Our February issue

Catch up on the latest news from The Christian Chronicle.

THE INTERACTIVE PDF of our February issue is available now, featuring our reporting on a new exhibit honoring the renowned Black evangelist Marshall Keeble, the latest efforts toward a census for Churches of Christ, Venezuelans’ joy and uncertainty after President Nicolás Maduro’s capture, and more.

Even if you’ve already caught up, you might enjoy our famous crossword and word search!

Also find featured below Steve Cloer’s Views piece on needs and opportunities for changing urban ministry.

In this issue:

• Matter of Fact

  • Inside Story: Finding stories off the beaten path

  • Venezuelans ‘have brought revival’ to U.S. churches

  • ‘God found him’

  • Why counting the sheep is so difficult

• National

  • The power of Marshall Keeble’s brown paper lunch sack

  • Remembering Marshall Keeble’s faith — and humor

  • Holy ground’ in Middle Tennessee

  • Christian Education: Remembering Southwestern Christian’s ‘Penny Lady,’ Lipscomb’s prison program and more quick takes

  • Across the Nation: A youth camp in Alabama, an elders’ conference in Tennessee and more quick takes

• International

  • In North Korea, the Gospel’s in the air

  • Around the World: House to House in American Samoa, 51 baptisms in Cuba and more quick takes

• Life Matters

  • Insight: Three churches, two iguanas, one Sunday

  • National title game renews an epic friendship

  • 5 needs and 5 opportunities for urban churches

  • Review: Marshall Keeble’s ‘Faithful Defiance’

  • Editorial: Why counting the sheep matters

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5 needs and 5 opportunities for urban churches today

By Steve Cloer | Guest Contributor

What do church leaders in urban areas wrestle with? What do they hope for? What do they dream of? And how can Christian institutions walk alongside them in meaningful ways?

From rich written conversations, small group meetings and larger sessions with leaders and engaged members of 65 Churches of Christ in six cities, five themes emerged.

1. Church leaders want to come together. Leaders desire to work together more. Our autonomy causes isolation; our racial differences bring separation. But these leaders aspired to find ways to come together on common ground for kingdom causes. Leaders acknowledged the need for ministry partnerships to engage the city, yet they also admit theological differences that makes cooperation hard.

2. Church leaders believe God is working. Words like hope, revival, providence, awakening or openness peppered conversation concerning the current spiritual environment in cities. Leaders sense God is up to something, and hearts are softening toward spiritual things. As one minister put it, it feels like “tremors before the earthquake.” The key question is, will we be attentive to what God is doing? The hurry culture that is ever-present in urban areas may cause the church to miss what God is doing.

Read the rest of the article.