BILL AANESTAD / EXECUTIVE PASTOR / ORCHARD CHURCH / MURRIETA, CALIF. By RaeAnn Slaybaugh As Executive Pastor Bill Aanestad and his team at Orchard Church neared completion of their construction project, they were looking for a long-term fixed-rate loan. With interest rates on the verge of a sharp increase, they wanted something predictable. Something manageable. […]
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For ministry leaders, ‘estate planning’ isn’t a priority; plus, a lot of misconceptions surround the process. To ensure your wishes are carried out and to protect your loved ones, it’s crucial to have a deeper understanding of what estate planning involves — and to get started now, while you can make the best possible […]
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Sadly, the threat of an active shooter incident is now a top-of-mind daily concern for today’s church leaders. Too many still believe it could never happen in their own houses of worship — but in reality, FBI hate crime statistics show that such incidents in religious facilities increased nearly 35% between 2014 and 2018. […]
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By Rev. Dr. Perry J. Hopper For any church to effectively carry out its ministry to faithfully serve God, it needs many lay leaders and volunteers with diverse gifts. All believers are called to be servant leaders, including the pastor and ministerial staff. While the pastor is often the most visible servant in most […]
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National Child Abuse Prevention Month is upon us. Commemorate it by brushing up on some basics — and taking impactful action in your own church to protect children. Church Executive: As insurers, what kind of an increase in child sexual abuse claims have you seen among churches in recent years? Andrew Shockey: It was […]
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By RaeAnn Slaybaugh Central Peninsula Church in Foster City, Calif., is blessed in many ways — not the least of which is in having land in the highly sought-after Bay Area on which to expand as necessary. “Divine timing” is another factor when it comes to locking in a favorable interest rate for its […]
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What to expect from child protection agencies By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris Child sexual abuse continues to present a compelling concern to the Church. An understanding of mandatory reporting requirements is critical for ministry leaders. If every allegation of child sexual abuse is simply reported by church leaders to appropriate authorities, the […]
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By RaeAnn Slaybaugh If you had to choose a time to build a new church, it wouldn’t be during COVID. But as PaulAnn Church Lead Pastor Kirt Dauphin and Leadership Development Director Quinn Banister discovered, God’s timing is always good. Though Kirt Dauphin and his wife, Cindi, had never visited San Angelo, Texas, they were […]
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By Jonathan Fallin, AIA When your church is located down the street from Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida, your children’s spaces really need to be next-level cool. At Orlando First Baptist, a pair of three-story kids’ buildings — now connected by a colorful, glassed-in atrium — definitely rises to the challenge. Prior to […]
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Making the most of do-it-yourself workflows really works for CityBridge Community Church. By RaeAnn Slaybaugh For Dan McHugh, becoming operations director at CityBridge was a natural fit, both for himself and for the church. When Watermark Community Church in Dallas decided to open a campus in Plano, Texas in 2015 — called CityBridge — McHugh […]
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