Center for Christian Studies: Five Years Growing!

Keith D. Stanglin

Help us Expand the Reach!

Where We’ve Been

After many years of teaching in university and seminary contexts, as well as serving as ministers in churches, Todd Hall and I recognized the need in churches for trustworthy, high-quality resources that could help prepare the “non-specialists,” who do most of the teaching, leading, and shepherding in churches and other Christian settings.  We dreamed of a church-facing ministry that would directly serve churches and their need for continuing education.  For years, it remained nothing more than a dream.

But then, in the fall of 2021, we, with the help of some devoted, visionary leaders, launched the Center for Christian Studies.  We wanted CCS to be a home for scholarship for the church, producing the most reliable biblical and theological resources, made accessible to churches and Christian leaders.  We didn’t want to just talk about what churches needed; we wanted to fill the need in a concrete way.

The dream that began with nothing tangible first became a reality through the help of generous donors, partners who were captivated by the CCS vision of equipping and helping churches.

Cornerstones and foundations were laid, the living stones on which a structure could be raised.  For five years now, by God’s grace, CCS has been building and expanding the structure, which now houses some of the finest curriculum and educational material for churches, used by Christians throughout the United States and around the globe. 

In the first five years, our partners have included:

Cornerstone Partners ($50,000+)    Foundation Partners ($20,000+)

Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ              Wanda Hoggarth

Karen Hall                                                      Adam and Aimee Kelso

Becky Blake Stewart                                       Mark and Sheree Shipp

Benny and Pauline Tabalujan                       Keith and Amanda Stanglin

Gerry Timmermann                                       Michael and Carla Young

John and Melissa Vandygriff

Libby Weed

Will Ed and Cynthia Winters

Where We’re Going

Not every nonprofit has been so blessed.  Around 12% of nonprofit organizations don’t make it past their fifth year.  And around 30% don’t survive ten years.  The number one reason?  Says one expert: “The main reason nonprofits don’t make it past five years is the funding and financial stability,” especially at smaller nonprofits with only a few donors.  “If you lose one of these donors,” he said, “it could be problematic.” 

Well, the Center for Christian Studies is definitely a small nonprofit.  We don’t receive government funding or grants.  For this work to continue, we depend to a large extent on donors.  During these first five years, we have had over 160 donors, as well as 9 different churches, that have partnered with us. 

But we’re not stopping there.  From our beginning, we have favored the imagery from 1 Corinthians 3:6 of kingdom workers who plant the seed and water it, trusting God to enable the growth.  Our watchword for the fifth year is “Growing.”  That is our past reality and our future aim.  Each year, our catalogue of resources has grown, as has their reach. 

In order to ensure continued growth, in commemoration of our fifth anniversary, the Center for Christian Studies is announcing our Expanding the Reach Campaign.  We have set an ambitious goal of raising $150,000.  This will help us further strengthen the foundation already laid, with the continued growth of resources and expansion of our reach.

Toward this end, we have generous donors who have pledged to match up to $75,000 of additional gifts in this campaign.  If we can raise this amount, then their match will bring us to the goal of $150,000.

The mission of the Center for Christian Studies remains the same since our beginning: to help Christians better understand, practice, and pass on their faith and to train teachers of teachers (2 Timothy 2:2).  We pursue biblical and theological understanding in conversation with the historic Christian tradition and with all who call upon Jesus as Lord.

How have you benefitted from CCS resources?  Was there a video course?  A Journal of Christian Studies article?  A live class session or seminar?  One of our books?  A thought-provoking blog post or podcast episode?

If you have benefitted, and the resources have fulfilled your expectation, then will you share your blessing at this crucial moment and help us reach the goal?  Will you contribute to the Expanding the Reach Campaign and make these CCS resources—and many more to come—available to an ever-increasing audience?

Keith Stanglin

Executive Director

Partner with CCS

Visit the Five Years Growing Page