April 19, 2024
Exponential has announced a new strategic partnership with Ed Stetzer to operate and steward the Church Planting Leadership Fellowship (CPLF). This collaborative effort aims to amplify the network’s impact and extend its reach within the church-planting community, according to an announcement at Exponential’s website. . . .
February 13, 2023
There was only so much pickleball Tom Jones could play in retirement. The longtime executive director of Stadia Church Planting recently was hired by NewThing—a church-planting organization founded by Jones’s longtime friend Dave Ferguson—to serve as the group’s director of development.
February 10, 2021
By Chris Moon Even in a pandemic, the work of church planting continues. Chicago-based church-planting organization NewThing reports it planted 982 churches in 2020, an increase from 855 in 2019. Most of those church plants occurred outside the United States—many of them in Africa and Asia. “COVID hasn’t slowed it down,” said Patrick O’Connell, global director for NewThing. NewThing is the church-planting mission of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Ill., which was founded by Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson. The organization has been around for about 15 years and has planted a total of 6,373 churches in 26 countries so
September 22, 2020
By Dave Ferguson On March 12, 2020, I made two different versions of a video, knowing only one of them would be sent to our entire church. In the first video, I said we would stick to our normal schedule with 26 services at 11 locations across Chicagoland. In the second video, I introduced a new reality by telling everyone our church facilities were closing and we were moving everything online. After I finished recording the videos, my wife and I headed to O’Hare International Airport to fly to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We were planning to see our youngest son,
September 2, 2020
The challenges and struggles Dave Empson and the International Conference on Missions (ICOM) have faced this year were the subject of the Face > Fear podcast hosted by Mike Schrage of Good News Productions International (GNPI) on Monday. And the challenges have been many—physical, financial, logistical, and organizational. GNPI wrote on their website: “The table seemed set for the International Conference on Missions’ biggest year yet. They had a popular location in Indianapolis, a talented president in Jeff Vines, and a remarkable main speaker in Ravi Zacharias. And then, a few weeks ago, they made a change. ‘We decided to switch
May 17, 2020
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
February 2, 2019
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
November 8, 2018
An Interview with Jessie Vaca about the Changing Landscape of Global Church Planting By David Dummitt When I consider all of the great things happening in the church around the world, one that really excites me is an initiative led by NewThing called “Catalyst Community.” Simply put, Catalyst Communities bring local leaders together to pray, dream, and strategize how to work together to grow God’s kingdom right where they are. I spoke with Jessie Vaca, NewThing’s global reproducing catalyst, to learn more about how Catalyst Communities are changing the landscape of church planting around the world. What exactly
July 25, 2018
By Jim Nieman A storm that rolled through eastern Tennessee late Friday night tore the roof off of part of Love Chapel Christian Church in Erwin, leaving tons of debris and causing extensive water damage. No one was hurt. The integrity of the original 1953 church structure is still being assessed, senior minister Robert Bess said Tuesday, but an adjoining, 1960s-era, rectangular addition that includes classrooms, a nursery, restrooms, and an office is a total loss. In all likelihood, the church will need to relocate for a period of months while repairs are made and new construction occurs, said Bess,
May 27, 2018
By David Dummitt In February I attended the Exponential conference in Orlando. It was a great week of connecting with other church leaders and church planters from all over the world. This year’s conference theme was “Hero Maker,” based on Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird’s new book by the same name. I had the opportunity to facilitate workshops alongside of Dave, Warren, and others as we talked about a shift in practices that we as leaders must make in order to carry out the Great Commission: moving from being heroes to being hero makers. This message is a game changer
September 15, 2017
Students Equip Toys for Kids with Disabilities Engineering students at Milligan College aren”t content with figuring out how to make things work. They also want to do good for their local community. And so this summer these students gave away two adapted Power Wheels Jeeps to children who cannot move independently. The project was part of a program called “Go Baby Go Appalachia,” overseen by AdaptoPlay, a local nonprofit organization in Johnson City, Tenn. The Jeeps are modified to allow children to use them despite disabilities that make it difficult for them to move. Steering wheels were replaced with joysticks,
January 27, 2017
By Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird How and why residencies have become standard operating practice for all of NewThing”s new church planters. When you think about a residency program, you might envision doctors in training, honing their craft under the tutelage of seasoned physicians. For NewThing (www.newthing.org, an international church-planting network birthed out of the Chicago-based Community Christian Church, www.communitychristian.org), a 9- to 12-month residency is required for any emerging leader who wants to start a church in NewThing”s network. It”s standard operating procedure for all of their new church planters. “For us, residency is the chute before you launch
October 20, 2016
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
August 16, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor Here”s one more indication that Christian churches and their leaders are having an impact on America: many today are sought-after book authors. I remember a conversation with a Standard Publishing salesman two or three decades ago who said this would never happen. Christian church preachers and professors just would not be accepted in the general Evangelical world, he explained. I don”t remember all his reasons, but I thought of him when I skimmed through the latest edition of a little catalog called Pastor Resources. The 62-page digest-size booklet contains ads for everything from Christian camps to
March 4, 2016
By Jennifer Johnson It all began with a sermon. Several years ago, Josh Howard, director of leadership training at Central India Christian Mission, was listening to a message called “Born to Reproduce” by Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators. “He made a comment that it was possible for us to reach the entire world in 10 years,” Howard says. “I thought, There”s no way that”s true. So I got out my calculator and did the math. I realized that if every person reached one person every six months, in 15 years we could reach all of India”s 1.1 billion people.
March 3, 2016
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 6, 2015
By Ben Cachiaras Contemporary examples to demonstrate the value of “and.” “¢ Jim Collins coined the phrase “embrace the and” in his 1994 book Built to Last. He and coauthor Jerry Porras reported on extensive studies at Stanford University School of Business revealing best practices of exceptional companies. One such trait among enduringly great companies was their ability to embrace the “and.” The authors” point was that choosing between seemingly contradictory concepts””focusing on this or that””leads to missed opportunities. Is the product low cost or high quality? Do I focus on short-term opportunities or long-term strategy? Should the company be
May 18, 2015
Interview by Mark A. Taylor Dave Ferguson founded Community Christian Church, Naperville, Illinois, with his brother, Jon, 25 years ago. Finding Your Way Back to God was released March 3, and we talked with them shortly before that about the purpose and their dreams for their new book. (The book is now available at Amazon.com.) Why write Finding Your Way Back to God? Jon: As many as 92 percent of people who live in the United States would say they believe in God, but research also tells us the majority of those people feel distant or disconnected from God. We sense a
By Dave Ferguson Church leaders are being more creative than ever before in measuring ministry and stats that are significant for accomplishing the mission. Here is a long list of just some of the stats that are now being incorporated into churches” scoreboards. These came from dozens of churches just like yours who are trying to figure out how to make sure they are winning: “¢ The number of people who attend a worship service “¢ The number of people who are in a small group “¢ The number of people who are serving both within the church and outside
May 10, 2015
By Dave Ferguson Growing up in Chicago, I remember a couple famous scoreboards. There was a scoreboard at the old Comiskey Park where my White Sox played when I was a kid””I loved it! Every time someone hit a home run, the scoreboard would explode with fireworks. And then there is the scoreboard at Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs. It”s one of two remaining scoreboards that are still hand-turned. It was installed in 1937 and is still waiting for its first World Series win! Another scoreboard I remember is the one on the sanctuary wall of the little rural
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