Issuu

christian standard

COVER

july 2018

letter FROM THE

publisher Jerry Harris Publisher | Christian Standard Media

the independent Christian church taking ground? That depends on how you measure it. One could measure it by the weekly attendance of affiliated churches, because numerical growth is probably the most common measurement of “taking ground.” By this type of measurement, independent Christian churches are advancing like never before. Our churches fill the lists of Outreach magazine’s largest and fastest-growing churches. Kent Fillinger’s study in our May issue (“Special Church Report Part 1: Megachurches and Emerging Megachurches”) indicates we are building, baptizing, and boldly dreaming like never before. Our mission efforts are also gaining ground as we see the world getting smaller and a new generation of leadership embracing social justice as a bridge to share the gospel. A calculation of churches’ adherence to Restoration principles, while harder to measure, could also indicate taking ground. It seems that many of the more liberal views of ecumenicism, higher criticism, and denominationalism are in free fall while more evangelical views such as the inerrancy of God’s Word and basic doctrinal principles are becoming more prevalent. Glenn Stanton’s article last month (“The Myth of Christianity’s Decline”) showcased this reality, and it’s exciting to see! More and more churches are baptizing by immersion, taking Communion weekly, and embracing their nondenominational independence while being a part of empowering networks helping them to do ministry more effectively.

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Since unity is a primary desire of the Restoration Movement, one could also measure the shift in attitudes; over many years, our movement endured unceasing divisions, but now, issues are slowly giving in to new relationships forming across previously insurmountable divides. Evangelicals are talking to each other and cooperating like never before. I am encouraged by increased dialogue we’re experiencing with In our desire to be both our noninstrumental church of Christ and African-American more inclusive and church of Christ brothers and sisters. Even a growing number of Disciples churches are turning away from the dry well of cultural less sectarian, we liberalism and returning to their biblical roots. So where are we losing ground? Ken Idleman’s article in the May issue might find ourselves (“The State of Our Christian Churches Today”) gives important insight standing for less into this. While it’s great we are communicating and collaborating with the wider evangelical community, that shouldn’t come at the expense and less. of our doctrinal distinctives. In our desire to be more inclusive and less sectarian, we might find ourselves standing for less and less. History might repeat itself if we refuse to learn from it, and there is plenty that History might repeat history can teach us about making compromises where we shouldn’t. itself if we refuse Our common efforts were designed to keep us off the curbs and shoulders and out of the ditches of false doctrine. The North American to learn from it, and Christian Convention was founded specifically for this purpose, and the 35 Bible colleges that were birthed in the wake of the first gathering there is plenty that were designed to equip preachers and leaders to guide our movement history can teach in that purpose. Today, these institutions are being squeezed by declining enrollment and financial pressures that can influence us about making decisions and cause them to drift away from the primary purposes for which they were founded. We must embrace innovation in these compromises where institutions while encouraging them to stay true to their calling so that we shouldn’t. they might continue leading our movement to a bright future. As for missions, we must remember that social justice efforts must also carry Jesus’ message, or they will produce only educated, healthy, well-fed, and properly clothed people who are headed to Hell. While ceremonies where hundreds or thousands of people are baptized may be exciting, if we fail to follow them up with intentional, relational, discipleship efforts, we are very much like incompetent, immature, and neglectful parents who should have those children taken away from us. We must be vigilant to keep the commitment of our ordination charge from 2 Timothy 4:1-8. As publisher of Christian Standard and The Lookout, I am excited about the ground our movement has taken, but I am extremely excited about the potential that is right in front of us! Our convictions and the choices that flow from them have never been more important, and I’m convinced that if we put Jesus first and our brothers and sisters before ourselves, God will enable us to reach new horizons never before witnessed in our movement!

“

Jerry Harris is publisher of Christian Standard Media and senior pastor of The Crossing, a multisite church located in three states across the Midwest. @_jerryharris

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/jerrydharris

CHRISTIAN STANDARD —

FOUNDED 1866 BY ISAAC ERRETT Devoted to the restoration of New Testament Christianity, its doctrine, its ordinances, and its fruits.

The Staff Jerry Harris, Publisher Michael C. Mack, Editor Jim Nieman, Managing Editor Shawn McMullen, Contributing Editor Megan Kempf, Designer Abby Wittler, Designer Renee Little, Operations

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Volume CLIII. Number 7. Christian Standard (ISSN 0009-5656) is published monthly by Christian Standard Media at 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202, Parker, CO 80134. Periodicals postage paid at Parker, CO, and additional offices. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Christian Standard Media, 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202, Parker, CO 80134. Phone: 1-800543-1353. SUBSCRIBERS: Send address changes to Christian Standard, 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202, Parker, CO 80134. Send old and new addresses, complete with zip codes, at least six weeks before delivery date.

Christian Standard is published by Christian Standard Media, www.christianstandardmedia.com.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPECIAL CHURCH REPORT PART 3: Small and Very Small Churches

—

by kent fillinger

I N E V E RY I S S UE 2-3 | L E TTE R F RO M THE P UB L ISH E R

CHARTS: 2017 Small and Very Small Churches

Jerry Harris

6-7 | L E TTE R F RO M THE E DITO R

FEA T U R E

Michael C. Mack

CAM HUXFORD: A Portrait of Faithfulness

8-10 | MOVE ME N T

by jerry Harris

Church Planting in the Restoration Movement David Dummitt

RED and YELLOW, BLACK and WHITE

11-13 | IMAG IN E

Mounta in House Mel McGowan

by justin horey

14-16 | E 2 : E F F E C TIV E EL D ER S Five Be st Pra c tic es for Re sto ra tio n Mo vement Elde r s a nd Le a de rs Jeff Faull

a brief history of CHRISTIAN STANDARD MEDIA and RESTORATION MOVEMENT MEDIA

compiled by shawn mcmullen

17-19 | HO RIZO N S

Pr oje c t Ma ña na Emily Drayne

restoring GOD’S DREAM for our world

20-21 | MIN ISTRY L IF E

by jon ferguson

Lo ve Is the End Tyler McKenzie

34-39 | F E ATURE ART I CL E

Christian Standard INTERVIEW: DOC Ministers Back at the NACC

Ca m Huxfo r d: A Portrait o f Fa ithfulne ss Jerry Harris

by Michael C. Mack

64-67 | HE ADL INE S Chris Moon

paddling TOGETHER in the same direction

by victor knowles

68-69 | N O N DE NO MINA T I ON A L I S H Caleb Kaltenbach

70-71 | INTE RAC T why I love the RESTORATION MOVEMENT

72 | C O MMUNIO N ME D I TA T I ON A Ho pe f o r t h e F u tu re Jon Wren

by Rick Chromey C H RIS T I A N STAN DA R D

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letter

FROM THE

editor Michael c. Mack Editor | Christian Standard

Like Rick Chromey, I love the Restoration Movement . . . but for very different reasons. Rick grew up in an independent Christian church. I had never heard of these churches until I was 27. In his article, “Why I Love the Restoration Movement” (see page 59), Rick says he is thankful for his upbringing in the church; I’m thankful for a church, and a movement of churches, that exist to carry out the mission of Jesus to go and make disciples. I am an example of someone whose life was forever changed because a church in our movement decided to call people in their community to invite them to Easter Sunday services. Though the call that reached me was a wrong number, God used it to change my life and my eternity. (See the full story of this “wrong number” at www.christianstandard.com/the-wrong-number.) That independent church in Centerville, Ohio, was planted one year earlier to reach people like me, and I’m glad they did! That church is just one example of churches in our movement that work hard at keeping first things first. That’s one of many reasons I love our movement. I love that we focus on Christ and his mission unencumbered by all kinds of C H RIS T I A N STAN DA R D

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denominational distractions. I love that we are Christians—disciples of Jesus, churches of Christ—and that’s enough; no need to add any other labels. I also love that we’re not so pretentious to think we’re the only Christians. I love that we seek for Christians and churches to be one, an answer to Jesus’ prayer. I love that we believe the Scriptures are God’s Word and we let them speak for themselves. So, thank you, church, for getting out of your comfort zones and seeking people like me. Thank you for focusing on the mission of Jesus to go and make disciples. Thank you for calling people to Jesus and then equipping them and sending them to go and make a difference. I’ve gotten to know the movement far better over the past 30 years—especially during the year I’ve served as editor of Christian Standard—and I continue to appreciate it more and more. Sure, we have our flaws, but I see in this movement something worth being a part of, worth investing into, worth strengthening in every way we can. The articles in this issue, particularly, indicate some of the good things happening within the Restoration Movement today. Our movement itself is in need of restoration, and only God can provide it—on his terms, not ours. We see examples of that among independents and a cappellas in Victor Knowles’s “Paddling Together in the Same Direction” (page 56) and in the story I tell about Disciples pastors in “Back at the NACC” (page 52). We see an example of faithfulness and compassion in our movement in Jerry Harris’s story about Cam and Sarah Huxford (page 34). And we see renewed hope for our movement’s future in Jon Ferguson’s “Restoring God’s Dream for Our World” (page 48). You’ll also want to read David Dummitt’s column about church planting in the Restoration Movement (page 8) and Jeff Faull’s e2 column in which he provides some of the best practices for Restoration Movement elders and leaders (page 14). We’re all about restoration, and one of the best cases of that in our movement today is the long overdue reconciliation among people of all nations, races, and peoples. Relentless Church in Cary, North Carolina, is an example of a church planted to be intentionally multiethnic. I hope their story by Justin Horey provides an example other churches can follow (page 40). By the way, this month we start a new column called MinistryLife, a personal narrative essay about some aspect of the writer’s life in ministry. Tyler McKenzie throws out the first pitch for this new column (page 20). We’re inviting you to send your 500- to 700-word essay telling of an experience through which you gained wisdom or learned some vital ministry principle. See more about writing for this column at www.christianstandard.com/contact-us/submit-articles. @michaelcmack @michaelcmack @michaelcmack /AuthorMichaelCMack

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move ment BY DAVID DUMMITT

Church Planting in the Restoration Movement // An interview with Troy and Janet McMahon, who recently launched their 43rd church in 10 years

David Dummitt is the lead pastor and planter of 2|42 Community Church in Michigan, one of the largest and fastestgrowing churches in the country. He is also on the lead team of NewThing, a catalyst for reproducing churches worldwide.

Over the last few centuries, the Restoration Movement has tremendously influenced and impacted the church-planting landscape. A great example today is what God’s doing in and through Restore Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Restore, led by my friends Troy and Janet McMahon, has launched 43 churches in 10 years.

/DavidDummitt

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Restore’s story is a testament to the big things happening throughout the movement. One of the greatest strengths of the Restoration Movement is the development of influential and resourceful church-planting agencies like Stadia and NewThing. Stadia helped launch Restore, and NewThing has helped Restore build a strong network of reproducing churches in Kansas City. Another powerful Restoration Movement vehicle is the Exponential Conference, which equips and empowers the planting of more churches than are closing. Troy, Janet, and the Restore leadership team remain deeply involved and connected to the conference, sharing their wisdom and experience to help other church planters achieve the Jesus mission around the world. Troy and I recently sat down to talk about the incredible story God is writing, and the missional momentum Restore has built in a relatively short period of time.

What were you doing in ministry before starting Restore? I’m from Kansas City originally. I met and married Janet there, but we left around 1986. Eventually we landed in Chicago as a part of Community Christian Church. It was there we made a career transition and came on staff for about 11 years; I served as a campus pastor and on the leadership team. We launched out to plant Restore from there.

Janet and I knew God was calling us back home to lead this new church. Our initial thought was to plant [in the area of the city] where we were from and where we were familiar with, but there were already a number of great churches there. So I sat down with church leaders and asked them where they would start a church. They all agreed: north of the river in Platte County by the airport. It was one of the fastest-growing parts of the city. Lots of people were moving to the area, but at the time it was not a hotbed for new churches. So, in March 2008, only eight months after the North American Christian Convention, we launched Restore.

You had a strong launch team. Where did they come from? We had about 85 or 90 people on our team. Twenty-five people moved to Kansas City from other places. Some were from Community Christian with me and Janet, others were from Kansas City. Others were from all over the country but were connected with church planting.

Why did you choose to plant in Kansas City? In July 2007 the North American Christian Convention held their conference in Kansas City, [and] they had asked Dave Ferguson, the lead pastor of Community Christian Church, to be vice president. He agreed with the condition that the conference would focus on church planting. As the conference was being planned, the committee suggested they not only talk about church planting, but actually plant a new church in Kansas City. C H RIS T I A N STAN DA R D

You just celebrated your 10th birthday as well as the launch of your 43th church. Congratulations! That is incredible. What’s the secret to Restore’s church-planting momentum? Reproducing has always been a core part of our DNA. We purposefully built it in early. Six months after we launched in 2008, we planted our first church in Haiti. We raised $65,000 in one offering to go to launch that first church and support children’s homes. Building a foundation early was catalytic. We’ve always created space in our budget to give to church planting and kingdom growth, even in our first-year budget. It’s a discipline that gets magnified. For new churches, that might mean you give away $5,000 your first year. But by year 10, you’re giving away $180,000. - 9 -

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- MOVEMENT -

What advantages do Restoration Movement churches have over those from other groups?

You’ve seen God bring some relationships full circle. What are some of your favorite “full circle” stories? There are so many stories [like that] over the last three decades. . . . I have two favorites. Thirty years ago, back when Janet and I were living near Washington, D.C., I worked with Todd Wilson, who is now the CEO of the Exponential Conference. We both attended church with Brett Andrews, who is now lead minister at New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, Virginia. A few years after Janet and I left Washington, we financially supported Brett and the launch of New Life. Years later, Todd had joined Brett on the staff of New Life, and they turned around and gave $50,000 to help us launch Restore. And then, Dave, it’s cool to look back and see how I got to be a part of your church-planting assessment and residency, and then [part of] sending you out to start 2|42. When we were going to start Restore, 2|42 was only two years old. You invited me out to speak and share about moving to Kansas City to plant a church, and 2|42 gave $45,000 to support the launch. It was crazy! But the story has really come full circle in a personal way. My son, Jake, is now on staff at 2|42’s Ann Arbor Campus. I’m constantly amazed at how God exceeds our expectations when we strive to live generously and openhandedly with money and people. God has built this incredible, interdependent family of churches . . . and that family is continuing to grow!

The Restoration Movement began in the late 1700s, early 1800s. Our heritage has always been about church planting on the edge of society. Among our greatest advantages as a movement are our value in living openhandedly with people and resources and being laser focused on church planting and reproducing. One of our historic phrases is, “We’re not the only Christians, but we’re Christians only.” That value has allowed us to partner across tribal lines to see new faith communities come to life.

