Church Planting

The Three Questions That Multiply Disciples: Why Discovery Bible Study Is Changing the Church Planting Landscape

Church Planting /

The most effective church planting movement in the world right now doesn’t use seminary-trained pastors, expensive buildings, or worship bands. It uses three questions and an open Bible. Over the last thirty years, something remarkable has happened. In places where missionaries were expelled, where Christianity was illegal, where resources were nonexistent — churches have multiplied […]

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From Seating Capacity to Sending Capacity: Why Real Church Growth Requires Death

Church Planting /

Here’s a statistic that should stop every pastor and church leader in their tracks: Of the only 20% of churches that are growing today, 95% of that “growth” is not actual growth at all—it’s shuffling Christians around into new groups. Only 1% of what we call “church growth” represents reaching lost people. Let that sink

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The Trellis and the Vine: Why Church Operations Is Theological, Not Just Administrative

Church Planting /

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” — 2 Timothy 2:2 We love to talk about the vine. Disciple-making movements. Spiritual multiplication. The organic spread of the gospel through relationships, house to house, life on life.

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The Church Planter’s Second Priority: Why Raising Up Leaders Is Non-Negotiable for Multiplication

Church Planting /

Church planters are notorious for wearing too many hats. In the early days, you’re the preacher, the counselor, the custodian, the graphic designer, and sometimes the coffee maker. The temptation is to keep it that way—to remain the indispensable center of everything. But this isn’t just unsustainable; it’s unbiblical. John Calvin, reflecting on the pastoral

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Why Bi-Vocational Church Planters Multiply Faster

Church Planting /

The church plant in rural New Hampshire didn’t launch with a glossy website, a worship band, or a six-figure budget. It started with three families, a handful of committed believers, and a pastor who spent his weekdays working at the local hardware store. Three years later, that small community has become a sending church—already dispatching

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Why Most Church Plants Fail (And How to Build One That Multiplies)

Church Planting /

Every year, thousands of pastors dream of planting a church. They write vision statements, raise support, scout locations, and launch with excitement. Then, five years later, over 50% of those churches have closed their doors or plateaued into irrelevance. What’s going wrong? And more importantly—what’s the biblical alternative? The Copy-Paste Problem Jeff Hoglen, a veteran

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Learning to Plant Again: Recovering Psalm, Word, and Multiplication in an Age of Church Decline

Church Planting /

What we’re discovering about church planting in the CRC—and why we can’t stop trying The Conversation That Keeps Happening It usually starts over coffee. Or after a service. Or in a text message that reads: “Can we talk about your church planting vision?” I’ve had this conversation dozens of times now. Sometimes it’s with a

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