May 4, 2026
Think Relevant
What does it mean for a church to be “relevant”? Jerry Harris argues every church reaches a target—and effectiveness grows when you identify your community’s sweet spot and adapt methods without changing core teaching.
Articles for tag: Student Ministry
April 6, 2026
Exposure Youth Camp 2026
Exposure Youth Camp 2026 is a multi-day youth gathering in Huntsville, Alabama, designed to encourage students through worship, classes, team time, and gospel-centered teaching. The 2026 theme is “Absolute Truth,” and the event is geared toward students from 6th grade through college.
November 6, 2025
This Generation is Now
We’re hearing stories from across the country about college ministries where thousands are giving their lives to Christ and being baptized in obedience to him. There’s something real happening in This Generation.
December 31, 2024
Healthy Churches Produce Healthy Leaders
leaders can evaluate four vital signs that speak to the health of the local church: Students, Statements, Struggles, and Statistics.
November 8, 2022
10 Ways to Minister to Your Church’s College Students
A student who leaves for college too often leaves the church for good, but students who receive special attention from their home church will realize they are valuable to the body of Christ. Consider some of the following strategies to help your church go the extra mile with your college students, whether they attend a Christian or secular college.
August 8, 2022
Swearingen Assumes Full-Time Lead Role with Florida Church Planters
After 17 years as lead pastor with Crosspoint Church, Cape Coral, Fla., Jeff Swearingen has assumed the full-time lead role with Florida Church Planters. The church's elders, meanwhile, selected Jeff's son, Matt, to lead Crosspoint.
June 13, 2022
College Campus Ministries: Lifelines in Risky Arenas
America’s educational institutions have become risky arenas for our sons and daughters. Connecting the high school graduates who leave our churches with the leaders of our college campus ministries is paramount!
Ten Things I Would Teach in Student Ministry
As a father, a student ministry volunteer, and a college professor, I offer these 10 suggestions of what I would teach in student ministry to help prepare resilient and growing disciples of Jesus.
June 14, 2020
A Ministry Born in Kentucky and Chile
By Laura McKillip Wood Ignacio left the Catholic church long before he began studying at a university in Santiago, Chile. Although he was a self-proclaimed agnostic, a friend from his neighborhood invited him to El Oasis, a student group designed to provide students with a Christian community to call “home” during their college years. Ignacio loved music and discovered that an alum of his university led the band at El Oasis. Before long, Ignacio was a regular, hanging out with the other music lovers who attended. His interest in the band grew, and he asked to join it. The staff
March 13, 2020
Coronavirus: “A Lot Changed [Thursday] Afternoon”
By Chris Moon Rusty Carlson, lead executive pastor of Rainier View Christian Church in Tacoma, Wash., said he’ experienced a range emotions during the past few days as the church has sorted out its coronavirus plan. “It’s kind of all the ‘feels,’ as our millennials say,” he told Christian Standard. Rainier View is in the Seattle region, which is under a government-imposed ban on large gatherings. The church has announced it will hold online-only services this weekend. Initially, Carlson said, he was excited for an opportunity to do some creative things in ministry. All of the church’s ministry teams are
December 2, 2019
Yet We Continue
By Clayton Hentzel Ministry is tough; that’s why it’s not for everyone. We minister to people who lie, overpromise, and underdeliver. It seems every time we leave the 99 to go after the one, the one says thanks, but doesn’t serve or give, and the 99 complain we didn’t visit their uncle in the hospital, even though no one told us he was there. Ministry can be especially tough in our post-Christian culture. Society is changing. Extracurricular activities are increasing while frequency of attendance is declining. Political chaos abounds. Abortion has become mainstream and people march in favor of it.
August 22, 2019
THE BIG CHALLENGE FACING SMALL CHURCHES (7): Build a Legacy
By Barney Wells “In this part of the country, there’s a Christian church every five miles, and three in between,” quipped the minister, who had served small-town congregations in the Midwest for decades. Though an overstatement, it does point to a challenge for the rural church. Many rural churches were planted in the days before automobiles and good roads, when the population density of the rural countryside was much greater and you could travel only a few miles in 30 minutes. Back then, more schools, stores, and churches were needed. Over the years, schools have consolidated and stores have closed,
‘Can They Hear Us Now?’