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Do we have blind spots that prevent us from planting even more churches? Sometimes we’re not as aggressive as we need to be at going to the edge of society to plant new churches. Most churches are being planted in metropolitan areas. But the highest concentration of unchurched people is found in cities, in the urban core. As a movement, we need to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones, setting up new churches at the epicenter of cultural influence. It’s a complicated issue. Urban planting and living is expensive, and we need to make a shift in our expectations. Producing or reproducing an 8,000-person church in an urban area is unlikely. We haven’t quite figured out how to rapidly and effectively reproduce churches in the hundreds. We also have to focus on equipping young people to be church planters. We’re aging. We have to be able to identify the people who are currently in high school or in their early 20s and start equipping them to be ready to launch and lead churches in the not-sodistant future. We have so much to celebrate and learn through what God is doing at Restore Community Church. I am grateful to have Troy and his team as comrades on this mission.  - 10 -

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imag ine BY MEL MCGO WAN

Mountain House // This architectural plan reflects the personality and mission of Summit Christian Church in Sparks, Nevada.

Just north of Reno, between the flash of casinos and the vast Nevada wilderness, you’ll find a community where economic booms and busts come with the territory, and people are desperate for a higher view and solid ground. Summit Christian Church of Sparks, Nevada, endeavors to provide these things.

Desert Roots

Mel McGowan is cofounder and chief creative principal of PlainJoe Studios. He is a leading master planner and designer of churches in America.

Nineteen years ago, a determined group of people in love with Jesus put down roots in the Truckee Meadows. They weathered the region’s economic growth and collapse in the same way they endured the blustery winds and rapidly changing temperatures of this often-overlooked part of the map. They persevered because people matter. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

@visioneer /visioneer

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But the lack of space is no laughing matter. The people are coming, and the church has been working to create space to welcome and serve them. “The number one need we’re seeking to fulfill is seats [so we can] tell people about Jesus, because people are pouring in.” Along the way, Summit’s leadership team encountered several significant budgetary roadblocks that threatened the project, even halting it completely for a time. After more than three years of work, the church had roadways and a level building pad ready for construction, but they still had no new seats to offer the community. Undeterred, the pastors and elders sought alternative solutions that would turn the roadblocks into stepping stones toward achieving their goals.

Fresh Start

“One of the things we noticed right away is the level of brokenness in this community,” said Steve Bond, one of Summit’s lead pastors. “The need for the grace and restoration of Christ is particularly acute, and that message resonates for people.” Today, the Reno area is experiencing another rapid economic expansion. Families are pouring in faster than homes can be built. One city council member told us that 8,000 new homes are being built within three to four miles of the church. To a church that is so passionate about loving the community, this boon presents an exciting opportunity—and a pressing problem.

Leveraged to the Hilt

The leaders at Summit Christian recognize they have a space problem. “We have 32,000 square feet,” Bond said, “and it’s leveraged to the hilt.” The church sees weekend attendance of about 2,200 with very little margin for visitors or elbow room. “We’re probably the largest church in America with only one men’s stall available,” laughed Bond, referencing the ever-present line for the men’s room. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

Church leaders realized they needed something to reinvigorate the project—a “big idea” that would unite the efforts of the designers, builders, and the congregation, who would ultimately use the campus for kingdom purposes. When Summit reached out to my team at PlainJoe Studios, I was excited. Not only did the architectural needs offer a unique challenge, but the people, place, and culture of northern Nevada presented an opportunity to put our creativity to the test. “Our job during the discovery phase is to be good listeners,” said Tim Cruz, the architectural development manager assigned to the Summit project. “We need to listen well, to understand their needs, and reconcile their needs and priorities within the budget limitations.” We took them through an intensive brainstorming process to help identify the story they want to tell in the community. We challenged them to articulate who they are as a church today and who they want to become. The process led to a new statement of purpose that will guide every construction decision moving forward: Mountain House—At the edge of the Sierras and the high desert, visitors come alive when they are warmed around a loving circle of fire and welcomed into the - 12 -

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- IMAGINE Lord’s Mountain House where relatable truth leads to impactful transformation in the Truckee Meadows and beyond. With Summit’s big idea firmly in place, our team of Spatial Storytellers created a brandnew architectural plan that reflects the personality and mission of the church . . . and meets their pressing need for space.

The Great Outdoors

Truckee Meadows is adjacent to the majestic Sierras and provides incredible opportunities for outdoor recreation. So Summit’s design theme took on a rugged, trailhead aesthetic. With colors, materials, and textures like those you might find in an REI store, the environment is sure to spark a sense of fun and adventure for kids and adults alike.

Interconnectivity

Summit recognized that confining people to hallways often prevents them from stopping to build relationship. Rather than constructing a series of tunnel-like paths from building to building, plans call for covered walkways facing into a dramatic center courtyard. By blurring the line between indoors and outdoors, the design facilitates movement while allowing for spontaneous and meaningful interaction.

Room to Grow

Of course, Summit’s most important goal is to create opportunities to welcome their community’s growing population. The new design includes a 1,000-seat auditorium (and plenty of restrooms) to accommodate the expected newcomers. The auditorium is designed to expand to 1,500 seats when they reach capacity again. “The thing that sets this place apart is it’s just so doggone loving,” said Bond, describing comments he’s heard from people new to the church. They say, “I’ve poked around in a lot of places, but there’s just nowhere like this place.” As they build their “Mountain House,” Summit’s prayer is that the architecture of their church will be reflective of the heart of its people and enable them to love and connect even more deeply with the community they serve.  C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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e2:

ef f ecti ve elde rs BY JEFF FAULL

Five Best Practices for Restoration Movement Elders and Leaders “Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug” (Isaiah 51:1, New American Standard Bible). The Old Testament prophet Isaiah was not writing about church leadership or the Restoration Movement, but his words could easily be appropriated for Restoration church leaders. It is both refreshing and profitable for us to “look to our quarry” and gratefully consider the noble and admirable beginnings, underpinnings, and the future of our Restoration heritage.

Jeff Faull serves as senior minister at Mount Gilead Church in Mooresville, Indiana, and as a board member with e2. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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But could we start with an admission? Some inherent pitfalls come with our simple plea and its accompanying slogans. Our emphases on scriptural purity, Christian unity, congregational autonomy, leadership plurality, and biblical vocabulary bring with them some unique challenges. And in our great desire to get it right, we are still vulnerable to doing it wrong. Consequently, we who are heirs of the Restoration Movement have sometimes promoted a pronounced biblical structure of leadership without a practical biblical posture of leadership. My 30 years serving the same Restoration Movement congregation have taught me the indispensable value and joy of a healthy eldership. I am convinced that one of the greatest factors in longevity and health of ministry is a quality eldership team. In that spirit, I offer five “best practices” for Restoration Movement church leaders.

We Are Best as a Movement When Our Leaders Foster Mutual Authority and Respect Our Restoration predecessors were averse to clergy/laity distinctions and the abuse of pastoral authority. They were rightfully insistent on the plurality and authority of shepherds. Unfortunately, this sometimes led to the ordained minister’s role being minimized . . . in some cases relegating them to the status of hireling. Healthy leaderships cultivate a structure, attitude, and practice of mutual authority and respect with clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

We Are Best as a Movement When Our Leaders Engage the Union of Truth and Love The psalmist articulates the union of truth and love beautifully: “Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10, NASB). The union of truth and love has too often been presented as a simple balance or a mixture. For example, “She’s a little too high on the truth scale,” or conversely, “She puts too much emphasis on love.” However, you can’t have too much love and you can’t have too much truth. Truth doesn’t need a little falsehood to soften it, nor does love need a little harshness to toughen it. Truth and love are not opposites. They are not mutually exclusive. You can apply or demonstrate either of them incorrectly. Certain demonstrations of love or truth aren’t appropriate for the time and place, but there is never too much of either. Both are eternal. Both are the essence of God. Both are integral to the other’s definition. When we speak the truth in love, we are most faithful to our own plea. Let there be no doubt that the union of truth and love is at the heart of restoration.

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We Are Best as a Movement When Our Leaders Insist that “Ancient Paths” and Contemporary Culture Are Bridged Correctly The “ancient paths” mentality of Jeremiah 6:16 remains a foundation for Restoration principles. Jeremiah wrote, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it” (NASB). When we insist that the eternal wisdom and plan of God is never archaic or outdated, and yet we fearlessly engage with the realities of our contemporary society, we can find optimum relevance and effectiveness in engaging our culture. When those two worlds are bridged, without compromise, the church shines.

We Are Best as a Movement When Our Leaders Facilitate the Cooperation Between Autonomy and Accountability One of the most beneficial characteristics of our DNA is congregational autonomy. We employ a plurality of local leaders who guide, shepherd, and strategize in faithfulness to the charge given them by God. No outside interference or mandatory, man-made, external structures and controls should hinder our quest. However, that great design can be corrupted when isolation and insulation become the standard way of operating. When congregations and leaders network, fellowship, and learn from each other’s successes and failures, and when we cooperate for kingdom advances, an environment for true restoration of New Testament Christianity can occur. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

We Are Best as a Movement When Our Leaders Intentionally Merge Theology and Mission We tend to think purists and pragmatists inhabit opposite ends of the spectrum. That can be an accurate assessment. But real restoration of New Testament Christianity begins with the realization that ministry and mission are actually the outworking of our theology. From the Greatest Commandment to the Great Confession to the Great Commission, our professions and practices must align and be consistent to help us become the great congregations God intended. As fellow leaders, we look forward to the day when the Chief Shepherd appears and presents unfading crowns of glory. In the meantime, we seek to give our best efforts to restore not only a biblical structure of leadership but also a biblical practice. 

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hori zons BY EMILY DRAYNE

Project Mañana // Working Together Today for an Eternal Tomorrow

Emily Drayne lives in North Carolina and has served with the International Conference on Missions since 2011.

I’ve seen it happen time and again in my ministry with the International Conference on Missions. Whether committing to go on a short-term trip or enter full-time service, when people simply open themselves up to God’s plan, he guides them every step of the way. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

/emilydrayne @edrayne0530 @edrayne0530 www.theicom.org

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Brian and Nebraska’s Story After his first short-term mission trip to the Dominican Republic in 2007, Brian Berman felt an urge to get involved. He fell in love with the culture and people, but he also saw a physical and spiritual need there. After leaving corporate America, he and his wife, Nebraska, moved to the Dominican Republic and started creating relationships with local people. They spent time working with an established mission organization there and expanded their knowledge and understanding of cross-cultural missions. As his faith and passion grew for the unreached Dominicans, an idea for a new venture sparked: Project Mañana. The couple founded Project Mañana International in 2010. They believe working together is the key to success; the mission’s slogan is “Working Together Today for an Eternal Tomorrow.” Project Mañana is dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty by providing clean water to communities and families, nutritious meals to impoverished C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

children, education for the whole family, and by providing discipling projects. The couple initially spent time in the San Pablo area, where they determined the main issues were hunger and education. Meeting the physical needs of people is often a way to get your foot in the door of a foreign community. The mission’s first project was to develop a nutrition center that could provide meals to more than 200 children daily. Project Mañana saw that providing healthy food made a visible change in the community and the children who lived there. But the children wanted more . . . they wanted to learn. The closest public school was a 30-minute walk along a dangerous route, so Project Mañana opened a school in San Pablo in 2014. The school started out with 64 children in preschool through third grade. Now the school has 116 children enrolled and is able to offer a complete elementary education of preschool through sixth grade. The Bermans are passionate about sharing Christ with the Dominicans. While they are able to help meet the physical needs of the people, their main focus and outreach energies are on establishing strategic partnerships and discipling national leaders for a sustainable evangelism process. The Great Commission places upon us the responsibility of reaching the lost for Christ (Matthew 28:16). “And the Bible further tells us, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,’” Brian said. “So, for us, it was clear we needed to be part of the workers. While ministry, and especially international missions, are not for everyone, I would encourage anyone who is feeling the tug on their heart to make contact with the ICOM or a mission agency they might know. We need more ‘goers,’ and there’s no time to waste.” - 18 -

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Kelsey’s Story Ministry in a cross-cultural setting is not for everyone, of course. A short-term mission trip can help a person decide what is best for them. There are many ways to be part of an international mission without actually living on foreign soil. It’s amazing how God can work through a small tug on your heart and direct you to a perfect opportunity. Kelsey Cooper had a “God moment” like this happen at the 2017 ICOM in Peoria, Illinois. God took this 24-year-old’s open heart and her skill set and matched her with the perfect mission trip. Kelsey was walking around ICOM’s exhibit hall with her parents when her dad stopped at a booth and began talking to an attendant. Out of the blue, someone at the Project Mañana booth—which was right next door— asked Kelsey if she danced. “What he didn’t know was that I’ve been dancing since I was 3 years old and had been searching for where God was calling me to go and serve him,” Kelsey said. “He told me all about this dance camp mission trip they only have once a year, showed me pictures and videos, and by the end of the conversation I was in! From that day, God has just cleared the way to make everything work out—from finances, work schedules, my own fears, and on and on.” How amazing is our God? This spring, Kelsey was preparing for her first overseas mission trip. “I’m excited for God to grow and stretch me beyond my wildest imagination,” she said, “and to be able to share the overwhelming, unconditional love he has taught me so much about with everyone there.” C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

I hope these stories inspire you to listen for God’s calling and to go in whatever capacity that means in your life. “As a collective body of believers,” Brian said, “we truly believe that if we all work together (each using their God-given gifts and talents), we can truly make someone’s ‘tomorrow’ eternal through their relationship with Jesus Christ.”  - 19 -

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mini stry life BY TYLER MCKENZIE

Love Is the End “If we never become Christians, will you still be our friends?” I was shocked by the question. Even a little angry. Did the last year of our friendship mean nothing? My wife, Lindsay, and I had met Joe and Amy at our church. We were leading a group for skeptics designed to answer tough questions. It was my favorite hour of the week (secretly, because their questions have always been mine). When I walked in, the two of them were huddled on a black leather couch we retired from the church lobby to one of the back rooms. It was a couch for three, but they were sitting so close you could’ve fit three next to them.

