Articles for tag: Video Venue

June 14, 2015

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

May 11, 2013

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

One Life at a Time

By Kent E. Fillinger Ralph Mehrens served as senior minister at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, Nebraska, for 25 years. Mehrens wanted to transition well, so he planned a 15-month succession process and laid a strong foundation to help the congregation follow the next minister. Scott Beckenhauer transitioned from an eight-year youth ministry with the church to the lead minister position in 2008. “I knew the church family and they knew me, so the trust was already built,” said Beckenhauer, who became only the third lead minister in Calvary”s 42-year history. Attendance declined slightly as Beckenhauer gained his footing the

February 8, 2011

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Community Outreach

Jail Call

By Jennifer Taylor You know about multisites. You may even be familiar with online campuses. But how about church planting in a jail? “As a leadership team, we felt a burden to serve the forgotten people in our prison system,” says Kurt Ervin, church expansion leader at Central Christian Church (Henderson, Nevada). “But we didn”t want to start another prison ministry. Instead, we wanted to launch a church in a prison.” Central first created a separate nonprofit organization””God Behind Bars””and met with the chaplain of a local women”s prison. “We realized we could use the “˜video venue” strategy and the

December 6, 2009

Christian Standard

Mission & Evangelism

Reaching Unbelievers: How Effective Is Your Church?

Â by Kent R. Hunter It was Tuesday morning and that meant the weekly ministry review at Starbucks. Jonathan and Jason are ministers with small churches south of Portland, Oregon. Today”s topic drifted toward Pathway, the megachurch in town. The conversation was similar to thousands occurring among ministers. Megachurches offer more programs, better worship music, slicker printed pieces, and specialty staff. People in our society seem to shop for everything, including church. The membership of small congregations””such as the two these men serve””is declining, while megachurches make headlines. Jason and Jonathan enjoyed their coffee, but had a bittersweet attitude about

September 6, 2009

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Planting

Salt Lake City Church Planting

by Douglas J. Crozier In my 12 years of service with Church Development Fund, I have been blessed to participate in international missions in Chile and India. I have also been privileged to work closely with the team at Impact Canada to expand the kingdom north of our border. I am sold out for global missions that continue to expand the kingdom. But in late 2007, a phone call from Steve Edwards, executive director of the Intermountain Church Planting Association, opened my eyes to a mission field right in our backyard. I had never met Steve, but he challenged me

April 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry

Ministry Innovations and Changes

By Kent Fillinger and Ben Simms Representatives of megachurches and emerging megachurches were asked to respond to two questions about ministries and programming at their churches. Here is a sampling of their responses: What is one new ministry the church has launched in the last two years that has had significant impact on the church”s growth? Emerging Megachurches: Food distribution in local elementary school in conjunction with the Food Bank and The Center for People in Need has involved more than 100 people in service. Worship services other than Sunday morning. Hiring of Hispanic pastor and starting two Hispanic services.