Article published September 26, 2009
CedarCreek among largest U.S. churches
CedarCreek Church, founded in 1995, made Outreach magazine’s
list of 100 largest churches for the fi rst time this year.
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THE BLADE
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To the surprise of no one living in northwest Ohio, Perrysburg's CedarCreek Church is included in Outreach magazine's special edition listing the largest and the fastest-growing churches in the United States.
The magazine's annual issue, which just hit the newsstands, ranks CedarCreek No. 60 on its list of the 100 largest churches in America with an average weekend attendance of 7,734.
This is the first time CedarCreek made this list, just missing it last year by about 50 people, according to the Rev. Lee Powell, senior pastor.
Topping Outreach's chart once again is the Rev. Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, where weekly attendance is 43,500. Second is the innovative LifeChurch.tv led by the Rev. Craig Groeschel, with 26,776 attendance at its 13 sites.
The Rev. Bill Hybels' Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago came in third with 23,400.
CedarCreek, founded in 1995, has a campus on Lime City Road in Perrysburg and another on Sylvania Avenue in Toledo. It will be opening its third site next month in Whitehouse and has plans for further expansions.One location in the works is in South Toledo, although Mr. Powell said they are waiting to see what happens with the building that the YMCA had planned to donate to CedarCreek. In the meantime, he said, the church is looking at other real-estate options in that part of town.
Outreach also published a list of the 100 fastest-growing churches, with CedarCreek being ranked 90th. Attendance grew by 638 people last year, a gain of 9 percent.
It is the fifth time in six years that CedarCreek made the list of fastest-growing churches.
Some people are wary of putting too much emphasis on lists and rankings when it comes to church and ministry, fearing an unhealthy obsession with numbers and counts.
But as Outreach columnist Ed Stetzer explains, these lists are not ends in themselves but indicators of effective Christian ministry.
They are "a couple of lists that are simply meant to tell the story of how churches throughout the country are reaching people," Mr. Stetzer writes. "We ask you not to miss the stories behind the lists because the real-life examples of what God is doing in and through the local church are the best part," he said.Dillon stops, listens
Bethany Dillon has had a big year.
The 21-year-old Christian singer-songwriter from Bellefontaine, Ohio, not only released her fourth album, titled "Stop & Listen," but got married (to Shane Barnard of the group Shane & Shane) and moved to Dallas.
Ms. Dillon, who was 13 when she got a call from music industry heavyweight Sparrow Records, said the new material was largely inspired by the biblical story of Mary and Martha, in Luke 11:38.
When Jesus and his disciples visited the sisters' house, Mary sat at Jesus' feet while Martha was distracted by the preparations for their guests and missed out on what mattered most.
"Most of the songs are about the not-so-simple ideas of stopping, listening, and waiting," Ms. Dillon said.Dramatic audio Bible
Two years ago, Thomas Nelson publishers released a 20-disc set with dramatic readings of the New Testament by a stellar cast that included Jim Caviezel, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael York, and Marisa Tomei.
Now the Christian publishing firm is putting the finishing touches on a special collection offering dramatic readings of the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
"We wanted every single moment to be exciting for the listener, like they were really there experiencing the parting of the Red Sea, Jonah and the whale, and Jesus' teachings," said producer Carl Amari.
This undertaking has been three years in the making, using 600 actors who recorded 175,000 takes over more than 6,000 hours at eight recording studios.
Next month, Thomas Nelson will release "The Word of Promise Audio Bible" box set containing 90 hours of audio recordings on 79 CDs. The retail price is $124.99. The set is also being released in digital MP3 format on 11 CDs with a bonus DVD for $69.99.
For iPhone users, a free "Word of Promise" app with two hours of audio content will be released simultaneously.
David Yonke is The Blade's religion editor. Contact him at dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154.
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