Tyler McKenzie serves as lead pastor at Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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They were nervous. They had recently left their Mormon community to search for what they called “the Red-Letter Jesus,” but when we met them, something clicked. We loved them, like instant chemistry. We loved their gentleness and courage. We loved how they parented. They were two beautiful humans and so we became friends. We started hanging at their house, scheduling double dates, drinking black coffee, laughing, eating, pranking, story-telling, and occasionally talking Jesus. We wanted them to meet “the Red-Letter Jesus” so badly. But then one night, driving home from dinner in our Nissan, they asked the question. “If we never become Christians, will you still be our friends?” We had just pulled into our neighborhood. It was pitch-dark, almost midnight, no cars on the road. The conversation was light. We were bantering back and forth with witty one-liners, seeing who could get the biggest laugh from our audience of four. We never needed the radio playing with them because the car was always full of conversation. Well, until they asked the question. We sat in awkward silence for 15 seconds. It felt like 15 minutes. We had been friends for about a year. Thinking back, we would have called them our best friends. Even though they weren’t Christians, even though they were still searching, we had become close. The question was harsh, but it was raw and real. So harsh, raw, and real it put our relationship with them at risk just by asking it. I’m sure they knew the risks beforehand. You could tell they planned this moment. The banter had stopped, there was a calculated pause, a gulp for courage, and then they dropped that question. Understand, they were courageous. They had walked away from the faith of their family and there were consequences for that. But the truth was more important than the consequences then, and so the truth was more important than the consequences now. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

“If we never become Christians, will you still be our friends?” I was stunned. Speechless. Can you imagine? A preacher, speechless! But Lindsay finally spoke, and her words were inspired: “Of course we will. We love you. And we want you to know Jesus like we do because he is the best thing to ever happen to us. But no matter what you believe, we will love you.” I believe this was a turning point for them . . . and us. Eventually Amy decided to be baptized. Lindsay and I had the honor of doing it. If there was one moment that could sum up why we chose ministry, it’s captured in the photo of us hugging Amy, dripping wet, in the warm baptistery water. It was stuck on our fridge for months. Amy is now studying for ministry. She’s one of the best preachers I’ve heard. Joe is coming along. He still has a few things to work out, but we love him. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is us. “If we never become Christians, will you still be our friends?” Yes, Amy. You are not a project, you are a person. Yes, Joe. If you die religious or irreligious, we will be there at your bedside and mourn your loss because you will have been someone we loved. We now know that we must choose love. It is the singular characteristic that allows people to see the “Red-Letter Jesus” in us.  Submit your own 500- to 700-word essay telling of an experience through which you learned a vital ministry principle by emailing it to cs@christianstandardmedia. com with “MinistryLife” in the subject line. See more at www.christianstandard.com/contact-us/submit-articles. - 21 -

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SPECIAL CHURCH REPORT PART 3 : SMALL + VERY SMALL CHURCHES

BY KENT FILLINGER This is the final installment in a trilogy of articles from our annual church survey. If you missed the updates on megachurches and emerging megachurches from May and large and medium churches from June, I suggest you backtrack and read those articles—and view those charts—as well. For the first time, our survey included churches with attendances of fewer than 250. We received responses from 77 small churches (average weekly worship attendance of 100 to 249) and 51 very small churches (attendance of fewer than 100). This is a fraction of the total number of Restoration Movement churches of these C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

sizes. Small and very small churches form the largest percentage of all churches. I hope more of these churches will participate in the survey next year. But I’m excited to share for the first time information and insights about these churches based on the information they provided. I’m a proponent of churches of every size, and I hope these findings will be a valuable resource to you and your church. The Christian church where I was baptized and which I attended until junior high never broke 150 in attendance, but it had a mega impact on my faith and spiritual growth. And I’m confident the 128 churches featured in this issue are making a big difference in their communities and around the world. Some good examples of their impact include First Christian Church (Erwin, Tennessee), Common Ground (Tampa, Florida), and First Christian Church (Grove, Oklahoma)—all of these churches focused on serving the poor and forgotten in their communities last year. Central Christian Church (Huntingburg, Indiana) enlisted help from five other nearby churches for a community service day; more than 500 people were involved in dozens of projects throughout their city. And Surfside Christian Church (Surfside Beach, South Carolina) hosted a three-day soccer camp for 30 special-needs children. Central Christian Church (Brownsville, Texas) had numerous community-focused outreach efforts last year, including worship services - 23 -

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small churches

very small churches

174 average attendance

60 average attendance

combined weekly attendance 16,469

-0.3% growth rate

5.5% growth rate

36% of small churches grew

44% of very small churches grew

Cornerstone Christian Church, Springfield, KY 65.5% Westside Christian Church, Bradenton, FL 15.5% Ridgeview Christian Church, Rolla, MO 14.6%

fastest growing

51.7% Creekside Community Church, Hot Springs, AR 51.1% New Hope Christian Church, Belton, MO 40% Restoration Christian Church, Rogersville, MO

175 baptisms 5 . 5 : 100 :: baptism s : attendance

800 baptisms 6 .1 : 100 :: baptism s : attendance

Southwest Christian Church, Ocala, FL 19.0 Redwood Christian Church, Grants Pass, OR 18.4 East Union Christian Church, Atlanta, IN 15.9

highest baptism ratio

20.0 Restoration Christian Church, Rogersville, MO 15.4 Alvadore Christian Church, Alvadore, OR 13.3 Versailles Christian Church, Versailles, IL

NUMBER OF BAPTISMS PER 100 PEOPLE IN AVERAGE ATTENDANCE

$31.80 average weekly per-person giving based on general fund only

44% of total budget invested in ministry staff

$30.58 average weekly per-person giving based on general fund only

outreach giving percentage spent on ministry “outside the walls”

17% small churches

52% of total budget invested in ministry staff

15% very small churches

and activities in both Spanish and English, a dance for the mentally disabled, and a Veteran’s Day community breakfast for those who have served in the military. The church also started a food and clothing shelter, held a yard sale to raise money for a church in Vera Cruz, Mexico, and donated supplies and money to help with hurricane relief in Texas. The impact of these churches extended beyond their local communities. For example, West Waynesboro (Virginia) Church of Christ’s missions giving exceeded their missions budget and the church added a new monthly mission partner for the first time in years. North Syracuse (New York) Christian Church bought property for a new church plant in Ukraine. Heights Christian Church (Albuquerque, New Mexico) is taking a mission trip to Kenya. And Bluff Creek Christian Church (Greenwood, Indiana) launched an international ministry internship program.

Financial Picture General fund giving for small and very small churches was comparable to giving in the other size categories by one key metric. The average person at a small church gave $31.80 per week, which was more than the average person in both emerging megachurches and medium churches. Those attending very small churches gave the least of the six size categories, an average of $30.58 per person per week. Of all the categories, small churches and very small churches were the most likely to be debt free. Fifty-nine percent of small churches and 84 percent of very small churches have no debt. By comparison, only 13 percent of megachurches are debt free. Several small and very small churches became debt free in the last year, including Brady Lane Church (Lafayette, Indiana), Heights Christian Church (Albuquerque), and Midlands Christian Church (Lexington, South Carolina). Here are some additional financial facts from last year for churches in these two categories: • Average total giving in small churches was $344,775; in very small churches it was $113,269. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

• Very small churches spent the largest portion of budgeted monies on ministry staff, 52 percent. On the flip side, small churches spent the smallest portion of their budget on ministry staff, 44 percent. • About half of the small churches increased their overall ministry spending last year, while only 39 percent of very small churches increased spending. • Small churches invested 17 percent of their budget in ministry outreach, the most of any size church. Very small churches invested 15 percent in outreach, tying them for second place with medium churches.

Baptisms Blendville Christian Church (Joplin, Missouri) celebrated the most baptisms in more than a decade, a total of 10. Small churches and very small churches in our survey combined to baptize 975 people last year. Of the 128 small and very small churches, 9 percent didn’t have any baptisms in 2017, and 5 percent had only one baptism. In spite of this, the average baptism ratio (number of baptisms per 100 people in attendance) for small and very small churches was comparable to the other church size categories. The average baptism ratio for small churches was 6.1, the same as emerging megachurches. Very small churches had the lowest baptism ratio, 5.5, which was slightly less than the 5.7 in large churches.

Growth Very small churches grew an average of 5.5 percent last year. This was the second-best growth rate behind megachurches, which grew an average of 5.7 percent. Among the 77 small churches surveyed, however, attendance declined 0.3 percent. Two-thirds of small churches declined in attendance last year. At least six churches noted their biggest win in 2017 was to start or complete a strategic plan or renewed vision for ministry. Several other churches noted an increased focus on outreach and evangelism.  - 25 -

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C H U R C H E S

S M A L L

2 0 1 7

S M A L L

C H U R C H E S

CHURCHES THAT AVERAGED 100-249 IN WEEKLY WORSHIP ATTENDANCE

CHURCH CenterPointe Christian Church Central Christian Church First Christian Church Westside Christian Church Gardenside Christian Church Christ’s Church of Marion County Northeast Christian Church First Christian Church Avoca Christian Church Central Christian Church Fortville Christian Church Glen Este Church of Christ Garden City Church of Christ First Christian Church Brady Lane Church Mount Tabor Christian Church Agape Christian Church Norkenzie Christian Church Canvas Christian Church Cherokee Hills Christian Church Buckeye Christian Church First Christian Church Le Roy Christian Church Southside Christian Church Bluff Creek Christian Church Millersburg Christian Church First Christian Church Southwest Christian Church Southeast Christian Church Ridgeview Christian Church Cambridge City Christian Church 3 Orleans Christian Church Redwood Christian Church Fayetteville Christian Church Central Christian Church Bell Ridge Christian Church Cornerstone Christian Church Western Hills Christian Church 5 Osage Hills Christian Church Bethany Christian Church Kenwood Heights Christian Church Adventure Christian Church Seerley Creek Christian Church Mound City Christian Church Lanier Christian Church Antioch Christian Church Warren Church of Christ Heights Christian Church Central Christian Church Blendville Christian Church State Line Christian Church Liberty Christian Church West Waynesboro Church of Christ - - continued on next page - -

C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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AT TENDANCE

BAPTISMS

249 248 247 246 242 242 241 240 235 235 235 234 231 225 225 224 220 217 215 215 213 205 205 202 202 202 202 200 200 196 195 193 190 188 187 182 182 181 181 175 171 161 160 160 159 158 158 157 157 152 150 146 145

15 15 14 28 11 11 17 15 19 18 10 6 4 5 7 21 6 8 11 11 11 17 0 4 15 10 7 38 8 9 8 5 35 5 11 23 14 2 4 8 10 5 12 12 6 10 6 14 7 10 10 6 10

L O C AT I O N Lexington Bristol Kewanee Bradenton Lexington Ocala Grand Junction Sierra Vista Bristol Brownsville Forville Cincinnati Columbus Grove Lafayette Salem La Porte Eugene Cumming Oklahoma City Grove City Clearwater Le Roy Elizabethton Greenwood Millersburg Nevada Ocala Salt Lake City Rolla Cambridge CIty Orleans Grants Pass Fayetteville Huntingburg Paris Springfield Lawton Tulsa Bumpass Louisville Bourbonnais Indianapolis Mound City Gainesville Odessa Warren Albuquerque Battle Creek Joplin Paris Martinsville Waynesboro

1 4

KY TN IL FL KY FL CO AZ TN TX IN OH IN OK IN IN IN OR GA OK OH FL IL TN IN OH MO FL UT MO IN IN OR GA IN IL KY OK OK VA KY IL IN KS GA TX IN NM MI MO IL IN VA

SENIOR MINISTER Brian Bolton Mark Overton Joseph Schmidt Tim Boyd Rick Burdette David Bellows Seth Thomas Jeff Anselmi Justin Gillespie Lance Hostetter Robert Rigsbee Terry L. Peer Brian Gilroy Ron Riley Jeff Keller Tony Mendizabal Rod Nielsen Neil Johnston Stan Percival Charlie Curran Stan Kirtlan Mike McGinnis Jeff Mayfield S. Michael Koruschak Eric Allen Wes McElravy Bill Platt David G. Campbell Mike Packer Adam Bloch Danny Berry Tom Bostic Kurt Witten Andrew Higle Paul V. Newland Kurt Speece Warren L Whitaker Dave Menge Jason Johnson Kyle Hayden Randy Beard Andy Hamilton Steve Bolin Derry Gibson David Simpson Matt Wilson Ethan Stivers Mark Scales Colin Sherfield/Darin Schug Luke Cole John Puckett Rocky Baire Chad Grondin

= includes nursing home worship service(s) = includes multisite(s) outside of the U.S.

2 5

YEAR S TA R T E D

WEBSITE mycpointe.com cccbristol.com kewaneefirstchristian.org westsidechristianchurch.com gardensidecc.org ccomc.org northeastchristian.org fccsv.com avocachristianchurch.org cccbrownsville.org fortvillechristian.com gecc.net gardencitychurch.com fccgrove.org bradylanechurch.org mtcchurch.org acclaporte.com norkenzie.net canvaschristian.org cherokeehillschristian.church buckeyecc.com fccclearwater.org leroychristianchurch.org bluffcreek.org millersburgchristianchurch.com fccnevada.org swchristianchurch.com southeast.cc ridgecc.com 4c.church orleanschristianchurch.org redwoodchristian.org fayettevillechristian.org yourcentral.org bellridge.org welcometocornerstone.net whccfamily.com osagehills.com bethanychristianva.org kenwoodheights.com theadventurechurch.com seerleycreek.com moundcitychristian.com lanierchristianchurch.com antiochchristian.org warrenchurchofchrist.org heightschristian.org centralchristianbc.com blendvillechristian.org statelinechristianchurch.com lcc.com westwaynesboro.com

= includes prison worship service(s) = includes church plant(s) in the U.S. or overseas

2004 1903 1902 1963 2007 1957 1958 1969 1910 1871 1984 1910 1903 1964 1840 1953 1976 1963 1971 1888 1934 1827 1905 1857 1998 1962 1951 1841 1867 1967 1973 1909 1904 2006 1967 1956 1840 1969 2003 1927 1866 1974 1899 1962 1902 1912 1873 1860 1955

= includes Internet campus

2017 SMALL CHURCHES (continued)

CHURCH

AT TENDANCE

First Christian Church of Mableton Mt. Ivy Christian Church Sutherland Church of Christ Williams Road Church First Christian Church of Orange Park Amity Christian Church First Christian Church Cornerstone Christian Church Sugar Grove Christian Church 2 Venture Church Bloomington Christian Church Pleasant Grove Church of Christ Snellville Christian Church West Hills Christian Church Dayton Christian Church Molalla Christian Church University Christian Church North Syracuse Christian Church Catalyst Church Howard Christian Church East Union Christian Church First Christian Church of National City Lamar Christian Church Ocala Christian Church

144 143 142 134 131 130 125 123 123 118 115 115 113 110 110 110 110 110 109 109 107 105 103 103

BAPTISMS 13 12 17 6 5 8 7 14 9 0 3 1 4 3 15 14 0 10 11 2 17 5 8 12

L O C AT I O N Mableton Moneta Sutherland Americus Orange Park Amity Suisun City Lincoln Owingsville Wilmington Byrdstown Mount Gilead Snellville Bristol Dayton Molalla Norman North Syracuse High Point Howard Atlanta National City Baldwin Ocala

1 4

GA VA IA GA FL OR CA NE KY NC TN OH GA TN OR OR OK NY NC PA IN CA GA FL

SENIOR MINISTER Andy Daniell Steve Pasley John Erickson Keith Wishum Jim Joiner Ryan Connor Steve Kiefer Steven Stolle Francis Nash Chris Woolard Steve McClure Jack Kegley Jonathon Dawson Bill Requardt Justin Hartpence Bob Laver Frank Nichols Monte Smith Scott Haulter Donald Crane John Merritt Tim Captain C. Chad Holcomb Roger Wright

= includes nursing home worship service(s) = includes multisite(s) outside of the U.S.

