Articles for tag: Restoration Movement

‘Cane Ridge Revival VBS’ Draws Praises

By Caleb Kaltenbach CANE RIDGE, KY—Several Restoration Movement churches tried out the first “Cane Ridge Revival VBS” this past summer. “There’s really nothing else like it,” said Tim North, who created the program. “The idea is to help children not only encounter Jesus, but also to experience what it was like to attend this August 1801 revival!” “I’ve never seen a VBS like ‘Cane Ridge,’” said Frank Stone, minister with Ebenezer Christian Church. “There were no fancy decorations, take-home trinkets, crafts, or anything. They wanted these kids to have a true Cane Ridge experience, so they didn’t even need microphones.”

September 25, 2018

Church & Ministry Church Growth

3 Keys to Effective Ministry in a Small Town

By Richard M. Crabtree Jesus has commissioned the church to “go into all the world” and make disciples, and all the world certainly includes small towns. According to the 2000 Census, a population of 1,000 to 10,000 constitutes a “small town.” The majority of us in Christian ministry will spend a lifetime investing in small towns, so the question is: How can we allow God to make the most of our time in small-town America? Of my 47 years of ministry, all but five have been in the small-town, rural setting. I have found the following keys most effective while

September 20, 2018

‘Who Are the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ?’

CS Archive from September 25, 1988 _ _ _ On September 25, 1988, Christian Standard published an item that had been prepared for the Encyclopedia of American Religions titled, “Who Are the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ?” The writer was Edwin V. Hayden, who served as editor of Christian Standard from 1957 to 1977. As one might expect, the article is a straightforward introduction to our churches—part history and part snapshot in time. As you read it, I believe you’ll appreciate both the clarity of the writing the clarity of the vision for our churches. Some also will note

September 19, 2018

Colleges & Seminaries Organizations & Events

Crossroads College Will Transform into HIU-Minnesota

By Jim Nieman After suspending classroom instruction in August 2016, Crossroads College in Rochester, Minn., seemed to be an educational institution in name only, but work has been going on behind the scenes and two significant steps forward have occurred this summer. The college sold its 37-acre campus to Bear Creek Christian Church at the end of June (click here to read that story), and on Sept. 8, Crossroads’ representatives signed a memorandum of understanding with Hope International University, Fullerton, Calif., to establish HIU–Minnesota. The next goal, according to Curtis McGinnis, chief operating officer of Crossroads College, is to begin

September 19, 2018

Jerry Harris

Raiders of the (Almost) Lost Artifacts

History preserved at new Christian Standard Media Library in Quincy, Illinois By Jerry Harris I lacked only a fedora and bullwhip as I channeled Indiana Jones during the excavation of a deep, dark storage-facility locker in a suburb of Cincinnati. Three others joined this expedition: Mike Mack, Shawn McMullen, and Jim Nieman. And no, we didn’t discover the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail that day. In fact, upon first glance, the room seemed filled only with stacks of boxes on pallets, along with totes and other various objects, some wrapped in paper. But we soon began to

September 6, 2018

Key Documents Restoration Movement History

‘Nothing to Offer Except the Book’

CS Archive from September 8, 1923 _ _ _ The lead article in the Sept. 8, 1923, Christian Standard—an issue from 95 years ago—was “The Mission of the Church,” and it carried the subhead, “The Annual ‘President’s Address’ Delivered before the International Convention of Disciples of Christ at Colorado Springs, Col., Sept. 4, 1923.” The article/speech was written and presented by Thomas W. Grafton, minister of Third Church, Indianapolis, Ind., who served as president of that convention. I can’t begin to recap Grafton’s presentation—which ran almost three pages—or to pinpoint nuanced wording that may (or may not) have troubled some

September 5, 2018

Ozark Switches to Full Week of Classes (Plus News Briefs)

Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo., has departed from a longstanding tradition of not holding classes on Monday. Starting this semester, the Bible college is holding classes five days per week. “As an OCC student, I learned a proverb, ‘Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change, principles never do,’” Ozark President Matt Proctor said in a post on the OCC website. “For over 75 years, Ozark has stayed true to one unchanging mission—training men and women for Christian service—but our methods have often changed.” Proctor said 98 percent of Ozark’s students are involved in some kind of ministry.

August 30, 2018

Publishing Committee Insights

We selected the second—and shorter—editorial from p. 3 of the September 3, 1978, issue to share today. “Fifteen Gifted Men,” written by Sam E. Stone during his first year as editor, describes the arrangement for editorial oversight that was in place during the 50 or so years Standex International owned Standard Publishing, the former parent company of Christian Standard and The Lookout. To set the stage: The first edition of Christian Standard was published in April 1866, with Isaac Errett serving as editor. Standard Publishing “grew up around it”—it’s often been said—and was incorporated in 1872. Additional publications were created,

August 23, 2018

What The Christian Standard Will Be . . .

