Community Christian Church

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So, What's The Big Idea?

Community Christian Church adds life to enduring message

Published October 13, 2005 - The Herald News

By Denise M. Baran-Unland

Undaunted by many people's reluctance to attend church, members of Community Christian Church in Shorewood recently created a short DVD that reflected the highlights of their church and distributed it to 2,000 homes in the Shorewood and Joliet area. Their efforts were rewarded by 200 new attendees, excited about what they had seen on the video. Many of these people had not expected church to be casual and media-centered and showed up to see what such a church service could be like. "I think that people think that church is not going to benefit them," said John Ciesniewski of Plainfield, campus pastor of Community Christian Church's Shorewood location at Trinity Christian School in Shorewood. "They think that church is going to be like Mom's and Dad's church growing up: Sit down. Stand up. Say this. Say that and see you next week. It's the same thing every week with no application for their lives. We're out to show that God is an incredibly creative God and we out to be reflective of his creativity and enthusiasm."

Ciesniewski said that while Will County's population is up, church attendance does not reflect that growth, even though numerous mission churches pop up frequently. For the most part, churches are not succeeding in reaching the people they desire to serve. Sometimes, it is their approach that people find unappealing. In other cases, Biblical truths and scripture is not enlivened for them or delivered in a way that is meaningful to one's daily life. "For every church that starts up, another one closes," said Ciesniewski. "Eight out of 10 households will not go to any church at all this weekend."

Founded in 1989, Community Christian Church is a multi-church site, coordinated by lead pastor Dave Ferguson. Other church sites include Romeoville, Carillon in Plainfield, Montgomery/Oswego and two Naperville locations. According to www.communitychristian.org , each site is directed by a campus pastor, with about 450 total volunteers from all the sites that oversee small groups and church programs. Each week at the church's "Celebration Service," the teaching pastor presents the "Big Idea" or one, great Biblical truth on which to focus, reinforced with music, theater, drama and video.

The Big Idea

Throughout all of the church events of the coming week, that "Big Idea," is at the forefront of it all. Community Christian Church provides its small groups with the "Big Idea Discussion Guide." Each "Big Idea" is created by the ministry leaders and recreated weekly at each campus location. Personal commitment to Jesus Christ at Community Christian Church is encouraged by the three C's: Celebrate (services, celebrations and the journey), Connect (with small groups and support and recovery groups) and Contribute (by using one's unique resources and gifts).