2 5

YEAR S TA R T E D

WEBSITE fcc-m.com mtivychristian.org sutherlandchurch.org williamsroadchurch.org fccop.com amitychurch.org 1stchristianchurch.org corstonech.org sugargrovechristianchurch.org jointheventure.com bloomingtonchristianchurch.org pgchurchofchrist.org snellvillechristian.net westhillschristian.org daytonchristianchurch.com molallachristian.com uccnorman.org northsyracusechristianchurch.com catalystchurch.org howardchristianchurch.org eastunioncc.com nationalcitychurch.com lamarchristianchurch.net noperfectchurch.com

= includes prison worship service(s) = includes church plant(s) in the U.S. or overseas

1956 1895 1882 1948 1846 1978 1988 1916 2012 1912 1880 1972 1950 1893 1920 1965 1968 2009 1897 1867 1955 1896 2006

= includes Internet campus

C HU R C HE S

V E R Y

S M A L L

20 1 7

V E RY

C H U R C H E S

CHURCHES THAT AVERAGED LESS THAN 100 IN WEEKLY WORSHIP ATTENDANCE

CHURCH

AT TENDANCE

Forest Dale Church of Christ Oakland Church of Christ Pomeroy First Christian Church Athena Christian Church Newport Christian Church Milltown Christian Church Russell Springs Christian Church Creekside Community Church 3 First Christian Church of Aurora First Christian Church of Chicago Athens Christian Church Engage Church Cedar Falls Church of Christ Common Ground Movement Church SummitLIFE Hi-Point Church of Christ New Hope Christian Church First Christian Church Movement Christian Church Midlands Christian Church Alvadore Christian Church Westside Christian Church Friendship Christian Church First Christian Church, Erwin Church of Christ Echo Church Twin Oaks Christian Church Hays Christian Church Stella Community Church Oak Grove Christian Church Louisville Christian Church Alamo City Church of Christ 2 4 Central Christian Church Hamersville Church of Christ First Christian Church Surfside Christian Church Newland Church of Christ 1 First Christian Church of Bridgeport Southwest Christian Church Versailles Christian Church First Christian Church Westside Christian Church Restoration Christian Church Hazelwood Christian Church Fifth Street Church of Christ Sterling Park Christian Church Lakewood Christian Church First Christian Church of Greenwood Spearsville Church of Christ Swannanoa Christian Church

C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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99 98 98 93 91 90 89 88 86 85 85 85 84 80 76 75 72 68 67 67 67 65 63 62 60 58 57 57 54 52 50 50 50 49 48 46 46 46 45 45 45 40 38 35 32 25 23 21 17 12 12

BAPTISMS 2 7 9 4 6 5 2 4 6 8 8 7 6 8 3 5 5 7 3 3 1 10 0 0 2 1 1 0 2 4 3 0 4 5 1 2 4 2 2 2 6 0 1 7 3 2 0 1 1 0 0

L O C AT I O N Cincinnati Oakland Pomeroy Athena Newport Milltown Russell Springs Hot Springs Aurora Chicago Lexington Memphis Cedar Falls Tampa Newport Sedona Bellefontaine Belton Henderson Knightdale Lexington Alvadore Jonesborough Valley Erwin Truman Cincinnati Eugene Hays Stella Chatham Louisville San Antonio Charleston Hamersville Hanford Surfside Beach Warsaw Bridgeport Topeka Versailles Beebe Eugene Rogersville Pittsburgh Moultrie Sterling Lakewood Greenwood Spearsville Swannanoa

1 4

OH OR WA OR OR IN KY AR IL IL KY TN IA FL KY AZ OH MO TX NC SC OR TN AL TN MN OH OR KS NE VA TN TX IL OH CA SC VA IL KS IL AR OR MO PA GA VA WA SC IN NC

SENIOR MINISTER

YEAR S TA R T E D

WEBSITE

Darin Pratt Kristofer Tripp Roger Pedersen Delbert Durfee Reed Adams Delvin Sweeney Chris Peters Mark Maybrey Josh Matson Steven Chapman Robert Warren Michael Wilkerson Dennis Platt Bruce Humphrey Josh Tandy David Parker

forestdale.org oaklandcc.net

Bill Mieir John G Cunyus Bobby Wallace Tim Brokaw Marcus Omdahl John J. Wade Buddy Harris Todd Edmondson Merrill Davis

reachingothers4christ.com fcchenderson.net movementchristianchurch.com midlandschristian.org alvadorechristian.com wccjb.org friendshipchristianc.com fccerwin.org

Aaron Dilla Kevin Daniels John D. States Terry L. Newton Bob Kastens John Massie John Reside Troy Braunstein Tom Warren Matt Thompson Vance Holbrook Marvin Leighty Terry Neidens Mark Bledsoe Phillip Sterling MaryEllen Pereira, Transition Pastor Mike Gonzalez Ed Gratton Joe Gadfray John McArthur Thomas Joseph Earl Winfrey G. Michael Goodwin Ross Wissmann

= includes nursing home worship service(s) = includes multisite(s) outside of the U.S.

2 5

athenachristian.com newportchristian.com milltownchristian.com rschristianchurch.org creeksidecommunitychurch.org fccaurora.org firstchristianchicago.org acc-ky.org engagechurch.tv websd-cfchurchofchristus.webs.com commongroundtampa.com movementnky.com summitlifesedona.com

echochurch.org twinoakseugene.com hayschristianchurch.org ogchristian.org discoverlcc.com centralchristianonline.com surfsidechristianchurch.org newlandchurchofchrist.org

fccofbeebe.org westsidechristianeugene.church restorationchristian.church sterlingparkcc.com lakewoodchristianchurch.info fccgwd.org

= includes prison worship service(s) = includes church plant(s) in the U.S. or overseas

1957 1888 1856 1873 1924 1891 1913 2016 1913 1885 1850 2014 1978 2007 2014 2012 1971 1984 1915 2017 1995 1853 1977 1956 1891 1901 2005 1960 1964 1940 1910 1977 1995 1963 1860 1874 1987 1908 1861 1960 1868 1872 1948 2014 1868 2012 1970 1963 1965 1882 1970

= includes Internet campus

CAM HUXFORD. A PORTRAIT OF FAITHFULNESS. BY JERRY HARRIS

What is faithfulness? Where does it come from? What builds and strengthens it? What sustains it over time? While all church leaders would like to be described as faithful, for many it’s an elusive target. That’s why it’s important to know the story of Thomas Campbell Huxford—or just Cam—and his wife, Sarah. Their life and ministry together have been an incredible living illustration of faithfulness.

C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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FAITHFULNESS OF A SINGLE MOTHER

Two years later, tragedy struck the Huxford family; Cam’s father died of a sudden heart attack at age 43. It happened just a few days before Christmas, and although traumatic, Mrs. Huxford and her two young sons took comfort in their faith. Widowed at 36, it would have been easy to follow the lead of other singles in the area, but she focused on providing for her family by teaching music at the local school. Her faithfulness in being a mother first and trusting in the Lord for companionship left an indelible impression on Cam and his brother. Their mother’s commitment to the Lord shaped a similar commitment in both her sons. FAITHFULNESS BEGETS FAITHFULNESS

FAITHFULNESS OF CAMP AND COLLEGE

Cam grew up in a small Christian church in a town of less than 500 in coastal South Carolina. His father, also named Thomas Campbell Huxford as was his father before him, was an elder there. Cam’s grandfather was named for the great Restoration Movement father who lit a spiritual fire in the region years before, and the Huxford family has bled Restoration red ever since. His mother played piano in that small church for 60 years.

When Cam was 11, a new Christian camp started in South Carolina. Even though Cam had asthma, his mother let him go. Four years later, some students from Atlanta Christian College helped lead the camp; they made a deep impression on Cam as he witnessed their depth of commitment as Christ followers. He called it a “Lordship experience” and said he desired to have the same no-compromise faith. He dismissed thoughts of West Point or law school and decided to go all-in for Jesus.

Cam’s father felt compelled to resist the liberal influence that was permeating the Disciples church, as it was inconsistent with a sound understanding of Scripture. Under the leadership of Cam’s father, the little church navigated the troubled waters to independence. To this day, Russellville Christian Church in St. Stephen, South Carolina, continues to be dedicated to her mission, having produced preachers, Bible college professors, and international missionaries without ever averaging more than 100 people. Cam’s father earned an agricultural engineering degree from Clemson University; he ran a tractor and implement business and farmed. Young Cam grew up on the farm and in a typical small country church. Wendell Baggett of Atlanta Christian College (now Point University) spoke at a church revival when Cam was 9, and it stirred the young man’s heart. Cam reflected, “I became morally aware that my sin was an affront to the Lord and I had to surrender my life to Christ in order for that sin to be forgiven.”

C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

During high school, Cam devoted a year to prayer to discern his future direction and found peace in the thought of full-time ministry. When he shared the calling with his mother, she replied, “I’ve known you would be a minister from the day you were born.” During his senior year in high school, Cam and his best friend organized a four-night youth revival at their local high school gym. The revival grew from about 70 the first night to more than 800 on the fourth! A particularly rough young man who played on the basketball team came up to Cam and asked how to give his life to Christ. The event stood as a confirmation of Cam’s choice to follow the call. He entered Atlanta Christian College in the fall. The school offered a deeply grounded biblical education, great ministry opportunities and experiences, and the fun of playing on the basketball team. He served on summer camp teams; it was an opportunity to display the same commitment to others that he had witnessed and experienced only a few years before.

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Midway through college, Cam endured a severe car accident that shattered his face and broke his back, but the school helped in his recovery and it served only to deepen his trust in the Lord. He next entered graduate school at Emmanuel School of Religion in Tennessee—that was a pivotal step, mostly because he met a third-year student named Sarah at nearby Milligan College. FAITHFULNESS OF A MINISTRY PARTNER

Sarah had an adventurer’s heart. She had traveled from California to go to Milligan after being involved in international camp ministries. Her roommate had dated Cam and considered him a “creep,” but a car trip to Atlanta with a small group of students gave Cam and Sarah lots of time to talk, and that would begin a love affair that has existed ever since. Their first ministry together was in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The ministry wasn’t full time, but their passion for its success was. The church had been in turmoil and was averaging only about 20 people on Sundays. The round-trip weekend commute between Emmanuel and Rock Hill was about 300 miles. It wasn’t long before the couple had two sons; a third son arrived when they moved to Savannah, Georgia, to minister with Savannah Christian Church (now Compassion Christian Church). Today, all three serve in ministry and the Huxfords have 10 grandchildren. For the first 17 years of their ministry together, Sarah was the ultimate volunteer. Being something of an outsider (a native Californian), she had a special sense for those who weren’t part of the established culture. She was particularly effective at reaching out to those in Savannah who served in the military; she connected with them and helped involve them in ministry. She became aware of needs among middle and high school volunteers, so she sorted out the situation and then handed off leadership to others. The kitchen ministry was seen as one of the worst, but Sarah made it the best ministry for the newest members at the church; when it was running smoothly, she handed it off. Sarah introduced drama into the worship services, writing musical

programs for Christmas, Easter, and Journey to Bethlehem, an interactive event attended by thousands. She hosted the church’s first young adult/ college ministry in their home. She was continually serving until a cancer diagnosis turned the tables when she was 36. Of that difficult time, Cam remarked, “I don’t think we believed the church really loved us until then. We loved them, but we didn’t know they loved us.” The church brought meals to the Huxfords for 70 straight days. The Lord brought them through that hard time, and now Sarah runs the women’s ministry for all six campuses of Compassion Christian Church.

FAITHFULNESS TO ONE CHURCH

Cam and Sarah have been faithful to Compassion Christian Church for 34 years. For many today, accepting the call to a church of 250 wouldn’t be big news, but it’s a different story when you’re coming from a church of 40 to 50. Cam fondly remembers an elder telling him, “You’re in the big leagues now!” He counseled Cam to keep a balance in ministry, equally dividing preaching, pastoring, and family time . . . Cam still cherishes and follows that advice. In 1984, the reinvention of worship from hymns to more contemporary music was in full swing, and Savannah was in need of a major change. A group within the church felt threatened by such a change, however, and it caused polarization. And within a year of the Huxfords starting in the church, it felt more like a war. While the congregation was growing and happy, the elders meetings were a vastly different story. For the first 10 years of the Huxfords’ ministry in Savannah, consistent growth and change also created conflict with people who were convinced these were not a good thing. The strife in leadership reached a boiling point in 1994 when the church reached 500 in attendance. The church needed to add services to continue growing, but some leaders were opposed to that because the church wouldn’t be able to take Communion together. Cam responded, “We’ll take the Lord’s Supper all together in Heaven . . . right now, we’re just trying to get them to Heaven!” The discontent culminated in a walkout by several leaders, who fully expected many would follow . . . but that didn’t happen. The elders who remained believed the church belonged to Jesus, not a special-interest group. With no one left to pump the brakes on growth, the church took off! A new vision began forming in Cam’s heart, and he believed the church could double in size in five years. Leadership began envisioning what the church’s various ministries would look like— and what the staffing, space, and financial needs would be—if it doubled in size. As it turned out, instead of taking five years to double in size after

“

NOTHING ELSE HAS THE CAPACITY TO CHANGE THE WORLD MORE THAN THE CHURCH.

breaking from a single-service format, it took only three years! The church continued growing, and in the midst of this growth, at about the time the church started a sixth service, leadership realized they had outgrown their small property. In an incredible step of faith, the 1,600-member church purchased 52 acres in a central Savannah area and built a $14 million facility. Today, Compassion Christian Church ministers to 8,000 each weekend in six locations, but that never would have happened unless a young preacher and his wife were willing to push through the difficulty of change in those first 10 years. In Leadership Pain, Sam Chand writes, “There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain.” Cam and Sarah could tell you that growth is directly related to an ability to endure pain.

Poland 34 years ago has grown exponentially. Today, that support has reached three generations in that family alone! Hundreds of people from Compassion annually go on short-term mission trips to support global partners on five continents. Last year, the church and its mission partners combined to baptize 81,000 people! FAITHFULNESS TO POINT UNIVERSITY

The college that invested in Cam is now being invested into. Point University President Dean Collins was a classmate of Cam’s back in the day. Christian colleges are in a difficult “adapt or die” season, but Point is managing it well. An extension campus of Point University is located at CCC and there is a dual enrollment program for high school students. (Under that program, the state of Georgia covers all tuition costs for qualified high school students to earn college credit.) Additional education is offered via the Internet. Cam is a trustee of the university. FAITHFULNESS TO THE NEXT GENERATION

FAITHFULNESS TO MISSIONS

Compassion Christian Church is known for its dedication to global and local missions. Last year alone, the church deployed more than $2 million in the effort. Cam said he developed a passion for missions early on in ministry. In those days, he said, the world seemed like a much bigger place.

