Church Practices — Articles — Advent Christian Voices

The Joys of Being Small

I don’t know about you, but I tend to think, like most people, that bigger is better….

Embodying The Mission: 5 Recommendations

“If you don’t do anything else, spend time with people in your community. Care for them, love them, champion them, and learn about them. Find out what is important to people. What do they love and care about? What brings them joy and what are they afraid of? What do they believe? Can you articulate what they believe in a way they would affirm?“

Hard Lessons From The Dechurched

The dechurched are those who once attended church at least once a month and now attend church services a couple of times a year or less. Why did they leave? What will bring them back?

Church Practices, Discipleship, Erik ReynoldsErik ReynoldsApril 30, 2024church health, Leadership, evangelismComment

Ministry Specialists: Co-Vocational Ministry Approaches & Benefits

f we continue to encourage covocational ministry, more Christians will see it as a viable career path. A person can love their current vocation and see God’s call on their life to serve him by serving a local church simultaneously. Essentially, we open the door to otherwise qualified people who could have a call on their lives to serve but shut out that possibility because of perceived limitations bound by a full-time vocation-only model.

Getting Past the Awkward: Discussing Pastoral Compensation

If a church isn’t trained to hire pastors, then it is likely they will lack the skills necessary for hiring them. Mistakes will be made, which can have several undesirable impacts. Consider the church that, after six months, found a candidate, but when the candidate asked how much the church could offer in compensation, they responded with, “We won’t share that information until you accept the call because we don’t want a pastor who is greedy but trusts that God will provide.”

Help! We Don't Have A Pastor

The Advent Christian Church is not the only network or denomination struggling with finding called and qualified pastors. I remember sitting in a Church Revitalization class at Gordon-Conwell in South Hamilton when one of our Professors would bring in the ABC equivalent to Superintendents. Each one would provide some type of insight on church leadership or revitalization but would always take 10 minutes to pitch to eager seminary students why they should consider one of their many open churches in New England.

Considering Polity

The last article ended with a call for us to put everything on the table. If we are going to do that, then we need to understand exactly what we are as a denomination. The purpose of this article is to help us do that, but perhaps not in the way you would expect. Generally, when the question “what are we?” is asked, the answers revolve around common beliefs or relationships. But I want us to look at our structure, and particularly how our churches relate to one another and to the levels of our denomination, orienting what we are in relation to other types of denominational structure. Let’s begin, then, with an overview of the options.

Nathaniel Bickford, ACGC, Church Practices, LeadershipNathaniel BickfordOctober 23, 2023Comment

Evangelistic Church Planting

Evangelistic church planting is missional church planting as it contextualizes the Gospel without losing its transformational edge. Missional church planting does not seek to dispense spiritual products but seeks to work with the Holy Spirit to take the hope of Christ into the world in an intelligible context.

Part 1: What Is Our Authority?

At the 2023 Triennial Convention, there was much discussion about restructuring our denomination. Particularly through a panel discussion, and many follow-up conversations, it became clear that most people within the Advent Christian denomination see a need for some amount of change. Yet, there was a lot of disagreement on what type of change needs to happen. This article is the first in a series, that will be published over the course of a few (or perhaps many) months, that will focus primarily on a biblical-theological look at the needs and changes we face.

Nathaniel Bickford, Church Practices, ACGCNathaniel BickfordAugust 21, 2023restructuringComment

Models for Restructuring the Advent Christian Denomination

In this last article, I will lay out what will be basically required of any model to complete the unfinished work of our past. On top of this, I will also offer two rudimentary models for restructuring the denomination which would alleviate some of the stress of our leadership shortage and give us stronger footing for revitalizing the denomination.

Tom Loghry, ACGC, Unity, Church PracticesThomas LoghryJuly 24, 2023Denomination, restructuring, CCCC, Converge, congregationalismComment

Adapt or Die

I’d rather we die the way we are than change one thing and survive.” This is an actual quote from a church member in a dying church, but it is the sentiment of many church members who find their congregation on the precipice of closure.

The Advent Christian Denomination Needs to be Restructured

Nearly two years ago, Nathaniel Bickford wrote an article that shook the Advent Christian denomination to its core. He pointed out that we have problems that demand solutions - too few leaders, too many positions, and no denominational standards…

I Must Decrease, They Must Increase

Sometimes the realization of some truth crashes over you all at once, like a wave breaking on the shore. Other times it mounts slowly, each piece gathered and joined together like a puzzle, until you finally see the picture…

Tom Loghry, Pastors, Church PracticesThomas LoghryMay 31, 2022leadership, pastors, John 3:30, congregationComment

“And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief”

All good things, when left to adults, become busy, and this is especially true of religion. There is a hysteria about religion in America of having to endlessly improve or else…

Unity, Church Practices, TheologyMark PlumDecember 2, 2021William Miller, Advent Christian, Adventism Comments

Do Advent Christians Need Reformation?

I wasn’t planning on publishing a piece for Reformation day, but I read something the other day that really struck a nerve.

Theology, Tom Loghry, Church PracticesThomas LoghryOctober 31, 2021reformation, Stephen Nichols, Martin Luther, Advent ChristianComment

We can change, but will we?

Sometimes there are blog articles that really get you thinking. Nathaniel Bickford’s article, “Solutions?” is just that kind of piece. Honestly, I’ve thought along his lines for awhile, but I couldn’t help noticing how it grabbed the attention of so many of you.

Solutions?

There is a joke that I have heard and, admittedly, said, many times within our denomination: “The primary qualification for any board position is saying yes.” It is certainly in jest, but often stems from the frequent frustration caused by the difficulties of finding candidates for our many board positions.

Dialogue, Nathaniel Bickford, Church PracticesNathaniel BickfordOctober 16, 2021 Comments