Exponential, Outreach Team for ‘Church Multiplication Challenge’

Exponential and Outreach magazine are partnering for “The Church Multiplication Challenge,” and an initial goal of identifying 100 reproducing churches has expanded to 1,000.

“We want to see reproduction and multiplication become normative,” Exponential CEO Todd Wilson says in an article at ReproducingChurches.org. “We want to see leaders changing their scorecards as they think differently about what it means to lead successful churches and to build legacies that last.”

The response thus far has been encouraging, Wilson says, especially since an attempt several years ago to identify 10 rapidly multiplying churches fell far short. (The research team couldn’t find even five.) Still, even now, more needs to be done.

“The truth is that less than 10 percent of U.S. churches are reproducing or multiplying,” according to the article. “And congregational growth—size—is still the normative measure of success in the U.S. church.”

Church leaders can consider joining the list of churches committed to reproducing and multiplying by reviewing “Church Multiplication Challenge” material and signing on at ReproducingChurches.org.

Among the 100 churches committed to multiplying and reproducing listed in Outreach magazine are 2|42 Community Church (Brighton, Mich.), Community Christian Church (Naperville, Ill.), Lifepointe Church (Raleigh, N.C.), Mountain Christian Church (Joppa, Md.), Momentum Christian Church (McDonough, Ga.), New Life Christian Church (Chantilly, Va.), Real Life Ministries (Post Falls, Idaho), Restore Community Church (Kansas City, Mo.), Rise City Church (Lakeside, Calif.), RiverTree Church (Canton, Ohio), and The Foundry (Baltimore, Md.).

Churches that have subsequently signed on for the “Church Multiplication Challenge” include Suncrest Christian Church (St. John, Ind.) and East 91^st Street Christian Church (Indianapolis). Again, go to ReproducingChurches.org to learn more.

Todd Wilson, president and CEO of Exponential, discussed this concept in recent days on the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, along with guest J.D. Greear, lead pastor of The Summit Church (Durham, N.C.)—one of the churches on Outreach’s list—and also president of the Southern Baptist Convention. They talked about the five levels of multiplying churches, why reproducing churches are the future, and explained how every church can think about reproducing in a healthy way by taking the Church Multiplication Challenge.