Cam is optimistic about the rising generation and the future of the church.

That first little church he ministered with found itself in financial difficulty and informed Cam they weren’t able to pay him. Something snapped into focus for Cam when he realized the church didn’t give anything to missions but used their offerings only on themselves. The next week, Cam challenged the church to give 10 percent of whatever was received to missions, and that was the last day the church had financial problems.

“The local church is the greatest work in the world. Nothing else has the capacity to change the world more than the church,” Cam said. “God continues to call the brightest and the best to forsake the world and give up millions [in earnings] for ministry, and I believe the next generation is going to be better than the last. There will be plenty of temptations, but everybody we admire in the Bible bled for the truth . . . and if we’re not bleeding, we have to wonder if we’re doing it right. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, and the proclamation of it is worth whatever it costs to get it done.”

In Savannah, what started with supporting two missionaries (Kazik and Dorotha Barczuk) in

Thank you, Cam and Sarah, for your testimony of faithfulness! 

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BY JUSTIN HOREY

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d David Jones is white. He grew up in the South, went to Bible college in the South, and married his high school sweetheart. Rafael Gonzalez is of Puerto Rican heritage. He grew up in the Northeast, excelled in high school football and basketball, and came to faith in Christ at age 28. Joy Bey is AfricanAmerican. She grew up in South Central Los Angeles, was saved in a Pentecostal church, and served in overseas missions before spending five years on staff at a megachurch in Southern California. Together, they make up the unlikely core of the ministry staff at Relentless Church—“a gospel-centered, forever-focused, multiethnic movement of God” located in Cary, North Carolina.

planting on common ground While Jones, Gonzalez, and Bey share little common heritage, they have one important thing in common: All three grew up in a multiethnic culture where their day-to-day lives included interactions with people of various races and backgrounds.

“As a kid, my school was diverse,” Jones said. “My sports teams were diverse. The only place that wasn’t diverse growing up was my church youth group.” Gonzalez’s story is similar. “Growing up, my whole life was multiethnic. That’s just how life was for me,” he said. “Then I became a Christian, and it seemed like Sunday was the only area of my life that was not integrated.”

The dream for a multiethnic church began in 2009, when Jones attended a joint worship service combining black and white congregations in North Carolina at Christmas. That interracial nativity service was a one-time event, but it left Jones wondering: What if multiethnic worship was a normal, regular occurrence for Christian churches? What if it was the rule, not the exception? Those questions quickly turned to conviction. “What Jesus accomplished on the cross made me family with any believer of any race,” Jones said. “If we are family, why be segregated by skin tone?” Jones and Gonzalez met around that same time, when they served together on a church staff in Kentucky. As their friendship grew, they attended a multiethnic church conference together and discussed the possibility of planting a multiethnic church in Jones’s home state of North Carolina. After years of praying and planning, Jones left Kentucky in 2014 to begin the work of planting this new church. Despite his intentions, he initially found it difficult to assemble a truly diverse core group. Just six months before the scheduled launch of Relentless Church, Jones recalls that the only nonwhite people in the group were his two adopted children! Despite the initial challenges, Jones persisted with his vision. Five weeks before Relentless Church’s first service, a mature Christian man who happened to be AfricanAmerican agreed to join the core team. That was the beginning of the “gospel-centered, forever-focused, multiethnic movement of God” Jones had envisioned for the new church. That man is still a leader at Relentless. Now, nearly four years later, Jones, Gonzales, and Bey continue to focus on the vision of building a multiethnic congregation—because as Jones said, “The Bible commands it. This is God’s plan. This is how God gets glory.”

the gospel of multiethnicity

growing & worshipping together

Jones speaks boldly about reconciliation.

Even for people like Jones and Gonzalez, who grew up in multicultural communities, participating in a truly diverse church required them to adjust and adapt.

“Multiethnic church is not a fad; it is a return to the God-given design for his church. According to the biblical standard, we were never meant to be segregated.” Jones believes “a by-product of the gospel is that we will be a church united across racial, political, and economic lines.” He cites passages from Genesis, Matthew, Acts, Galatians, Revelation, and others to make his point. One of his favorite references is Ephesians 2:11-22, which describes the racial reconciliation between the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul writes, in part, In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility (vv. 13-16, English Standard Version).

“It’s easy to create a diverse crowd,” Jones said. “Our goal was never to create a diverse group of people sitting in a theater together; the movie industry and sports events accomplish that every day. We are intentionally pursuing a multiethnic community of faith. Ephesians calls it a family.” Jones often quotes a well-known phrase in the multiethnic movement: “You will never be multiethnic on Sunday morning until you are multiethnic on Saturday night.” Gonzalez said it a different way. “Since coming to Relentless, my dinner table has completely changed,” he said. “I’ve shared meals with more people of different races in the past six months than I did in the previous six years.” That “power of proximity,” as Jones calls it, has allowed the people of Relentless to grow closer by truly getting to know one another and carrying each other’s burdens.

Still, uniting people of different backgrounds around the gospel—especially in the racially charged and politically divided culture of 21st-century America—is not easy. Jones said plainly, “Unity is a spiritual war.”

Jones and Gonzalez both said one major obstacle was that very few of the people at Relentless had ever been taught by a pastor of a different race. “I don’t think any of our white people had ever participated in a Bible study with an African-American leader before coming to this church,” Jones said. “I know I hadn’t.”

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“Multiethnic church is not a fad; it is a return to the God-given design for his church. According to the biblical standard, we were never meant to be segregated.”

Naturally, everyone brings their own background and perspective to reading Scripture. This disparity is exaggerated in a multicultural church where people have such vastly different life experiences. At Relentless, the congregation is committed to what Jones calls “the hard work of listening to and loving each other through relationship.” He said, “You have to have the humility to see things differently, but be united around the gospel.” Joy Bey said this applies not just to the congregation, but the leadership as well. In her experience, “to succeed as a multicultural church, you have to have different voices at the table making decisions. Otherwise, it’s easy to become a diverse congregation with a staff that is not.” One unexpected benefit of planting a multiethnic church is the absence of “worship wars.” Jones said he “downplays the music issue,” because Relentless Church tends to attract people he calls “untold and unconvinced.” For unchurched people, in his experience, the style of worship music is not an issue—even when those unchurched people come from different races and ethnicities. As a result, the worship music at Relentless does not conform to any particular style. For those who do have strong preferences about worship styles, the culture of Relentless Church encourages them to compromise. “In a multiethnic church, everyone sacrifices some ego and personal taste for the good of the cause,” Jones said. Music is just one example. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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david jones’s “four Ls” of multiethnic ministry David Jones, church planter and lead pastor of Relentless Church, shares “The Four Ls” that he has found to be essential when leading a multiethnic church.

leadership: You must pray for and

the right decision On opening day, 80 people attended Relentless Church. Sunday worship attendance has roughly tripled since then, but Jones does not take credit for the church’s growth. “God has made us a multiethnic church,” he said. Gonzales agrees. “God has been showing us that we made the right decision.” By every objective measure, Relentless Church is thriving. Baptisms are increasing, the newly formed student ministry is growing, and the church’s sermon series are creating honest, open conversations between believers and nonbelievers. Still, the leadership team believes their calling is even greater. “We are watching God create his own people, his own family, by the power of the Holy Spirit,” Jones said. And, as a result, Gonzales said, “I feel this peace that I’m right smack in the middle of God’s will.” Jones feels it, too. He senses God has called him to this ministry of reconciliation. He knows, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” That belief drives David Jones and the team at Relentless Church. It also inspired the name. “God is relentless,” Jones said. “He hasn’t given up on anybody.”  Justin Horey is a writer, musician, and the founder of Livingstone Marketing. He lives in Southern California. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

seek and trust that God will provide multiethnic leadership. We have an AfricanAmerican and two Latinos on our fivemember staff. Some might think we went and hired them because of their race. The truth is, we knew healthy multiethnic leadership is crucial for a healthy multiethnic church, and we prayed for God to send who was best. He is simply fulfilling his will for his church.

love: Love conquers all. So much of

what has been done and said on the issue of race in our country, and even in the church, would be impossible if we truly loved people. The basic question is: Do you love another person enough to hear their story and learn from it? If I don’t love, I won’t learn, which means I won’t change and the church will stay segregated against God’s will.

language: Learn the language

of Ephesians 2, verbally reinforce the multiethnic movement, and use common language and common phrases across different sections of your church.

lifestyle: We must live on the

same street, visit each other’s houses for dinner, hang out, and go on vacations together. A church that is diverse in its Sunday gathering but segregated in its friendships is dangerous! It’s not about attending a multiethnic church; it’s about living a multiethnic lifestyle so that multiethnic church is the only type of church that matches the rest of your week. —J.H. - 42 -

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BRIEF

HISTORY

RESTORATION

MOVEMENT

MEDIA

AND CHRISTIAN

STANDARD

MEDIA

COMPILED BY SHAWN MCMULLEN

CHRISTIAN STANDARD AND THE LOOKOUT have a rich history within the Restoration Movement. Christian Standard was first published in 1866; The Lookout was first published as the Young People’s Standard in 1888 and changed to its current name in 1894. Under the umbrella of Standard Publishing, the magazines served Christian churches and churches of Christ across the United States and around the world for a century and a half. Ownership and leadership have changed through the years, but the purpose of the publications has remained the same—to strengthen churches and their leaders through biblical teaching and the promotion of the Restoration plea. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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URGENT

SITUATION

In 2006 Standard Publishing was purchased by the Wicks Group, a New York-based private equity firm, and placed within an entity known as CFM Religion Publishing. In 2015 the Wicks Group sold much of Standard Publishing’s assets to David C Cook, leaving Christian Standard and The Lookout with an uncertain future. Having rejected previous offers from private interests to purchase the magazines, Wicks decided to discontinue both publications effective February 15, 2017. In December 2016, Wick’s decision was relayed to the Publishing Committee that had provided editorial oversight to Standard Publishing. For several years the Publishing Committee had explored opportunities to purchase the magazines and continue their ministries. All attempts to raise funds had failed, and at this juncture the window of opportunity seemed to have expired. But then Publishing Committee chairman Steve Wyatt contacted Douglas Crozier, CEO of The Solomon Foundation. In that December 16 call, Wyatt explained the Wicks Group’s decision to discontinue the magazines on February 15 if no buyer was found. Because Wicks was willing to shut the magazines down, Wyatt believed the firm would consider selling the magazines at a substantial discount of their previous asking price. After speaking with Wyatt, Crozier contacted Barry Cameron, Mike Nave, Dennis Bratton, and Jerry Harris, members of TSF’s board of directors, to explain the urgency of the situation and to present a case for purchasing the magazines through a loan from TSF. In addition to there being a mutually beneficial advertising

FOR

THE

MAGAZINES

partnership with the magazines, Crozier laid out several reasons for purchasing the publications, including: • the honor the magazines would continue to bring to God if kept in circulation, • the impact that could be achieved for Christ and his kingdom if they continued publishing, • the value of the magazines as a platform for the Restoration Movement, and • the value the magazines could bring by publishing articles designed to help churches move to the next growth step. The board members encouraged Crozier to inquire further regarding the purchase. On December 22, Wyatt wrote to Peter Esposito, CFM Religion Publishing president, to report that The Solomon Foundation had expressed interest in purchasing the periodicals. Esposito responded within the hour to suggest they arrange a time to discuss the possibility. Crozier and Esposito spoke on December 28. The next day, December 29, Crozier provided a letter of intent for 30 days of due diligence. A nondisclosure agreement was signed on January 3, 2017, and the process of due diligence began January 4. On January 5, attorney Jonathan Sams was retained to represent TSF in the transaction. On January 12, the process of forming a separate 501(c)(3) entity known as Restoration Movement Media was initiated. On January 13, Crozier recommended the formation of a board of directors for RMM consisting of himself, Nave, Bratton, and Cameron. All agreed to serve.

GOOD NEWS FOR THE MAGAZINES AND THE MOVEMENT The formal acquisition of Christian Standard Media by Restoration Movement Media was approved by the TSF board of directors on January 31, 2017. On February 10, 2017, the sale was finalized. (Under the agreement, Restoration Movement C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

Media received the rights to continue doing business as Christian Standard Media.) The following press release was distributed: Denver, Colorado—The Solomon Foundation (TSF), a church extension fund serving the Christian church and churches of - 45 -

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Christ with headquarters in Parker, Colorado, has acquired Christian Standard Media, according to TSF chief executive officer Doug Crozier. Christian Standard Media, consisting of The Lookout and Christian Standard magazines, has continued to operate under ownership of the Wicks Group since December 2016 when its parent company, Standard Publishing, was sold by Wicks to David C Cook, an evangelical publisher. “Christian Standard and The Lookout, so important to the Christian churches and churches of Christ for 15 decades, are now residing where they belong,” Crozier said, “with a ministry also committed to the congregations in this fellowship.” “We’re delighted by this opportunity to grow in our service to the churches,” said Mark A. Taylor, publisher. Crozier stressed that the magazines will operate as an independent, nonprofit ministry, Restoration Movement Media, a Colorado not for profit, continuing to serve as many congregations, ministries, and Christian leaders as possible. While the magazines’ business will be conducted from the Colorado office, the editorial staff will continue to operate from Cincinnati, Ohio. MOVING In late February, prior to the gathering of church leaders in March, the new RMM board of directors began their search for a publisher. From the beginning, each member had personally concluded that Jerry Harris, TSF board member and lead pastor of The Crossing in Quincy, Illinois, should be tapped as the new leader of this endeavor. Cameron spoke to Harris during a TSF church leaders conference in San Diego to suggest that Harris become the new publisher. At nearly the same time, Don Wilson and Mike Nave made similar suggestions to Harris. At the conclusion of the conference, Crozier and Cameron asked Harris to meet with them to discuss the matter. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

Taylor is editor of Christian Standard, and Kelly Carr is The Lookout editor. Christian Standard was founded in 1866 by Isaac Errett, whose family owned the magazine, which grew into Standard Publishing. The Lookout began publication in 1894. The Errett heirs sold the business to a Christian businessman in 1955, and it became the cornerstone of a multinational corporation finally known as Standex International. Standex sold Standard to Wicks in 2006. Christian Standard Media will continue to serve readers through the two print magazines, their two websites christianstandard. com and thelookoutmag.com, as well as Christian Standard ’s digital editions, available through a widely distributed app for phone or tablet. “Be watching for new, innovative ways to reach and serve Christian families and church leaders,” Crozier said. “We feel this is an exciting new beginning for two longtime friends and servants.” Crozier arranged a conference call on February 27, 2017, with the Publishing Committee to share the good news of the purchase. He then arranged for a March 3 meeting of about 20 church leaders from across the country to help RMM outline its future. FORWARD Harris was interested in the position and shared the following stipulations in a March 2 meeting: • That he not receive a salary for serving as publisher. Harris said he is highly invested in his ministry with The Crossing, and he did not want the elders of the church to perceive a conflict of interest. • That the board allow for a six-month trial period to ensure he could manage the responsibilities of both The Crossing and RMM. • That RMM become an independent entity once it repaid its loan to TSF. The RMM board agreed to the stipulations and Harris accepted the position. - 46 -

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At the March 3 meeting of church leaders, Harris was introduced as RMM’s new publisher. His stated mission for RMM was “to capture the power that comes from our unity.” He shared several core values for RMM at that time: • to present a greater harvest to God, knowing that we accomplish more working together, • to press for commonalities while being respectful of differences, • to push innovation and relevance without compromise to our core beliefs, • to pull each other up through reproof, rebuke, and encouragement, and • to pass our great heritage on to the next generation. Harris began a search for a new editor of Christian Standard, as Mark A. Taylor, who had served in that role since 2003, was planning to retire. Harris invited Mike Mack to fill the role. Kelly Carr stayed on as editor of The Lookout until June 2017, when she stepped down and was

replaced by Shawn McMullen. Jim Nieman continued in his role of managing editor of Christian Standard and Sheryl Overstreet continued as managing editor of The Lookout. Renee Little of TSF assumed operations responsibilities for RMM, and Anne Steinbroner and Tracy Nichols were brought on board as well, serving in the Parker office. Harris then hired Megan Kempf as designer and Abby Harris as photographer and social media manager. The first new edition of Christian Standard, the July 2017 issue, premiered at the North American Christian Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, in June. The first new edition of The Lookout premiered at the 2017 International Conference on Missions in Peoria, Illinois, in November. Recognizing the need to create and sustain a network to facilitate growth and fellowship among Restoration Movement churches, RMM purchased Christian Church Today (cctoday.com) and continues to build on that platform.

