Articles for tag: Retirement

Ministries & Nonprofits Organizations & Events

Jay Craig Retiring after Long Career with Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch

By Jim Nieman Jay Craig, who has served Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch almost since its beginning in 1977, is retiring this week after nearly 40 years of service to about 700 youth who were once abused or neglected, but found refuge through the years at one of Shiloh’s six homes. Craig came on as the ranch’s administrator on Jan. 1, 1980, and later transitioned to direct fund-raising for the Christian nonprofit. Shiloh has a $2 million budget and operates primarily through the generosity of churches and individuals. (The ranch receives virtually no government funding.) Today about 50 children, ranging in

January 29, 2019

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Learning the Ministry of Receiving

By Daniel Schantz The best thing about teaching in a Christian college was that someone always needed me for something. “Professor, help! I need ideas! I’m teaching junior high boys in camp!” “Dan, you’re up for devotions in the faculty meeting tomorrow.” “Hey, Schantzy, you’re the car guy around here. . . . Is it normal for a transmission to smell like burnt pepperoni?” Now I have retired to a subdivision outside of town, where I have suddenly gone from being needed to being needy. The 10 families who live out here are rather independent. Only my wife needs me

July 12, 2017

Michael C. Mack

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

Giving Honor to an Editor and Friend

By Michael C. Mack I don”t recall what the speaker said, but I”m sure his words were well-spoken and significant. I do remember, however, who that speaker was on that Sunday evening 21 years ago: Mark Taylor, who was at that time publisher at Standard Publishing Company. Mark had already played a key role in my life. When I worked in the New Products department at Standard in the early to mid-“90s, Mark was my boss. When I left to start a web-based small group ministry in 1995, he encouraged me and gave me opportunities to do freelance work, which

June 6, 2017

Money & Debt Stewardship & Generosity

Credit Report

By Mark A. Taylor Some assume a magazine”s editor is alone accountable for the insights and errors that have appeared in its pages. But as I write this, my last editorial for CHRISTIAN STANDARD (indeed, my last piece of any kind as an employee of Christian Standard Media, known as Standard Publishing during almost all my 41 years here), I know better. I must share credit, along with some blame now and then, with a long list of encouragers, examples, and givers of advice. And in this space I have room only to summarize. I think first about a decades-long

March 14, 2017

Christian Standard Updates News & Updates

My Retirement Plan

By Mark A. Taylor Yesterday”s announcement of Jerry Harris as the new publisher for Christian Standard Media includes news of my retirement. I”d like to use my space this week to add a little background. I told Standard Publishing management about 20 months ago, in July of 2015, that I planned to retire after the North American Christian Convention in Anaheim in 2016. But when most of Standard Publishing (but not the magazines) was sold to David C. Cook in December 2015, I changed my plan. We assumed that some new owner would also eventually acquire CHRISTIAN STANDARD and The

February 7, 2017

Advertising My Christianity

By Mark A. Taylor What does it mean to advertise a business as owned by a Christian? Evidently quite a lot to the folks running TrustBlueReview.com. With the tag line “Connecting you to trusted businesses for 25 years,” the faith-based business directory offers consumers a way to find Christian-owned enterprises in categories from “Accountants” to “Zip Lines.” TrustBlueReview”s home page claims all its advertisers make a threefold commitment: “Proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Demonstrate their faith through active involvement in a local church. Strive to operate their business according to biblical principles.” Is this a good thing?

January 29, 2017

Adoption & Foster Care Family & Relationships

Fostering the Good News

By Jon Hembree The county where I live has a serious problem. By all appearances, Barton County, a rural area that”s almost precisely the geographical center of Kansas, is a nice place to live. It”s population isn”t quite 30,000, and the people who live here are, in many ways, hardworking and kindhearted. This county, driven by agriculture and oil, offers quite a bit for the people who live here. The county enjoys a small zoo, a number of restaurants, a local water park, and, perhaps, the piÃ¨ce de rÃ©sistance: a 24-hour Walmart Supercenter! Woo-hoo! When digging beneath the surface of

September 1, 2016

Old Glory

By Jennifer Johnson For years I”ve heard that Grandma Moses began her acclaimed painting career at age 78. I always rolled my eyes when older people (that is, older than me) quoted that fact, assuming it somehow comforted them to think their own chance for “significance” hadn”t passed them by. Then I turned 40 and began seeing more people posting more lists of leaders and celebrities who had started their most successful ventures later in life: Henry Ford, who created the Model T at 45. Julia Child, who wrote her first cookbook at 50. Ray Kroc, who took charge of