By Kent E. Fillinger I grew up in the 1970s when the average American home had no computer, the Internet was little more than an idea, and smartphones had not been invented. Our black-and-white family TV had four channels: the three major networks and the local PBS station. By 2015, the average American home with a TV could access about 200 channels and three-quarters of households subscribed to broadband Internet. By 2018, 77 percent of Americans owned a smartphone, according to Pew Research Center. Since the introduction of Facebook in 2004, the proliferation of social media sites and other apps
February 2, 2019
Can Creatives Be Effective Lead Pastors?
By Ryan Rasmussen When I was a kid, I had a notepad that traveled most places with me. Hidden inside were doodles of, well, a little bit of everything. Floor plans of my dream house were wedged between drawings of my favorite comic book characters and sketches of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I know it seems odd to think of a 13-year-old boy drawing princesses, but my dream at the time was to become an artist for Disney and I was trying to sharpen my craft. Don’t judge me. Eventually my notepad and I grew apart and I found
January 16, 2019
A ‘Day of Pentecost Every Sunday’
By Jim Nieman In last week’s Christian Standard newsletter, editor Michael C. Mack mentioned a question asked in response to our January issue: “Should church leaders even bother to concern themselves with racial integration and building a multiethnic congregation?” Jim Book, senior minister with Kissimmee (Fla.) Christian Church—located in a cultural melting pot region just south of Orlando and right next door to Walt Disney World—provides an interesting viewpoint on that. “It’s the Day of Pentecost every Sunday at Kissimmee,” Book says. Kissimmee Christian Church provides multiple services every Sunday that go well beyond two “blended/contemporary” and one “traditional.” There
November 28, 2018
River Valley to Merge with Southeast (Plus News Briefs)
River Valley Christian Church, Goshen, Ky., has approved a merger with Southeast Christian Church, Louisville. Leaders from River Valley approached Southeast a few months ago and discussions led to the agreement to merge, pending Sunday’s approval by RVCC’s congregation. “We’re grateful that River Valley and Southeast are like-minded churches who have similar missions, and who are unified under the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:13),” SECC pastors Dave Stone and Kyle Idleman wrote in an email. “Join us as we praise God for this unique opportunity to continue to build His church as we share the hope and love of
The Changing Face of Youth Ministry
4 key transitions over the last 40 years . . . and what the future holds By Nick Tomeo In 1975, a month after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in ministry, my wife and I filled our Chevy Nova and a U-Haul truck (driven by my brother-in-law) and drove through the mountains of West Virginia to begin our first full-time youth ministry at the First Christian Church of Covington, Virginia. I was armed with a new Bible college degree, two “Ideas” books from Youth Specialties, experience working for Christ in Youth, a background of serving on outreach teams for
August 9, 2018
A Massive Movement of Kingdom Workers
By Andy Hansen The shockwave of the mass shooting that killed 14 and injured 17 in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, rippled through every high school in the United States. Not even small-town Linton, Indiana, was spared from the emotional and psychological trauma. Students felt the effects of the attack and rumors of a walkout circulated. However, a small group of young people who attend a Bible study group during the lunch period at Linton-Stockton High School prayed over and discussed this devastating situation . . . and came up with a unique and very
7 Tried-and-True Strategies That Made Our Youth Ministry (and Students) Flourish
By Matt Cameron In the summer and fall of 2006 our church lost all three of our full-time youth staff members within six months. The ministry was suffering, and we couldn’t find the right person for the job. I was on staff as preaching associate. That October one of my good friends from high school with whom I grew up in church passed away, and I began to reevaluate my own life and ministry. For months during these tough times, the thought kept coming back to me: Is God prompting me to step back into youth ministry? And not just
Youth Ministry 180
By Jerry Harris I remember the way youth ministry used to be. (Yes, I’m one of those guys.) It was a time when adults wanted to create a space for young people so they wouldn’t be bored in the adult service. Back then, church services didn’t connect to students. The deacons, wearing suits and ties, marched in and sat in the front row while the preacher took his place behind the pulpit. The organ would drone an instrumental call to worship until the song leader instructed the congregation to stand, then he would beat out 3/4 or 4/4 time with