REFLECTIONS While recording dates and facts are important at the start of a venture such as this, it’s also critical that we acknowledge the hand of God in the process so that he is credited, honored, and glorified for his great work in bringing it about. Three things, in particular, stand out: • God has been steering these publications for more than 150 years, and his most recent, last-minute intervention to save them is further evidence of that. • The magazines had been shopped for several years, but the asking price had stymied previous purchase attempts. With their discontinuation looming, however, the price dropped significantly. This providential development not only allowed a purchase to occur but

helps to ensure the magazines’ future. • It seemed all hope was lost when the Wicks Group decided to discontinue the magazines after a late effort to purchase them was abandoned. But at just the right time, God brought just the right people into the picture: Steve Wyatt, who didn’t concede defeat and believed that hope still remained for the magazines; Doug Crozier, who took a step of faith as a leader to willingly take on this challenge; the TSM board of directors, who wholeheartedly supported the arrangement; and Jerry Harris, whose love for the Restoration Movement and passion for unity among our churches compelled him to accept the task of leading it. 

Shawn McMullen serves as editor of The Lookout and contributing editor of Christian Standard. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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restoring god’s dream for our world

BY JON FERGUSON

I first heard the phrase “helping people find their way back to God” at a small-group training conference. Author and small-group training guru Lyman Coleman would retell the story of the prodigal son at these conferences. With great conviction, he would remind us that every one of us is a prodigal, and that countless prodigals in all of our neighborhoods desperately want to “find their way back to God.” Those words resonated deep in our souls. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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Through the years, Community Christian Church’s mission statement has remained the same: “Helping people find their way back to God.” And we have grown to understand that our mission is expressed in three distinct and crucial ways. We are about: • reaching people who are far from God, • restoring God’s dream for the world, and • reproducing the mission in others. We believe our mission is incomplete if it is not expressed in all three ways. And in spite of significant reallocation of leadership and financial resources, our partnership with God in restoring his dream remains what most needs to be “restored” at Community. And, I would suggest, it may also be what most needs to be restored in the Restoration Movement. When Jesus’ public ministry began, he read from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18). Jesus made it clear: A major part of his earthly mission would focus on the poor and the “least of these.”

We all suffer the repercussions of their choice as well as our own misguided choices, and the result of those choices and the systems that have emerged have a far-reaching impact. Specifically in Chicago and beyond, far too many people are not realizing the dream God has for them:

• More than 600 people in Chicago were murdered in 2017. • Too many children receive a less than adequate education. • Chicago remains one of the most segregated cities in the United States. • There is an incredible misuse of wealth in our city. More than seven years ago, my family moved to the North Side of Chicago to carry out this This is not God’s dream. mission in a city where too many people and And it’s not just in Chicago. God’s dream is failplaces are not experiencing the dream God ing to be realized in places all over the world. had in mind. His dream for our world, which was born in the Garden (Genesis 1), was for a So what does it look like for us to be on mission place where people would live together with and fully engaged in restoring God’s dream for him in a most beautiful way. That dream was the world? Here are three very practical ways shattered when Adam and Eve chose their own we are seeking to fulfill this aspect of Jesus’ mission: path rather than God’s path. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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Giftmart In 2003, under

the leadership of Kirsten Strand, Community began a partnership with an elementary school in an under-resourced and primarily Latino community nearby. We entered the partnership with the philosophy of providing a “hand-up” instead of a “hand-out” whenever possible. So, when the school told us one of their biggest needs was helping families provide Christmas gifts for their children, we offered to sponsor a Christmas Giftmart. We collected donated new toys, set up a Giftmart at the school that allowed families to have the joy and dignity of picking out and purchasing gifts for their children at a price they could afford, and then we donated all the proceeds to the school. In that first year, we collected 1,200 toys, served 750 people, rallied 125 volunteers, and raised $800. Over the next 15 years, the concept grew thanks to growing partnerships with businesses, community groups, and other churches. This past Christmas, we sponsored five Giftmarts in three communities that supported 10 public elementary schools. We collected 11,600 toys, served 1,700 families, raised $20,000, and mobilized 1,100 volunteers. Over the years we have invested more than $200,000 to support public education in low-income neighborhoods.

Giftmart also serves as an on-ramp opportunity for volunteers that often leads to deeper community engagement in more relational ways. The vast majority of volunteers who staff our tutoring and mentoring programs at partner schools served at Giftmart before making a bigger and more impactful commitment.

Compassion International This past fall I traveled with a team from Com-

munity to a village just outside Managua, Nicaragua. As our van pulled up we noticed the newly constructed community center we’d seen until then only in photos. Hundreds of children and dozens of parents quickly assembled and proudly welcomed us to this place that has begun to transform the community; the center is providing a much-needed hand up to children and families living in poverty. Jim Melton, our global ministry director, coordinates a partnership with Compassion International that provides us the opportunity to work alongside churches in some of the poorest and most remote communities around the world. Compassion goes only to places that have a local church with which it can partner and provide vital services, which include its incredible child sponsorship program. Because of our partnership, more than 200 children from this community will receive healthy meals, an outstanding education, and the opportunity to find their way back to God. Over the past four years, our partnerships in Haiti and Nicaragua have combined to help start three churches and sponsor more than 800 children.

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Community Freedom Just over a year ago, longtime friend and Al-

pha Prisons deputy director Bruce Paulus approached Community and NewThing with the idea of starting churches in prisons. We prayed about this and God opened our eyes to the broken state of our prison system; we see this as a tremendous opportunity to restore God’s dream for a growing and desperate population. As we considered this opportunity and need, we became aware of some alarming national data: • 2.2 million Americans are confined in prisons (according to the Prison Policy Initiative). • 1 of 3 black males born today will be incarcerated at some point in their life (according to the Sentencing Project). • 700,000 Americans are released from prisons every year, and about two-thirds are rearrested within three years, one study showed. • Nearly 3 million children—that’s about 1 in 28—have an incarcerated parent (according to a Pew study). • Children with an incarcerated family member are 70 percent more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system (according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice). Clearly, millions of people are impacted by our prison system, and too many have little if any hope of finding their way back to God. For the past several months, I have worked with Amy Plummer, who leads a partnership we are calling Community Freedom. We believe this new venture has the potential to address some of the massive challenges men and women face in prisons all over the United States. Community Freedom has two objectives: • help detainees find their way back to God through a church community located in a prison and • work to ensure successful and sustainable reentry into the local community. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

We believe this may be one of the greatest restorative justice opportunities of our lifetime, as reentry may be the most significant challenge facing our prison system. This partnership could impact countless communities, millions of families, and leave an indelible mark for Jesus on our world. Consider the possibility of coming alongside incarcerated Christ followers to start a new church in a prison. Dare to dream of being a church that provides a safe and sustainable reentry for someone who simply needs a second chance. What a great opportunity to restore God’s dream for our world and put into practice Jesus’ words: “I have come to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18, author’s paraphrase).

AImagine Movement of Restoration a movement of people who are deter-

mined to reach people who are far from God and compelled to reproduce the mission over and over, and who are also relentless in restoring God’s dream to people and places all over the world. The Bible described the first-century church like this: “The believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need” (Acts 2:44, 45, author’s paraphrase). Could it be that our greatest opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission is to become a movement of people whose mission reflects the love and concern that Jesus and the first-century church had for those in need all around us? Could this aspect of our mission be what most needs to be restored in the Restoration Movement, and could it ultimately result in even more people finding their way back to God?  Jon Ferguson serves as a founding pastor at Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois. Among other roles, he provides strategic leadership for NewThing, Community’s church-planting mission. He has co-authored three books, The Big Idea (2007), Exponential (2010), and Discover Your Mission Now (2013). - 51 -

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Christian Standard Interview:

Back at the NACC

Why Nathan Loewen and other gospel-believing Disciples of Christ pastors are attending the North American Christian Convention in Indianapolis this year.

BY MICHAEL C. MACK C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

Much has changed and much has remained the same in the Restoration Movement over the past 90-plus years. The separation was set in motion, many say, over a two-year period beginning with the 1926 Disciples of Christ convention in Memphis, Tennessee, and then the response by the more biblically conservative church leaders who organized the first North American Christian Convention in 1927. Over the next 45 years or so, the two groups drifted apart more and more. Each had their own mission societies, magazines, colleges, conventions, and “distinctive” viewpoints. If you attend this year’s NACC in Indianapolis, however, you might run into several Disciples pastors. And, it seems, more are attending each year, despite the risks involved. At last year’s NACC, I met Nathan Loewen, senior pastor of First Christian Church of the Beaches in Neptune Beach, Florida, a Disciples of Christ church founded in 1945. Loewen, who started at the church in 2016, grew up in Disciples churches in Texas, went to Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, and ministered at First Christian Church in Cleburne, Texas, before moving to Florida. I was intrigued by Loewen’s story and wanted to know more. Why are he and other Disciples pastors coming to the NACC? Is their attendance a sign of something bigger occurring? Is reunification, at least with some in the Disciples stream, possible? These were a few of the questions I had for this 35-year-old who calls himself a gospel-believing Disciples of Christ pastor. - 52 -

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Let’s start with the most obvious question. Why is a Disciples of Christ guy like you attending the North American Christian Convention? In seminary, in the Disciples history class we had to take, we learned about the entirety of the Restoration Movement, and our textbook talked about the North American beginning in 1927, so I had a knowledge that it existed and continued. I’ve been pretty frustrated with our [Disciples] General Assembly that meets every other year. It wasn’t life-giving for my ministry, so I was looking for something to attend that was still within the Restoration Movement, where I could hear the gospel and be poured into, and worship alongside [other like-minded leaders]. So I thought I’d give the North American a try [in 2017], and it was fantastic. It met all my expectations and more.

One of the things you and I discussed at the 2017 NACC was that “unity is the polar star” for many Disciples churches. What do you mean by that? The Disciples branch of the Restoration Movement has moved into ecumenism in wanting to include everybody. Unity for the sake of unity is hard, I believe, when it’s not based on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because it’s the gospel of Jesus Christ that brings that unity, that causes that unity. When we believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God, our Lord and Savior who died on the cross for our salvation and was resurrected to life, we become brothers and sisters in the faith. [When we] understand the Bible that way, as it’s written as an infallible text, it’s hard to have unity with someone who doesn’t believe that. Because that’s not true Christian unity. [Instead] you’re wanting unity with someone who has believed a false teaching or is promoting false teaching. It’s easier for the Christian churches and the a cappellas to come together because they have that unity in the gospel, whereas Disciples, I believe, are viewed as a whole as people who have thrown away the authority of the text, and because we’ve done that, it makes everything else questionable. But I’m one of those who teaches on the infallibility of the Word. And quite a few of us exist who hang out quietly within the Disciples. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

What struggles have you faced either within your own church or from outside as you preach on the infallibility of the Scripture and so forth? No kickback here in the local church. More so when I get together [with other Disciples pastors] on a regional level. I’ve learned to take the attitude and posture of a missionary, knowing that I have the gospel and not everyone [else] in the room does. Not to hate them, but to love them and point them back to the gospel. There have been some struggles. There’s always talk within Disciples of, “Well, if we could just get rid of our conservative pastors!” I was at a Disciples gathering with 36 other pastors who are in the top 100 in size—which is not that great a thing within Disciples, because I think you only have to have 200 in worship to be in the top 100 [see sidebar, “Disciples Churches by the Numbers”]. The new general minster and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, Teresa Hord Owens, was there, and I was struck by what she said. I recall her saying, “If you can’t confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, our Lord and Savior, then you’re not a Christian. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not a Christian.” Within Disciples, that probably hasn’t been uttered in such a matter-of-fact way in decades.

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From your perspective, what would be the most difficult part of reunifying Disciples with the other streams of the Restoration Movement? The hardest part, I believe, is that the other streams, the a cappella churches of Christ and the independent Christian churches, believe the infallibility of Scripture is an essential. The Disciples want everyone to take it as a nonessential, so that there’s liberty in our interpretation and understanding. As a whole, as a denomination, Disciples are not willing to move on that. That “Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, our Lord and Savior” is our lone essential, and so unity around that confession [alone] would require the other parts of the Restoration Movement to [set aside] something they believe to be an essential, which would be an extreme move, and it’s not one evangelicals will make.

Where would you consider your church right now: as an independent Christian church, as a Disciples church, as both, or as neither? We are a Disciples church until we can’t be in the Disciples anymore. So far, they haven’t told us that based on our beliefs we can’t be a part of them. Its official name, First Christian Church of the Beaches, does not include “Disciples of Christ.” [The church] was founded before 1968 [when the Disciples adopted the “Provisional Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)”; this is also the date of the final redaction of the Disciples Year Book, removing independent Christian churches]. Our church doesn’t have a history of participation within the denomination. The sign in front of our church does not identify the church as Disciples. The sign does have the [Disciples of Christ] chalice symbol on it, but it’s coming down. That’s the only place you’ll find the chalice on anything we have. You won’t even see a link to the Disciples [denomination] on our website.