May 6, 2016

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

6 Pointers for Leaders Getting Ready to Retire

By LeRoy Lawson While admitting there is no sure-fire formula for success in succession, I have learned a few things from retiring and watching others retire. Here”s my advice. “I wanted you to do well. I didn”t want you to do this well.” I had been away from my 20-year ministry with Central Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona, for more than a year when Cal Jernigan, my successor, invited me back to preach one weekend. It was already evident the church was prospering under his guidance. All I had hoped would happen in that first year after my departure had

February 22, 2016

Stewardship & Generosity

An Interview with Mike Prior

By Jennifer Johnson The president of Financial Planning Ministry since 1994 explains what FPM does and why it”s important.Â So let”s start with an overview of what Financial Planning Ministry is all about. Ultimately FPM is about helping people be better stewards. We accomplish this by educating people about their estate planning options and providing an estate planning solution called a living trust that allows them to easily avoid huge costs in probate and pass that “saved” money along to family members and ministries they care about. What”s a living trust? How is it different from a will? A will

November 29, 2015

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

Moving On

By Bob Mink I had the privilege of planting DiscoveryÂ Christian Church (originally Moreno Valley Christian Church) in 1984 in a small butÂ rapidly growing distant suburb of Los Angeles. I was 33 years old at the time,Â and our family moved from the Greater Philadelphia area. On our 30th anniversary in 2014, I stepped down as senior pastor. Looking back, I now realize the transition began in 2011, when one of our associate pastors left our church to become campus minister at his alma mater. I was fully supportive of the move, but after almost 27 years, I was worn down and

September 3, 2015

Work: A Part of God”s Plan

Book Review by Bert Crabbe Every Good Endeavor: ConnectingÂ Your Work to God”s Work Timothy Keller Dutton (Penguin Group USA), 2012 Tim Keller, lead pastor of New York City”s Redeemer Presbyterian Church, possesses a unique ability to cause his readers to see things from a perspective not their own. Opening up Every Good Endeavor, I thought I had a pretty good bead on the place of work in the life of a Christian. Keller, as he so often does, led me to another level of theological thought. Work is sometimes considered a result of the fall of man, a punitive addition

July 3, 2015

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

Dave’s Gone–Now What?

By Joe Boyd Popular culture shows us who we are. It”s a mirror that reflects what we are becoming. So what do we make of Fallon”s rise in the wake of Letterman”s departure? Regardless of how we feel about it, popular culture is a dynamic force that shapes the lives of most Americans. Music, sports, and entertainment are power players that inform the worldview of millions of people both inside and outside the church. It”s simply the reality of the world we live in. The job of the Christian, in my opinion, is to know the culture while understanding that

April 17, 2014

Church Leadership

A Smooth Transition

By John Plunkett In September 2011, I had preached at Creve Coeur (Illinois) Christian Church for 33 years, more than half its existence. But I was ready to retire. I had been thinking about this for some time. As early as 2006 I proposed a plan with an associate minister that would have implemented a three-year transition moving me to retirement and him to the senior minister”s role. But that plan fell apart when the associate was called to be senior minister of another congregation. In September 2011, I told the elders of my pending retirement and that my last

April 1, 2014

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

Hearing God”s Call

By Mark A. Taylor Most Thursdays I attend, and usually lead, a men”s small-group Bible study. These are good men, men committed to Christ, churchgoing men, and I couldn”t help thinking about them when I came across a newsletter from the Barna Group earlier this year. According to Barna”s research, 75 percent of American adults say they are looking for ways to live a more meaningful life. But “only 40 percent of practicing Christians say they have a clear sense of God”s calling on their lives.” I”m wondering how the guys in my group feel a sense of calling at

March 1, 2013

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

Overwhelm Them with Honor, Appreciation, and Love

By R. Paige Mathews You”re kidding me! This can”t be true! I couldn”t believe who was requesting help. Just a few years ago he was a highly visible church leader; in fact, his signature might be on my ordination certificate! His story: In 1956 we began serving as missionaries on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. We had three children but one infant son passed away while there. My wife also died in the Philippines after receiving an injection that was mistakenly 20 times stronger than prescribed. I returned to the United States with my two small children. After

January 7, 2013

Church Leadership

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Tom Plank

By Tom Plank Fifty years ago, when I began my ministry, no one was talking about leadership, so everything I have learned has been by trial and error. One thing I have learned is that leadership begins at the top with the minister. People will not follow what you say so much as what you do. Set the example. All too often I have been around ministers who expected to be first in line for a carry-in dinner and the first to receive a compliment. These are the ministers who lose their effectiveness because they leave the impression it is

September 24, 2012

What Would It Mean to Live Simply?

By Eleanor Daniel Most of us have heard the old Shaker tune encouraging simplicity. And all of us are familiar with Paul”s affirmation in Philippians 4:11, 12: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” For the last couple of months, Paul”s affirmation and the song have echoed in my mind. It all started because I had decided to move. When I began preparing to move into a

June 3, 2011