Articles for tag: Church Multiplication

Restoration Movement History

The Churches of Our Movement Were Made for This

By Michael C. Mack I believe the Restoration Movement is a strong and vibrant movement with a bright future. Here are four reasons I believe that’s true. First, our movement is in good hands. Every feature writer this month is under the age of 45, and many are in their 20s and 30s. We sought younger writers to make a point. As one young writer, Josh Ross, put it, “In the kingdom of God, the movement is before us, not behind us.” While we often look back at the rich history of our movement, it’s time to look to the

May 17, 2020

Chris Hankins

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Multiplying Through Multisites

By Chris Hankins Healthy things reproduce. This reality is true in nature and, I believe, in the church. The body of Christ is healthiest when it is reproducing at every level. At Point Church, where I serve, I often say that we want to reproduce disciples, leaders, groups, services, campuses, churches, and even church-planting networks. Therefore, when I was recently asked, “Are we really reproducing churches if multisites remain attached to the mother church?” my immediate answer was, “of course!” Just because a new location of a multisite church remains a part of a larger local church does not mean

November 1, 2019

Mission & Evangelism

How to Stoke a Passion for Living Out Christ’s Mission in Your Church

By Michael C. Mack We planned this issue to tell the stories of mission works located on six of the seven continents around the world. (We know of no mission to the 4,000 people who live in Antarctica during the summer months!) The idea is to demonstrate the ongoing fulfilling of Jesus’ mission to “go and make disciples of all nations” and to be Christ’s “witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.” We hope these stories help kindle a passion for preaching the gospel message to the whole world . . . but let’s not get ahead

September 18, 2019

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

February 2, 2019

Kent E. Fillinger

Church Multiplication Scorecard

By Kent Fillinger A new question on our last annual church survey asked, “Using the scale created by Exponential.org, which of the following best describes your church in 2017?” Level 1: Declining (attendance going down) Level 2: Holding Even (attendance largely unchanged) Level 3: Growing (attendance growth by 5 percent or more) Level 4: Adding/Reproducing (we directly launched another new campus or church plant) Level 5: Multiplying (a campus or church we helped to start has itself become a reproducing church) In Exponential’s e-book Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide, Todd Wilson, Dave Ferguson, and Alan Hirsch provided

June 20, 2017

5 Reasons Church Planting Should Matter to You

By David Dummitt Not long ago, when you talked to church leaders about church planting, eyes would glaze over and conversation topics would awkwardly shift. I”m excited to live in a time when this is changing. Organizations like NewThing, Stadia, Passion for Planting, Orchard Group, and others demonstrate that more and more churches are passionate about planting even more churches around the globe. Whether you lead a congregation of 50, 500, or 5,000, your engagement in church planting is critical to the mission that Jesus gave us to be and make disciples. Multiplication is a charge for each one of

October 20, 2016

Church & Ministry Church Growth

What Operating System Is Your Church Using?

By Michael C. Mack Chris Lagerlof is the executive catalyst at Mission Orange County (www.missionoc.org). In a Q&A with Exponential (www.exponential.org), “a growing community of leaders committed to accelerating the multiplication of healthy, reproducing faith communities,” Lagerlof talked about the biggest aha”™s he had while reading Becoming a Level 5 Multiplying Church by Todd Wilson and Dave Ferguson. He says he was moved by Chapter 1, “Rethinking Our Operating System.” He was especially struck by Wilson”™s words: Pause and reflect on the potential unintended consequences [of the prevailing operating systems, especially in megachurches]. We are called to make biblical disciples

April 13, 2016

Church & Ministry Leadership Development

Hacking Ministry

By Jim Tune One Saturday in November, hundreds of programmers and designers arrived at George Brown College in Toronto. They were armed with laptops and sleeping bags, although few of them would sleep. For 30 hours, they worked nonstop on creating products to improve the lives of people living with dementia, a disease that affects 47.5 million worldwide. Their reward: the opportunity to change lives, $175,000 in cash prizes, and the chance to pitch their ideas to influencers. DementiaHack is one of many hackathons taking place around the world. There are even Christian versions, like Code for the Kingdom, “where

March 3, 2016

Church & Ministry Church Growth

Are You a Level 5 Multiplying Church?

By Michael C. Mack A number of behaviors (and corresponding behavioral types) affect a church”s capability for multiplying. In Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church, Exponential director Todd Wilson and Community Christian Church lead pastor Dave Ferguson define five specific levels of multiplying churches, with Level 5 being the most aggressive. “Regardless of church size, growth rate (positive or negative) or behavioral type,” the authors say, “all churches will exhibit behaviors from all five levels; however, we can begin to define a primary level and create profiles for each of the five behavioral types.” Surprisingly, most large churches are Level

June 14, 2015

Church Leadership

Why We Decided to Plant Churches Instead of Create Multisites

By Jim Putman Our facilities were jammed. Our leaders were overextended. Our growth was stymied. We had three choices: Build larger. Create multisites. Or plant new churches. This is why we chose the third option. Eight years ago the church I lead, Real Life Ministries, was averaging 8,500 people in five weekend services. We were far past the 80 percent rule in our main services (i.e., our auditorium was beyond 80 percent full; we wouldn”t grow any larger in those services). And the times of the other services were not convenient enough to be attractive to newcomers. Our staff and

October 8, 2008

Theology & Bible Holy Spirit

Mission & Evangelism

Interview with Jim Penhollow

By Brad Dupray After serving in Latin America in cross-cultural church planting with Christian Missionary Fellowship, Jim Penhollow was called as director of church multiplication for East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he has served the past 14 years. Jim and his wife of 41 years, Leslie, live in Vancouver, Washington, since East 91st actively plants churches in the Northwestern United States. Jim joined East 91st 10 years into the church”s quest to plant 20 churches in 20 years. East 91st is now 24 years into that pursuit and will soon launch its 50th church. Is there

September 23, 2007

Alan Ahlgrim

God's good work on earth isn't finished yet

NACC: It”s Time . . . to Listen Up!

God’s work isn’t finished. Alan Ahlgrim explores how God speaks, why Scripture calls believers to wait on him, and how the Holy Spirit empowers witness—often confirming God’s vision with surprising provision.

November 5, 2006

Greg Marksberry