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It sounds like you identify more with independent Christian churches, and yet you still consider yourself a Disciples church. Yeah, that’s probably 100 percent accurate. I have more things in common with the average independent church than I have with most Disciples churches. I was born and raised in Disciples, but I am blessed that my dad, who became a Disciples pastor, is also evangelical. He was born Mennonite, they were Nazarene when there wasn’t a Mennonite church around, and he joined a Disciples church because he married a Lutheran! When you get into rural towns, those [Disciples] churches tend to be more evangelical. Where you see the strongest difference is in our clergy, because we go to [theologically liberal schools such as] Brite Divinity School, Lexington Theological Seminary, Christian Theological Seminary in Indiana. I went to Brite Divinity School, which might be the lighthouse for liberal theology, especially within the Restoration Movement. When I was in seminary, I was buying liberal theology hook, line, and sinker. I was like, yeah, universalism, let’s go! The change happened [as I was] reading my Bible [and I found it] really hard when I had to take in all these academic exercises to try to understand it. I just wanted to take the Bible at its word and read it and see what happens. It was a freeing experience; I felt freedom in the discovery of the gospel for the first time as a clergy when I did so. So that’s where I ended up. We have Bibles in the pews [at First Christian Church of the Beaches], and I tell everyone every Sunday, “If you don’t have a Bible, you need to take that Bible that’s in that pew; it’s yours.” We tell people, “What’s more fallible, you or the Word of God?” - 54 -

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“

My job as a minister is to stand up for the gospel and preach the gospel. Unashamedly and boldly. I can’t do so if I’m afraid of denominational structures or hierarchies or anything that may happen to me.

You told me about a “movement” within the Disciples churches that are gospelcentered. Talk about that. I found myself as an evangelical pastor within Disciples [feeling] isolated, and so I have resources and wherewithal to find other pastors I can identify with, and I’m not stuck to Disciples tradition to find those. I’m willing to go to the North American to find other people I can relate to. I just wanted to create an affinity group within Disciples of gospel-centered clergy. So my buddy, Paul Carpenter, who’s at First Christian Church in Lubbock, Texas, and I started this [Facebook] group with just a handful of people we knew. There are 70-plus members [who are pastors of Disciples churches] in it now, and we haven’t even reached a year of doing this. It’s all [through] word of mouth that it’s spread. We’re just there to support each other. And I believe there are more out there; not all of them are connected on Facebook, especially those who are older. When we see someone who may be a youth minister at a church, and when we hear their sermon online, we post it in the Facebook group and we say, “we need to start praying for this young man and start pouring into him,” and we do, because we know if we don’t, they’ll end up at a Disciples seminary, and we’ve all been through that. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

How many of these 70 Disciples pastors do you think will be at the NACC this year? Maybe 10. Some of [these pastors] are afraid of backlash from denominational structures, and if they need to go find another job, the regional ministers may not be willing to put their [résumé] in front of all of the churches [that have openings]. So you may sit without a pulpit for a long time. And Indianapolis is where our headquarters are, and some of them may be fearful.

So you may be taking a risk by coming to the NACC. Yeah, that’s fine. I’m not worried about anything. My job as a minister is to stand up for the gospel and preach the gospel. Unashamedly and boldly. I can’t do so if I’m afraid of denominational structures or hierarchies or anything that may happen to me. Because if it does, it does. Missionaries all across the world risk their lives because they preach the gospel and they may be killed for it. If I’m too afraid to preach the gospel and make connections with other pastors who are preaching the gospel because I’m afraid my résumé may not end up in front of another church when it’s time for me to move churches, there’s not a whole lot of courage there.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes. For my independent Christian church brothers and sisters out there, if there’s a Disciples church in your town, go reach out and talk to that pastor. You may be surprised. You may have to make the first move, but there may be great kingdom things that come out of it because you did so. 

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PADDLING together in the same direction

BY VICTOR KNOWLES

More Fruitful Together than Apart Rick Atchley is the senior teaching minister of the largest a cappella church of Christ in America, The Hills Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Bob Russell, until retirement, served as minister of one of the largest Christian churches and churches of Christ in America, Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2006, 100 years after the division between the two fellowships, these two leaders coauthored a book, Together Again: Restoring Unity in Christ after a Century of Separation. In it they write about their shared convictions of Christ and Scripture and their common passion for oneness and evangelism.

In our American Restoration Movement, we have been paddling in separate streams for more than 100 years. Like Paul and Barnabas, we had a “sharp disagreement” (Acts 15:39) over issues like instrumental music and missionary societies. We too “parted company” and had our own journals to spread the good news (Gospel Advocate and Christian Standard), started our own Bible colleges and Christian universities to prepare gospel workers (Lipscomb University and Johnson Bible College—now Johnson University), and developed our own lectureships and conventions to encourage and equip Christians (Pepperdine Bible Lectures and the North American Christian Convention).

Both fellowships, according to the authors, agree that we are saved by grace through faith, that the Bible gives us clear directives expressing our faith (repentance, confession, baptism), that we want to win people to Christ (and not exalt our particular fellowship), and that we are willing to work together to accomplish the goal of evangelism. “If we are working toward the same goal, how foolish of us not to work together,” they write. “The opportunity to bring more people into the Kingdom of God and see more souls saved for eternity should compel us to set aside our differences and work toward this common goal.”

Since at least 1906, the noninstrumental (or a cappella) churches of Christ have been paddling in a different stream from the Christian churches and churches of Christ. Both groups of churches have been advancing for the cause of Christ, but they haven’t been paddling as one team in one stream.

Atchley and Russell are especially encouraged about cooperative efforts in the mission of church planting. They tell how a Christian church in Colorado gave money to an a cappella church in Texas to plant another a cappella church in a nearby town. A dying a cappella church in California gave money from the sale of their building to plant a Christian church to reach the lost in their community. And in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, four Restoration churches from both fellowships partnered to plant a new church in their city.

In recent years, however, some of the “separateness” is starting to dissipate and we are seeing encouraging signs of these two groups paddling together.

The authors say, “We are convinced that God is honored by such efforts. We are also convinced that we can be far more fruitful together than we can be apart.”

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God’s People Working Together for God’s Mission Lynn Ragsdale is a regional vice president with The Solomon Foundation who likes to think in terms of “strategic partnerships.” “The Restoration Movement is very much alive and well in the United States,” Ragsdale says. “As many of our leaders have stated, we do not have to be twins to be brothers. That is very clear as it relates to the instrumental issue but also about the racial divides.” Today there are about 1,172 noninstrumental churches of Christ in the United States with predominately African-American memberships. It is among the largest collection of churches impacting the African-American community. These congregations vary in practice and methods but are tightly knit as a group. Ragsdale says this group appeared on The Solomon Foundation’s radar because the churches quite often are located in urban areas, and banks are unwilling to loan them funds to build or expand their facilities. But, as one African-American preacher put it, “While everyone else is running out of the fire, the church must run in.” By now, it should be obvious the government does not have the answer for the serious issues of our inner-city areas. The church remains the only hope for our cities. One example of a church making a difference in its urban setting is Greater Metropolitan Church of Christ in Kansas City, Missouri, led by senior pastor Branden Mims. This church is located in the 3rd District of Kansas City, a high-crime area known well by people in and around Kansas City. (It is less than a mile from a high-end development called The Plaza. What a difference a mile can make!) In 2017 in Kansas City, 150 homicides were committed, with 39 of them occurring in the neighborhood around Greater Metropolitan Church of Christ, Ragsdale said. The church has leaks in the roof caused by bullet holes . . . but Greater C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

Metropolitan remains in the community. The same year 39 people were killed in the immediate neighborhood, Greater Metropolitan baptized 39 people! Mims continues to preach and serve Jesus. The Solomon Foundation has partnered with Greater Metropolitan Church of Christ, and soon the church will celebrate the grand opening of a new facility worth well over $2.5 million, but which cost only $1 million. The church extension fund with independent (or instrumental) Christian church roots is working together with the noninstrumental church of Christ to carry out Jesus’ mission. Solomon partners in prayer, coaching, and funding. All are essential. When I heard this story, I thought of what David wrote in Psalm 133:1, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Let me encourage you to be courageous and creative in seeking ways to reach out to those in other “regiments” of the Lord’s army, even if it seems like you might be paddling in uncharted waters. God is too good, time is too short, and Heaven is too wonderful not to reach out to others and maximize our efforts for Christ.  Victor Knowles is founder and president of POEM (Peace on Earth Ministries), Joplin, Missouri. Since 1984 he has served as editor of One Body magazine. He is the author of 23 books, including Stand and Deliver (POEM Publications, 2017). - 58 -

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W HY

I L OV E T H E

RESTO R AT I O N

M OVEME NT BY RICK CHROMEY

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“I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am, I did not make it, no it is making me.” Rich Mullins, “Creed” I grew up in a small independent Christian church in remote central Montana. I cut my teeth in a wooden pew, sandwiched between my grandmother and brother, listening to sermons, learning hymns, and loving the saints. I washed Communion cups as a preschooler, passed offering plates as a child, and led song services and served Communion to shut-ins as a teen. I loved my church family. They made me who I am. My recognition of a Restoration Movement actually emerged by consequence. As a bored boy in church, particularly when the sermon got tedious, I religiously retreated to Christian Standard to pass the time. I devoured stories about other Christian churches and read about inspiring leaders, teachers, and missionaries. I learned our glorious history, including what unified and divided us. I studied the news from our churches: obituaries, ordinations, baptisms, changes of ministry, new church plants. I dreamed of becoming a preacher and wondered if my name might one day be published. In college and seminary, my loyalty to Restoration history, churches, and doctrine only deepened. Later I would rub shoulders with many of our churches’ greatest preachers, professors, leaders, missionaries, writers, and musicians: Bob Russell, Wayne Smith, Don DeWelt, Ben Merold, Jack Cottrell, Eleanor Daniel, Sam Stone, Jeff Walling, Ajai Lall. I watched as independent Christian churches led the 1980s megachurch movement and our leaders guided national church conversations. I participated in various church camps, state conventions, Christ in Youth conferences, North American

Christian Conventions, and International Conferences on Missions. I eventually taught at several Restoration colleges and universities. This is my tribe. These are my people. So why do I love this Restoration Movement? What makes it appealing, special, and notable? Why do I faithfully attend and promote Christian churches? A HISTORY WORTH CELEBRATING No other purely American-born church, save the Mormons, has grown faster, larger, and more influential than the Christian churches of the Restoration Movement. Essentially, we are a unity movement of independent Christians. We’re not locked inside labels, captured by creeds, or dictated by denominational edicts. We’re a refuge for all believers from all corners of Christianity. We were founded at the turn of the 19th century by Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio. Within a half century, Christian churches and churches of Christ populated the American landscape. We were tagged as Campbellites but preferred to be called Christians or Disciples. Like any family, we’ve had our historical squabbles, fights, and divisions. We’ve endured our weaknesses, failures, and scandals, but our story remains gloriously rooted to unity, grace, love, and peace. We aren’t the only Christians. We’re just Christians. We’re disciples of Christ. We’re the church of Christ.

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A FUTURE WORTH FOLLOWING While many denominational churches across America are struggling and the influence of Christianity is clearly in decline in Western culture, I think the best days lie ahead for Restoration congregations. It’s because we prefer to build bodies more than brands. We generally aren’t limited by facilities, personalities, or geography. Our independent structure doesn’t stop us from changing, adapting, and moving. Even though our historic, central message hasn’t changed, it’s becoming clear our strategies must evolve. We can no longer operate like it’s 1975, 1995, or even 2005. We may worship differently. We may have different preachers. We may enjoy different local traditions. But at our heart we’re still one church. We’re one body of believers. We’re immersed into one baptism, and weekly partake of one Lord’s Supper. We may go to different Bible colleges and seminaries. We might disagree over certain topics. We may be loyal to particular teachers and preachers. But we are still one church. The culture might change, political views might shift, new ideas might come, but we remain essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally the church of Christ. We are disciples of Christ. This is why I love the Restoration Movement. We are constantly striving to restore the “ancient order” even as we build bridges into today’s culture to impact tomorrow’s world. No, we’re not perfect. We haven’t arrived. We’re still seeking. But we’ve found biblical Christianity sets us free. It’s what’s made us who we are. And that’s something to love.  Rick Chromey is president of MANNA! Educational Services International (www.mannasolutions.org) in Meridian, Idaho.

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A MESSAGE WORTH REPEATING At the heart of our Restoration message is Alexander Campbell’s appeal to “restore the ancient order of things.” In the process, various slogans have shaped us: • “We are not the only Christians; we are Christians only.” • “Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.” • “In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; in all things, love.” • “The church of Jesus Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one.” • “No creed but Christ. No book but the Bible. No law but love. No name but the divine.” It’s a gospel message that’s personally appealing and one that many others welcome too. In my own pastoral work, I often operate outside of Restoration circles. I regularly write, consult, and speak for denominational events, conferences, and schools. Consequently, I’ve had countless opportunities to share our values, church practices, doctrine, and perspectives with Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Nazarenes, Quakers, and many other denominational flavors. Last year I spoke to influential children’s ministry leaders in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In various conversations, I was afforded opportunities to share my Restoration heritage and doctrinal views. I was surprised to learn the Adventist position on baptism is essentially the same. I’m discovering many churches are open to weekly Communion. As an interim minister a few years ago for an Evangelical Free church, I preached on Acts. The church proved surprisingly open to my baptismal views and even started to practice the Lord’s Supper more regularly. We have a great message that the wider church hungers to hear.

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HEADLINES BY CHRIS MOON

ticker //tape Collective Church in Los Angeles—an Orchard Group church plant—has moved into a new facility with additional parking and space for children. The church has met in several venues on the west side of Los Angeles during the past three years. The church was planted by Casey Fritz and Lorenzo Smith. Stadia Church Planting has added three new executives to its team: Bob Carlton, director of recruitment; Toney Salva, northeast regional director; and Hank Wilson, post-launch director. Twenty students and family members from Wilmington (Ohio) Church of Christ spent spring break in Rocky Point, Mexico, helping build a house for a family in need. The students participated in several fund-raisers for the trip, including selling concessions at a karate tournament, selling T-shirts, and collecting donations in green buckets during Sunday services. South Union Christian Church in Bloomington, Ind., offers an alternative to traditional daycare during summer break and other school breaks.