#ThrowbackThursday The Restoration Movement Archive—August 24, 1878 ___ Selecting items to share with you for this new “Throwback Thursday” feature is like trying to sip water from a fire hose. There’s quite a lot to look at in Christian Standard’s archives, as you might imagine—tens of thousands of pages of issues going back to 1866. Making matters more difficult is that issues from before 2005 are not yet easily searchable. That said, I came upon p. 4 of the August 24, 1878, edition—the issue that dates from 140 years ago tomorrow. It is what we consider to be the editorial

August 16, 2018

The Restoration Movement: Its Vitality, Quirks, and Needs in the 21st Century

Editor’s Note: Starting today, every Thursday we will post an article about the Restoration Movement from our Christian Standard archives. While some will be more recent stories, many others will be excerpts from older issues, going back to 1866, that are currently not available on the web. It’s “Throwback Thursday” . . . Christian Standard-style! Today we go back to December 2006 to an article by LeRoy Lawson, which started as a presentation in the Publishing Committee’s 50th annual meeting in October that year. The Publishing Committee provided editorial oversight to Standard Publishing (the longtime owners of Christian Standard)

August 11, 2018

Kent E. Fillinger

Worship Worship & Prayer

Does Your Church’s Worship Style Matter?

By Kent E. Fillinger Worship music is a key part of a church’s overall worship experience, and a church’s style of worship remains a key differentiator, even as the “worship wars” of the 1980s and 1990s have subsided. Research shows that worship or music isn’t a priority for people in choosing to attend a church or in deciding whether to remain at a church (see my article “What Are Your Church’s Push and Pull Factors? Part 2” from March). Still, music remains one of the most talked about elements of a worship service. I wanted to learn more about worship

August 11, 2018

Church & Ministry Community Outreach

Next-Door Urban Ministry

By Lancelot Schaubert “I understand that Haiti is hurting: It’s the whipping boy of the world.” My friend winced, and I immediately knew I’d used a poor metaphor. “It’s that,” he said, “but it’s all of these people”—he pointed to fellow Christians leaving a church—“going to Haiti on extravagant mission trips and doing nothing for the Haitian next-door.” We were standing on a street in Manhattan while eating pastrami sandwiches and kettle chips. He offered me the final piece of a puzzle that has slowly formed over the last few years of our bizarre ministry in New York City. It

August 11, 2018

Jerry Harris

Culture & Public Square Technology

Is Online Church Really Church? Absolutely.

IN THE ARENA: In the arena of ideas and opinions, there needs to be a place for Christ-centered and Christ-honoring debate of nonessential issues. We will occasionally feature a debate like this in Christian Standard. Jon Weatherly’s article “How to Debate Debatable Issues” gives great insight on how to disagree in a godly way. We apply the principles Jon describes in our first debate between Jerry Harris and Barry Cameron (click here to read his article). These two men are great friends who have differing views and opinions about online church. Read their articles and then tell us what you

August 4, 2018

Gary L. Johnson

Church Leadership

Back to School

By Gary L. Johnson It’s a busy time of year when tens of millions of students return to classrooms. The cycle of learning ramps up in the late summer every year. Student recruitment, by contrast, is one practice in higher education that never seems to slow. Universities invest time, money, and effort to recruit students who exhibit tremendous potential as scholars, artists, and athletes. Competition for outstanding students is fierce among universities; all schools want to fill their dormitories and classrooms. It’s never ending. Recruit. Vet. Educate. In the church, elders need to recognize that a similar focus on recruiting

July 5, 2018

Kent E. Fillinger

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Special Church Report Part 3: Small and Very Small Churches

By Kent Fillinger This is the final installment in a trilogy of articles from our annual church survey. If you missed the updates on megachurches and emerging megachurches from May and large and medium churches from June, I suggest you backtrack and read those articles—and view those charts—as well. For the first time, our survey included churches with attendances of fewer than 250. We received responses from 77 small churches (average weekly worship attendance of 100 to 249) and 51 very small churches (attendance of fewer than 100). Click here to access “The 2017 Charts: Small and Very Small

July 4, 2018

Mark A. Taylor

A Brief History of Restoration Movement Media and Christian Standard Media

Compiled by Shawn McMullen Christian Standard and The Lookout have a rich history within the Restoration Movement. Christian Standard was first published in 1866; The Lookout was first published as the Young People’s Standard in 1888 and changed to its current name in 1894. Under the umbrella of Standard Publishing, the magazines served Christian churches and churches of Christ across the United States and around the world for a century and a half. Ownership and leadership have changed through the years, but the purpose of the publications has remained the same—to strengthen churches and their leaders through biblical teaching and the promotion of the Restoration

June 27, 2018

Michael C. Mack

Miscellaneous

Christian Standard Interview: Back at the NACC

Why Nathan Loewen and other gospel-believing Disciples of Christ pastors are attending the North American Christian Convention in Indianapolis this year. By Michael C. Mack Much has changed and much has remained the same in the Restoration Movement over the past 90-plus years. The separation was set in motion, many say, over a two-year period beginning with the 1926 Disciples of Christ convention in Memphis, Tennessee, and then the response by the more biblically conservative church leaders who organized the first North American Christian Convention in 1927. Over the next 45 years or so, the two groups drifted apart

June 23, 2018

Paddling Together in the Same Direction

By Victor Knowles In our American Restoration Movement, we have been paddling in separate streams for more than 100 years. Like Paul and Barnabas, we had a “sharp disagreement” (Acts 15:39) over issues like instrumental music and missionary societies. We too “parted company” and had our own journals to spread the good news (Gospel Advocate and Christian Standard), started our own Bible colleges and Christian universities to prepare gospel workers (Lipscomb University and Johnson Bible College—now Johnson University), and developed our own lectureships and conventions to encourage and equip Christians (Pepperdine Bible Lectures and the North American Christian Convention). Since

June 22, 2018