Articles for tag: The Orchard Group

June 15, 2015

We asked three leaders to react to Jim Putman’s article describing his church’s decision to plant churches instead of developÂ multisites. By Brent Storms,Â president, The Orchard Group (www.orchardgroup.org) ONE OF THE BIGGEST FACTORSÂ in starting healthy churches is the quality of the lead planter. One of the characteristics of the best church planters is that they are great communicators. The only way to develop one”s communication gift is to be afforded frequent opportunities to speak and receive helpful feedback. I share Jim”s concern that the trend toward campuses that are video venues effectively reduces the opportunities younger leaders have to preach. That

June 14, 2015

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Why We Decided to Plant Churches Instead of Create Multisites

By Jim Putman Our facilities were jammed. Our leaders were overextended. Our growth was stymied. We had three choices: Build larger. Create multisites. Or plant new churches. This is why we chose the third option. Eight years ago the church I lead, Real Life Ministries, was averaging 8,500 people in five weekend services. We were far past the 80 percent rule in our main services (i.e., our auditorium was beyond 80 percent full; we wouldn”t grow any larger in those services). And the times of the other services were not convenient enough to be attractive to newcomers. Our staff and

December 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Culture & Public Square Race

On the March

By Jennifer Johnson This August, Matt and I took the kids to Washington, D.C., for several days of museums and merriment. (A tip: if you have kids, the single best thing you can ever spend money on in your entire life is a hotel room with a set of bunk beds and a second TV.) Because we are rock stars at planning, our week in the city happened to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, which meant visiting the Lincoln Memorial with 9 trillion extra people. It also meant that on the morning of the event,

October 30, 2005

Brent Foulke

Church & Ministry Church Planting

INTO A MOVEMENT: It Was Way Cool!

An unusual series of events led to Bert Crabbe’s baptism and ordination as part of the Christian church movement—sparked by a church planting assessment center, local-church interviews, and shared convictions about reaching lost people.

September 11, 2005

Gayle L. Gresham

Church & Ministry Community Outreach

The 9/11 Impact

After 9/11, churches and partner ministries identified overlooked financial needs near Ground Zero and the Pentagon—helping small businesses, workers, and families with direct assistance, prayer, meals, and counseling.