Manhattan (Kan.) Christian College this spring hosted its annual Vision 360 Banquet, which highlighted past, present, and future students of the school and celebrated how God is using MCC to advance the kingdom. Crossroads Christian Church in Macon, Mo., hosted “Respite Night,” an event for families with special-needs children. The church offered a free evening of care that included dinner, games, crafts, sensory activities, and one-on-one trained buddies for the evening. Hope International University students this spring presented the Broadway classic Annie: The Musical. The university’s Center for Music & Worship Arts held four performances in HIU’s Pacific Auditorium in Fullerton, Calif. Ozark Christian College this spring hosted its “Deeper Life” conference for high school students. The conference in Joplin, Mo., featured speaker Jim Dalrymple and worship led by OCC’s Frontline. Central Church of Christ in Streator, Ill., hosted a weekend marriage retreat at Rock River Christian Camp in Polo, Ill., in May. The retreat, which began with a candlelight dinner Friday night,

CHURCHES UNITE TO CARRY THE CROSS Campton (Ky.) Christian Church brought the message of the cross to its region in the lead-up to Easter. The church’s “Cross Across Wolfe County” event brought churches and other believers together to carry a large wooden cross from one end of Wolfe County, Ky., to the other. The event took place on the Saturday before Easter. Churches, youth groups, and families signed up to carry the cross in 2-mile segments. The cross covered a distance of about 20 miles. Local law enforcement provided an escort for participants, and an assist vehicle offered refreshments and hydration. CCC shared Facebook updates throughout the day of the cross’s journey. “Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross for us and to save us from sin,” the church said. “He gives us the opportunity to make the decision that will allow us to live eternally in Heaven.”

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“Kingdom Kamp” includes elementary-age kids games, cooking, sports, arts, water activities, and field trips.

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focused on communication and strengthening marriages.

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Johnson University Tennessee in Knoxville hosted a women’s conference called “Treasured” featuring speaker Jennifer Taylor Johnson, chief communications officer at the college. Angie Aubrey, of Seymour Heights Christian Church, led worship.

OHIO CHURCH STARTS SERVICE FOR NON-MORNING PEOPLE The Crossing Church in Batavia, Ohio, has taken action to help Christians who simply aren’t “morning people.” The church in April launched a Thursday-night worship service. “The reason for starting a Thursdaynight service is to reach those who aren’t able to attend church on Sunday mornings because of conflicts such as sports events, family activities, or even the desire to sleep in,” the church said. “We want to provide ample opportunities to have a life-changing encounter with Jesus and Thursday night gives you another chance.” The new worship service launched the Thursday after Easter. It included childcare, door greeters, and coffee. The new service is identical to the church’s Sunday-morning services.

Woodland Hills Christian Church in Abingdon, Va., participated in the “Forget the Frock” movement on Easter. Instead of spending money on new Easter church attire, members purchased shirts that supported Feeding the Orphans. Profits went to orphan care, including providing food, water, medicine, education, and discipleship. Women in the Crafting Life Group at Valley Mills Christian Church in Indianapolis provided 27 birthday boxes for children who live at a local shelter. The boxes were filled with everything a child needs for a birthday party. Boise (Idaho) Bible College sponsored its first spring break camp for middle and high school students. “Bible Boot Camp” was held at Grove Christian Camp in Dorena, Ore., and addressed the theme, “What does it mean to be a strong biblical leader?” Sunbury (Ohio) Christian Church helped host a community fishing derby that featured free fishing for kids as well as

Members of Grandview Christian Church in Johnson City, Tenn., served their community by helping prepare income tax forms for free as part of the Voluntary Income Tax Assistance program. Northwest Christian Church in Acworth, Ga., hosted a Seder Supper in the days leading up to Easter. The church’s celebration recognized Jesus, “the true Passover Lamb,” and the freedom he provides from sin and death. Jean and Lloyd Strickland were honored as Citizens of the Year by the Clearwater (B.C., Canada) and District Chamber of Commerce on March 23. They served in ministry with Clearwater Christian Church from 1965 to 2015. Lincoln (Ill.) Christian Seminary is launching a new Master of Arts in Formative Worship this fall. It will be the first such program in the country among Association of Theological School seminaries. The new program is led by professors Dinelle Frankland and Neal Windham. 

/ChristianStandardMagazine @ChrStandard @christianstandardmagazine Cs@ChristianStandardMedia.com

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games and food. Stations were set up to teach casting, fish handling, basic knots, baiting, cleaning, and frying.

CFR REACHES NEW MILESTONE Christian Financial Resources earlier this year reached $400 million in total assets under management—another major milestone for the growing financial services firm. Lake Mary, Fla.-based CFR began expanding outside the state of Florida in 2010. It passed $100 million in managed assets a year later, and then exceeded $200 million in 2014 and $300 million in 2016. “CFR has an amazing network of churches and investors we serve,” said CEO Darren Key. “Our team loves knowing we have funded hundreds of ministry projects that are changing lives.” CFR recently financed capital projects at Adventure Christian Church in Tavares, Fla., Christ Church in Winchester, Ky., and Community Christian Church in Nottingham, Md. 

NONDENOMINATIONALISH Headlines For Christians Who Don’t Take Themselves Too Seriously

BY CALEB KALTENBACH YOUTH SPORTS FAMILIES OFFER A ‘HEADS-UP’ PARKER, CO—Just as senior pastors look forward to the fall season attendance bump, youth sports families across the nation delivered a “heads-up” regarding their attendance. “We’ve never given a ‘heads-up’ about our attendance, but when many of us formed a National Youth Sports Family Social Media Group, we thought it was a good idea,” said Dana Jensen of 66th Street Christian Church, Sedalia, Ohio. Jensen said her pastor’s reaction was a bit unsettling. “He was in such a happy mood that morning, but when I told him that starting in September we’d be gone for two and a half months, his eyes glazed over and he began mumbling.” Ray Spellman of Louisville, Kentucky, noticed a similar re-

action from his pastor. “He just stared off into space, mouthed the words ‘thanks,’ and walked off.” In Indianapolis, Jenny Miller said her pastor had a quite different reaction. “He wasn’t bothered at all!” Miller said. “He thanked me for letting him know! He even caught me after service and told me about next Sunday’s new sermon series on ‘committing to church.’ He’s so caring!” According to the National Youth Sports Family Social Media Group, the “heads-up” covers the next 12 months. Sports families will be away most every weekend September through mid-November, will remain home for at least some of the holidays, will resume travels on weekends February through the end of C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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April, and then remain home a good portion of the summer (aside from three or four weeks of family vacation . . . and assorted traveling leagues and tournaments). Would the sports families consider attending an evening service? “Well, if we’re not traveling on Saturday night then we need that evening to rest,” the group representative responded. “Sunday evenings are our family evenings. But we love our churches and are completely sold out to them.” As we were going to press, a new social media group was started: The Pastors of Youth Sports Families Support Group. We reached out to a representative for comment; after a long pause, he said, “We love our youth sports families.”

THE GOSPEL COALITION CREATES DRESS CODE FOR CALVINISTS, ARMINIANS LOUISVILLE, KY—The leadership of The Gospel Coalition asked Calvinists and Arminians to dress differently—distinctively—for their recent conference. “We honestly thought it [a dress code] would be an easier way to label each other,” a coalition executive committee member said. “You know, it takes a lot of work to decipher someone’s theology so you can decide if you want to be their friend or not.” The Arminians in attendance agreed with the decision. “It’s made this year’s conference run more smoothly,” Al Wesley said. “This year, when I’ve gotten in theological debates with Calvinists, I just look for someone dressed like me and pull them in to take my side. It makes everything better.” This year’s wardrobe guidelines: Baby Boomer Calvinists and older: suit and tie, no facial hair, frown on face. Young and Neo-Calvinists: skinny jeans, dark clothing, coffee, long beard. Any Arminian: loose coat, white pants, facial stubble (just channel Don Johnson from Miami Vice). Open Theists: parachute pants, tank top, fake mustache.

“Dressing like Don Johnson has given me a chance to really communicate my theology,” said Arminian Ted Stone, glancing casually over his sunglasses. “Don dressed simply; my theology is simple. He dressed fashionably, and being Arminian is the ‘in thing.’ He fought crime; I fight predestination.” Conference attendees were confused during the first session when John Piper and Al Mohler walked onstage wearing Members Only jackets, maroon slacks, and penny loafers. Theological discussions and debates murmured through the crowd. “I just had no idea what doctrinal position they were taking,” said neo-Calvinist Jim MacArthur. Most in the audience were relieved when Piper and Mohler said they were “predestined to dress this way.” The Arminians, in response, started chanting, “We can feel it coming in the air tonight . . . ”

‘AT THE MOVIES’ OPENS TO MIXED REVIEWS BURLINGTON, OK—Chad Beachwix’s decision to show Black Panther last Sunday morning isn’t sitting well with leadership at Sixth Christian Church. “The movie has a powerful message and I thought it would really challenge our church,” Beachwix said. “I interjected the sermon at certain points during the movie.” Longtime elder Bob Norbit disagreed. C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

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“No, he did not interject himself,” Norbit said. “Every 30 minutes he paused the movie, talked for a minute, pushed play, and ate popcorn in the first row.” Moving forward, Norbit said, eldership will prescreen all of Beachwix’s selections for his “At the Movies” sermon series. Not everyone in the church was so critical. “I’m not sure what the movie had to do with Jesus, but man, that was a good movie!” said church secretary Cletus Philburn. Then, excitedly, he asked, “Where can I get my hands on some of that vibranium? I could use that in my business!” Many church members seemed pleased with the Black Panther Sunday take-home items. All 300 people in attendance received a movie button to wear, popcorn, and black gloves with razor-sharp claws. “The gloves will come in handy when I need to get my husband’s attention,” said church member Sheila Witherington. Beachwix thinks it was a good first step in the series. “I’d for sure show the movie again,” he said “Maybe I wouldn’t show the whole movie—only clips. And maybe I’d preach longer than three minutes.” Charter church member Rita Clearwater was asked her thoughts on Black Panther Sunday. “Wakanda forever,” she screeched.  Caleb Kaltenbach is just kidding.

interact FORENSICS OF GOOD FRIDAY

ONE-HIT WONDERS

Thank you for the medical details of the horrors Jesus suffered for us [“The Forensics of Good Friday,” by Dwain C. Illman, p. 33, April 2018]. . . . Fortunately, it did not end there. Time for me to find the poem, “Seven Stanzas at Easter.” Anonymous via website

I am surprised at how little the power of God’s Word is given credit in this article for someone returning to church [“How to Maximize High-Attendance Weekends (and Minimize ‘One-Hit Wonders’),” by David Dummitt, p. 8, April 2018]. It really doesn’t matter if they return to your church; it does matter that they return or find a fellowship of believers at a Bible-believing and teaching church. Lots of secular business principles overshadowing the power of the resurrection of Jesus. Glen via website

HIS FAVORITE THING I love Leesburg Christian Church [“His Favorite Thing,” by Ken Idleman, p. 24, March 2018]. Everyone makes you feel like a member of a true church family. The pastor, Sammy Harris, and his wife, Sheree, are two of the finest people I’ve had the privilege to call friends. Bill Dowd via website This is one of the most inspiring stories I have ever read [“His Favorite Thing”]! The Lord . . . had his hand on Sammy [Harris] through it all. To have Sheree by his side makes this couple a powerful team! I know and love them. To say how proud I am of these two would be impossible! Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. Keep moving forward! However, take time to rest and restore yourselves. Lena Rae Fern via website C H RIS TI AN STA N DAR D

BLADE RUNNER I really like the first and last sections (soil specific, great thought/phrase) [“3 Ways Blade Runner Predicted the Future of Church and Why We Should Pay Attention,” by Mel McGowan, p. 22, April 2018]! The middle is a little non sequitur. But good engagement with what was probably the best movie (artistically) of the last year. Jordan Kellicut via Facebook - 70 -

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HACKED With a few minor changes this article could just as easily apply to baby boomers [“How Easter Got Hacked,” by Haydn Shaw, p. 14, April 2018]. The problem is not just found in what the church is or isn’t teaching, it’s also found in what the church is and is not doing. We sit comfortably in our pews on Sunday without a thought for the homeless standing on the corner. We subtly (or sometimes not so subtly) equate Christianity with conservatism. We condemn lifestyles that we don’t agree with without offering the healing power of Christ unconditionally. Millennials are not stupid. The only way to reconcile this discrepancy is to water down the gospel. SRC via website I would add two things we need to do to correct this wrong mind-set: (1) Pastors need to do more than educate. They need to teach young people to obey: “. . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). They need to train young people (and everyone else) to do the work of the ministry: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:11, 12). (2) Parents need to disciple their kids, not just spend “quality time” with them, and not just teach manners and morals. John Allcott via Facebook

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Thanks @ChrStandard! We love you guys and your work. Your coverage on Kevin Dooley [“The Bold Invitation,” p. 38, April 2018] looked so impressive. The Restoration Hulk @RestorationHULK

COMMUNION WITH EACH OTHER [“Drama of the Gospel: The Communion Distinctive,” by Mark Scott, p. 26, April 2018]?! COMMUNION WITH GOD IN PRAYER?! OR IS IT COMMUNION = SUPPER OF OUR LORD?! B MORE SPECIFIC! Milligan College @MilliganCollege

Great Milligan stories in the @ChrStandard! #MilliganNews Jessie Clemence @JessieClemence4

Is your #church hurting? I’ve totally been there. Here’s an article I wrote for the @ChrStandard on our #churchsplit. There is #hope. God holds your church’s future!

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feedback! /ChristianStandardMagazine @ChrStandard @christianstandardmagazine Cs@ChristianStandardMedia.com For space, length, readability, relevance, and civility, comments sent to Interact may remain unpublished or be edited. We do read them all and prayerfully take them to heart. If we publish your comment, we will try to honestly reproduce your thoughts with those considerations in mind. Where we disagree, let’s continue to keep P.H. Welshimer’s words in mind to “disagree without being disagreeable.”

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- COMMUNIONMEDITATION -

A HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams lay on his deathbed surrounded by family and friends in Massachusetts. Adams had spent his entire life in the service of liberty, freedom, and in working to build a new nation. But now, after a career of service and dedication, he knew his life was ending.

Adams had accomplished much in his 90 years. Yet, interestingly, Adams’s final words were simply, “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Apparently above all else, the thing that gave our nation’s second president the most satisfaction in his final moments was not reflecting on what had been done, but rather the hope that someone he trusted, his fellow patriot and founding father Thomas Jefferson, was still alive. Unbeknownst to Adams, however, just five hours earlier that same day, in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson had passed away. The story of Adams’s final moments is helpful to us as we consider and contemplate the meaning of Communion. First, it reminds us that true satisfaction and contentment in life shouldn’t come from our own accomplishments and successes, but rather from a deeply held hope in the future. As Christ followers, we know hope comes from believing that someone we love and trust is still alive and at work. Second, it reminds us that no matter how honorable our intentions, to place hope and trust in anyone other than Jesus Christ is folly. In Communion, we are invited to remember that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ provide us with eternal hope for the future. As the apostle wrote: “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). And, so, we have this same eternal hope that our work, service, and suffering for him are not in vain—because we trust in him for today and for tomorrow. 

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BY JON WREN Jon Wren is a pastor, speaker, and author who loves history and college football and once got a ticket for driving too slowly.

Jon Wren has written three more Communion Meditations specifically for use in July. See a new one posted each Tuesday at ChristianStandard. com.