis said.
KCU Plans Cane Ridge Tour (Plus News Briefs)
Kentucky Christian University plans to host a celebration at Cane Ridge (near Paris, Ky.) on the 220th anniversary of the Cane Ridge Revival this August.
March 1, 2021
Under the Protection of Truth
Truthfully, brothers and sisters, when did it become so easy to lie? “I am praying for you” (but have you been . . . really?). “I’m running late because there was traffic” (or maybe you just got a late start). “I am going to do that right away” (well . . . perhaps). I recently called our local butcher shop and ordered a 3-pound tomahawk steak for a family celebration dinner, but before I could pick it up, a friend who knew of the celebration plans called to tell me she picked up a standing rib roast for me. I
March 1, 2021
Moving Forward
The year 2020 was extremely difficult for all of us, with challenges that reached into nearly every part of life and work. With most church buildings closed down for some time, it wasn’t surprising many church leaders allowed their Christian Standard subscriptions to lapse in order to cut costs and get past the pandemic, with thoughts of reassessing the relationship at a later time. We’ve been doing that same type of thing at Christian Standard Media—we’ve been figuring out ways to cut costs while providing the very best window into the world of church leadership and life in the Restoration
March 1, 2021
Truth Is Inconvenient
The very idea of truth seems almost to have disappeared. We live in a time of facts and “alternative facts.” We too often focus on favorable information rather than verifiable data. If you don’t like what you hear on the news, simply dismiss it by labeling it “fake news.” We don’t affirm truth, it seems, but truthiness (“the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, even if not necessarily true,” according to dictionary.com). The Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2016 was post-truth (“denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than
February 25, 2021
Sam E. Stone: Reflecting on 25 Years as Editor
Just a few years after retiring as editor, Sam E. Stone was asked to reflect on his 25 years in that role (1978–2003) for the 140th anniversary issue of Christian Standard in April 2006. Those thoughts and reflections will serve as our final Throwback Thursday for February, a month during which we have shared writings from Sam, who died Jan. 25 at the age of 84. _ _ _ Christian Standard at 140: 25 Years as Editor By Sam E. StoneApril 2, 2006; p. 8 I can’t remember just when I started reading Christian Standard. My dad subscribed to it
