This is part 2 of our interview with Ralph Rebandt, pastor of Oakland Hills Community Church (OPC), outside of Detroit. Ralph has spent over 30 years at the church, from its early days to now a long time OPC church and at each step of the way seeking to be intentional about reaching the lost […]
Spatially Aware Evangelism?
Recently we found an article on the Reformation 21 blog and thought one portion of the article might be a thought provoking post here on Outward. The article is by Justin Poythress, an Assistant pastor at a PCA church in Fort Myers, FL. You are welcome to read the whole article, but we found this […]
30 years of Evangelism & Outreach in Michigan With Ralph Rebandt
We interviewed Ralph Rebandt, pastor of Oakland Hills Community Church (OPC), outside of Detroit. Ralph has spent over 30 years there from its early days to now a long time OPC church and at each step of the way seeking to be intentional about reaching the lost in the community. This is Part 1 of […]
Communication Series: Discussion & Highlights – Part 3
Our final round of highlights and short excerpts for discussion from our extended series, Truth & Love: Communicating Gospel Truth In Speech & Action. If you’ve missed much of the series, these highlights may spark your curiosity. If you’ve been following the series, these may solidify some thoughts or provide for some discussion with a […]
Truth & Love: Communicating About Gender, Women, & The Church
John Shaw is back on the podcast. John started this series with a podcast about the importance of communication. Then two weeks ago, he discussed the issue of race and the church. This week he returns with another timely issue – gender, women, and the church. This is certainly a topic of conversation both outside […]
Sunday Tour Guide Needed
This week is a fairly lengthy post, but we wanted to give it to you as a whole because it has a flow to it and creates one big picture. We expect that as people read though it, some will be drawn to one section more than another. Not everybody will implement every idea. That’s […]
Truth & Love: Communicating About Race & The Church
John Shaw is back on the podcast. John started this series with a podcast about the importance of communication. Today he’s here to talk about a sometimes difficult or “hot button” topic about how communication relates to the issue of race and the church. It seems like a topic that everyone is talking about–in both […]
On Being Normal (& Reformed)
This week we asked OPC Pastor Paul Viggiano to discuss the idea of being both Reformed and normal. Perhaps that seems odd to you, or perhaps you know it’s a much needed topic for us especially in regard to communicating in love and truth to those we seek to reach. On the one hand, we […]
Truth & Love: Communication That Connects
If you missed earlier posts in this series, “Truth & Love: Communicating Gospel Truth In Speech & Action,” you can find them here: Truth & Love Series. Today’s post is from Jeremiah Montgomery, one of the pastors at Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Vandalia, OH. He is previously a foreign missionary in the OPC, and […]
SoCal Pastors Part 3 – On Preaching
Our first two episodes of this podcast were quite popular. We have one final installment with SoCal OPC Pastors Chris Hartshorn, Jesse Pirschel, and Jonathan Moersch. These 3 have a lot in common and all have backgrounds that are uncommon for OPC pastors that shed light on their approach to reaching the lost and unchurched. […]
Communication Series: Discussion & Highlights – Part 2
We are about two-thirds of the way through our series “Truth & Love: Communicating Gospel Truth in Speech & Action.” Aware there is too much great stuff to read in our world and too little time, we continue to jump into these longer series for some highlights and discussion. Several churches have told us that […]
Lessons in Leadership – Part 7 (Al Tricarico)
Last year we had a series on leadership that got significantly interrupted by life in 2020. We ended up fitting it in at different times, and we have one of those posts remaining which we are “fitting in” at the start of this new year. OPC Pastors shared not just thoughts on leadership, but we […]
Adapting Outreach During Strange Times
How are we supposed to reach people when we can’t find people and can’t hang out with them or even get close to them? We asked our church planters how they are learning to adapt their outreach efforts. It’s a challenging time, but here are some helpful, specific things OPC church plants are doing and […]
Specific Examples of God at Work During a Pandemic
Is God really at work during the pandemic? Are references to positive things happening just things we tell ourselves to keep encouraged and thinking positively? We asked our current church planters to tell us if they had one specific example of new people who have come to the church because of the circumstances of the […]
You Have Spoken: Your Top 3 of 2020
We are thankful for over 6,000 visitors and 15,000 views of various posts this year. Thanks for reading. listening, watching AND thanks for your feedback throughout the year. We love to hear what is working and what is needed from our audience. With that, a highlight of the top 3 posts of 2020 with a […]
What I Learned From Big Evangelicalism About Reaching People
Following up on the 2-part podcast we did with 3 OPC pastors, we asked Jesse Pirschel to write an article about what he learned during his time in Calvary Chapel that still influences his ministry, especially to the lost, even if he’s had to nuance and tweak those helpful things once he came to a […]
SoCal Pastors Part 2 – Outward Focus
Part 2 of our podcast with SoCal OPC Pastors Chris Hartshorn, Jesse Pirschel, and Jonathan Moersch. These 3 have a lot in common and all have backgrounds that are uncommon for OPC pastors that shed light on their approach to reaching the lost and unchurched. This is a continuation of a great conversation that started […]
SoCal Pastors Part 1 – Evangelistic Culture
We have an interesting podcast for you this week and next. We were able to talk to 3 OPC pastors who have a lot in common. The fact that they are OPC pastors in Southern California (SoCal) is only the start. You will find this podcast quite illuminating. We welcome Chris Hartshorn, Jesse Pirschel, and […]
Communication Series: Loving Their Story Part 2
This article is a continuation from last week. You are free to read this post as a stand alone, but it will make more sense in the context of last week’s part 1, which you can read here: Loving Their Story – Part 1 Part 1 also includes a preface from John Shaw that we […]
Communication Series: Loving Their Story Part 1
Preface To This Week’s Article By John Shaw: Every person is drawn to a good story. Does that statement sound too bold? Too certain? Absolute statements are often too simple, that we can all agree on. (See what I did there. Another absolute.) Yet I think, if we pay attention, we see that story telling […]