Here’s a number that should stop every pastor in their tracks: 224% growth in new discipleship groups in a single year.
In 2025 alone, one ordinary movement saw 159 new groups launch—up from just 49 the year before. No megachurch budget. No celebrity pastor. No slick marketing campaign. Just ordinary believers who decided that making disciples who make disciples wasn’t optional.
This is what happens when churches stop asking “How do we get more people in the building?” and start asking “How do we equip every believer to multiply?“
The Multiplication Crisis in North American Churches
Let’s be honest: Most of our churches are built for addition, not multiplication.
We’ve perfected the art of gathering crowds. We can produce worship services that rival concert experiences. We can preach sermons that are theologically rich and culturally relevant. We can create programs that keep people busy seven days a week.
But here’s the brutal reality: The average church in America baptizes fewer than three people per year. And the vast majority of those baptisms are transfers from other churches, not conversions.
We’ve built a church culture where professional clergy do ministry while ordinary believers watch. Where discipleship means attending a class rather than making a disciple. Where success is measured by attendance, not by how many people are being equipped to go and do the same.
Jonathan Edwards understood this trap. In his work on the revival at Northampton, he warned against measuring spiritual life by external appearances: “The degree of love to God is to be measured by the degree of the actings of love to God, or the degree of the exercises of the new nature; and not merely by the outward effects.” In other words, busyness isn’t fruitfulness. Activity isn’t multiplication.
The Disciple-Making Movement Model
The Disciple-Making Movement (DMM) model that sparked 224% growth isn’t complicated. In fact, that’s precisely the point. It strips away everything that requires professionals, budgets, or buildings—and returns to what Jesus actually commanded.
Here’s what it looks like in practice:
- Simple, reproducible tools. If it takes a seminary degree to explain, it’s not reproducible. DMM uses simple discovery Bible studies that anyone can lead after just one session of training.
- Peer-to-peer multiplication. Disciples make disciples who make disciples. No clergy bottleneck. No waiting for the pastor to do ministry.
- Obedience-based discipleship. Every meeting ends with the question: “What will you obey this week?” and “Who will you share this with?”
- Accountability and coaching. New group leaders aren’t abandoned. They’re coached weekly by someone who has already done it.
Tim Keller captured this vision in Center Church: “The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to become a Christian, but also the way we make all progress in the Christian life.” Disciple-making movements understand this—they’re not adding gospel programs; they’re multiplying gospel people.
Church History: This Isn’t New
The explosive growth of DMMs today mirrors what happened in the early church and during the Moravian revival.
In 1727, Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf and a small community of refugees in Herrnhut, Germany, committed to a 24/7 prayer watch that would last over 100 years. From this small band of ordinary believers—craftsmen, farmers, and tradespeople—came a missionary movement that sent over 300 missionaries around the world. Within two generations, the Moravians had planted churches across Europe, the Caribbean, North America, South America, and Africa.
How did they do it? Not through institutions. Through ordinary believers who were equipped and sent. Zinzendorf’s motto was simple: “I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone.” And that passion translated into multiplication.
The early church followed the same pattern. Acts tells us that ordinary believers—tentmakers like Priscilla and Aquila, businesswomen like Lydia, blue-collar workers like the fishermen disciples—turned the world upside down. They didn’t have seminaries. They didn’t have church buildings. They had the Spirit, the Scriptures, and a commitment to obedience.
Theological Foundation: Why This Matters
John Calvin, writing in his Institutes, reminds us that every believer is called to ministry: “It is the task of the church to raise up and train ministers of the Word… but every believer is a priest to God.” The priesthood of all believers isn’t a denominational distinctive—it’s a biblical mandate that has profound implications for how we structure our churches.
Paul’s charge to Timothy is crystal clear: “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). Notice the four generations in that single verse: Paul → Timothy → faithful men → others also. This is multiplication by design. This is how the gospel spreads.
Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, understood this multiplication principle better than most. Despite his fame and the massive crowds at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon prioritized training ordinary believers for ministry. His Pastor’s College equipped hundreds of bi-vocational ministers who planted churches across England. He famously said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.”
Practical Application: Where to Start
If you’re a pastor or church leader reading this, here’s your roadmap:
1. Start with a handful of faithful people.
You don’t need a hundred people to launch a movement. Jesus started with twelve. Find 3-5 faithful believers who are hungry for more than church attendance. Pour into them. Train them. Then release them.
2. Equip with simple, reproducible tools.
Strip away complexity. If a new believer can’t lead it after one session, it’s too complicated. Discovery Bible Studies, three-thirds meetings, and simple accountability structures are your friends.
3. Focus on obedience, not just knowledge.
At every gathering, ask: “What is God telling you to do?” and “When will you do it?” Knowledge without obedience is dead orthodoxy. Multiplication requires transformed lives, not just informed minds.
4. Coach, don’t control.
New leaders need support, not micromanagement. Weekly coaching calls, peer learning communities, and accessible mentors are essential. But resist the urge to take back control when things get messy.
5. Celebrate multiplication stories.
What gets celebrated gets repeated. Share testimonies of ordinary believers making disciples. Make multiplication visible and desirable in your church culture.
The Cost of Inaction
Here’s what happens if we keep doing what we’re doing: The Brethren in Christ denomination, in launching their Multiplication Movement Vision, acknowledged that without change, they would continue to see plateau and decline. Recent data shows that churches not actively engaged in disciple-making multiplication are losing members at rates of 5-8% annually.
But it’s not just about numbers. It’s about obedience. Jesus didn’t give us the Great Suggestion. He gave us the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Every day we delay multiplication is a day we fail to fulfill our primary mission.
A Call to Action
So here’s the question that matters: Are you building a church that can survive without you?
If you got hit by a bus tomorrow (God forbid), would disciple-making continue in your church? Would the ministry multiply? Or would everything grind to a halt because you were the one doing it all?
The 224% growth we started with didn’t happen because of gifted leaders. It happened because ordinary believers were equipped and released to do the work of ministry. That’s multiplication. That’s the pattern of 2 Timothy 2:2. That’s what Jesus envisioned when He said the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.
The laborers aren’t few because God hasn’t called them. The laborers are few because we haven’t equipped them.
So start today. Not with a program. Not with a sermon series. Start with one faithful person. Pour your life into them. Show them how to study the Word, share their faith, and make disciples. Then send them out to do the same.
That’s how movements begin. That’s how the world gets reached. That’s how ordinary churches become multiplication centers for the kingdom of God.
Your turn: Who is your Timothy? Who are you pouring into this week with the express purpose of multiplication?