Articles for tag: Visitors

January 3, 2019

Amazing Grace: How One Sunday in a Small, Dying Iowa Church Changed My Life

By Rick Chromey “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me.” I’ve been singing that hymn my whole life, yet never captured what it truly meant until one frigid Sunday morning. I was a student at Nebraska Christian College. For extra money, I’d occasionally preach for churches in need, and this particular weekend, I agreed to speak for a small church about two hours from school. It was a brutally cold Sunday. The tiny, white, clapboard and steepled church was miles from the nearest town, saddled by snowbanks, and guarded by Iowa cornfields. Only a

March 29, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

After Easter: the Challenge Remains

By Mark A. Taylor Churches and church leaders around the world are breathing a collective sigh of relief this week. Easter is over. All the hard work anticipating big Easter attendances is finished. Larger numbers of volunteers were recruited. Worship services were added (some megachurches began Easter services on Thursday evening). Musicians practiced harder and longer; choirs and worship teams prepared their best. Preachers gave special effort to make sure their sermons were polished and ready. New churches and multisites launched on Easter Sunday, with the hope to attract newcomers on the one Sunday when tradition prods the largest

March 25, 2016

Christian Standard

Mission & Evangelism

Social Service

By Bill Belew The Christian”s mission in life is to make disciples of the nations. Social networks are an asset the Christian should use. On LinkedIn, I have more than 4,000 1st-degree connections. My reach on LinkedIn exceeds 30 million people (that is, somebody knows somebody I want to know). On Twitter, I have more than 50,000 followers. Each of them, on average, has 500 followers. That means I can potentially reach 25 million people (50,000 x 500).Â I run a private forum that includes more than 1,200 people from more than 50 countries. I can accurately predict1 that 1

August 15, 2014

Michael C. Mack

Culture & Public Square Technology

Online Ministry: The New Front Door of the Church?

By Michael C. Mack More and more churches are transitioning to online ministry. The most widely known example may be LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma, which uses the Internet globally, and with impressive results. David Russell, online campus pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama, says the church”s online ministry maintains a local focus. Their goal is eventually to see web-only visitors walking through the doors of their church building, to, as he puts it, “turn virtual connections into face-to-face relationships” (Leadership Journal, Summer 2013). The church provides a live stream of its weekend service as well as interactive elements,

February 21, 2013

Christian Standard

Church Life

Cocooning Instead of Congregating?

By Mark A. Taylor Even though I”m an extrovert by nature, I love a weekend evening at home with my wife, sharing the couch and something fun to eat, and watching a program or movie we both enjoy on TV. This is especially nice at the end of a busy week, with several nights away from home, and workdays filled with multiple obligations. It”s great to settle in, put away the to-do lists, and just enjoy good food and good entertainment with my best friend. Several decades ago, trend forecaster Faith Popcorn coined a term for a pastime like this.

October 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Church Life

Welcoming the Newcomers

By Melissa Brandes Too late we realized our failure. Communion was being served, and we hadn”t adequately prepped our unchurched, international guests. The Communion plate came around, and our guests stared at the two circles of unleavened bread. Bewildered, but trying to honor us the best they could, they picked up the circles and took a big bite, as if they were eating a sandwich. My mother and I and those in the pew behind us looked on in shock. Our guests, aware that something was wrong but not sure what, looked around, uncomfortable and embarrassed. We motioned for them

March 4, 2012

Christian Standard

Culture & Public Square Justice

The Marginalized

By David Soucie They sit quietly in our auditoriums. Numbering in the untold thousands, they border on invisible. Unknown to most, they are the marginalized. Some are new attendees. Because they are naturally reserved, they have not ventured out beyond their pew. Most of the congregation is content to allow them to be a part of their services, but never make the effort to get acquainted. The new people wait for someone to reach out, and remain disappointed. Some have been around for years. Most are introverts, and they have long given up waiting for the extroverts to notice them

September 7, 2005

Mark A. Taylor

Mission & Evangelism

Four Years Later

A late visit to Ground Zero makes the facts of 9/11 feel newly heavy—and raises a question: what would it look like if the aftermath became a lasting catalyst for worship, mission, and what endures?