Exponential NEXT Podcast Episode 110

Series: Exploring Distinct Expressions Within the Landscape of Church Planting

Description:

Forget the building, forget the budget – what if all you needed was your neighbors? Come along as we explore this conversation again with Brian Johnson and Rob Wegner, leaders of the Kansas City Underground, as they share their powerful journey into microchurch planting. The Kansas City Underground equips people to live as missionaries in their own networks through rhythms of prayer, listening, eating, serving, and storytelling. Microchurches—defined as extended spiritual families—emerge from these relational networks, led by unpaid leaders who embrace the mission of Jesus in everyday life. Discover how to empower everyday believers to lead, foster authentic community, and live out the mission of Jesus in their own circles. This episode will challenge your assumptions and inspire you to see ministry opportunities all around you. This expression is highlighted in a free resource called ‘The Atlas’ which can be found on our website at exponential.org/atlas.

Hosts:

Carrie Williams, Executive Director, Exponential NEXT

Bill Couchenour, Deployment Director, Exponential

Guests:

Rob Wegner, Co-Founder and Director, KC Underground

Brian Johnson, Co-Founder and Director, KC Underground

Links Shared in Episode:

KC Underground

KC Underground YouTube Channel

StarfishyoU Substack

eBooks through EX:

Extraordinary Prayer

Deeply Rooted

Category: Church Expressions NEXT

I knew I had taken the assessment before, so I dug through old computer files until I found the report. I read through my five strengths and immediately felt a disconnect. This doesn’t quite feel like me anymore. One or two of the categories felt off – like a sweater that used to fit but doesn’t quite anymore. Then I noticed the date on the report. It had been 18 years since I’d taken it.

Eighteen years.

I reached out and asked if she could send me a code to take the assessment again. She did. And when I got my new results, I was surprised – not because one or two strengths had shifted, but because all but one had changed entirely. As I read through the new report, something in me resonated. This is me. When I sent the results to our Executive Pastor, she replied playfully, “You’re a whole new person!”

I sat with that for a second, then typed back: “I think I just became me.”

There is a quiet pressure that builds in the lives of women in ministry leadership. It’s rarely spoken out loud, but most of us feel it. We watch what gets celebrated in our churches and organizations. We observe who gets promoted, whose ideas get traction, whose voice commands the room. And somewhere in the back of our minds, a conclusion starts to form: That’s who I need to be.

We begin to shape ourselves around a mold we didn’t choose – performing strengths we don’t actually have, suppressing the ones we do, contorting ourselves into a version of leadership that was never designed for us. And we wonder why we feel so tired.

But here’s the truth: When God knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), He wasn’t following a pattern. He wasn’t cutting from the same template He used for the woman you most admire, or the leader who gets the most applause. He was making something original. Something only he could make. Ephesians 2:10 calls us His poiema – His masterpiece, His work of art, crafted by a creative God with specific good works already in mind.

A masterpiece isn’t a copy of something else. It’s one of a kind.

My 30 years in ministry have been a long and sometimes painful process of becoming me. I’ve learned through trial and error. Through seasons of effectiveness and seasons of burnout. Through slowly figuring out – often the hard way – what I was made for and what I wasn’t.

And here is why I think this matters so much, especially for those of us doing Kingdom work: The contribution you are called to make will only be fully realized if you are operating out of the self God actually created. Not the self you’ve constructed to fit the mold. Not the self you think other people need you to be.

The real you. The one God knit together.

So how do we get there? I won’t pretend to have a tidy formula, but I can share three things that have been most important in my own journey.

Discern What You’re Called To – And What You’re Not

In ministry, as in most professions, there’s an assumed trajectory. You advance. You take on more responsibility. You climb toward leadership tables with more influence. And I want to be careful here – there is nothing wrong with that path, and you may very well be called to it.

But I’ve come to believe that something matters more than advancement: fit. Specifically, your role fitting the thing God has actually wired you to do.

Twelve years into my time on staff at COMMUNITY Christian Church, I had been leading the Teaching Team for two years when I was invited to join the Executive Leadership Team. It was a significant moment – I was the first woman ever invited into that circle, and it felt important to step up and represent. So, I said yes. And I served in that role for five years.

But somewhere around year four, I started to feel it. A depletion I couldn’t quite explain. A scatteredness as I tried to juggle all that was on my plate. I began sitting with God and asking him honestly: Right now, here, where can I be of greatest use to your Kingdom?

The answer was clear. The Teaching Team. And the weight of Executive Leadership responsibilities was quietly eroding my ability to give my best there. I didn’t have enough time to study. Enough time to write. I was spread across too many things to do any of them with my whole self.

So, I made a decision that a lot of people around me found baffling. I stepped down from the Executive Leadership Team – but stayed on staff. I essentially demoted myself.

I’m not going to pretend that was always easy. There were moments when decisions I used to have a voice in were made without me. I wasn’t in the room where it happens. My ego noticed.

But here’s also what was true: I began to flourish in a way I hadn’t in years. I had the margin to bring my best to the ministry I was most uniquely suited to lead. And I had space – encouraged by our Lead Pastor – to pursue something I’d dreamed of for a long time. I wrote and published my first book, Choosing the Opposite.

Four years later, I can say with complete confidence that letting go of something I was not called to was one of the most important decisions of my ministry life.

Not every “no” is a failure. Sometimes it’s the most faithful thing you can do.

Protect the Rhythms That Lead to Your Flourishing

God bless them – I work with some incredibly driven people. They thrive on full calendars and back-to-back meetings. They seem genuinely energized by constant output. I admire them deeply.

I am not that person.

I am, at my core, a contemplative. I can sit in a chair, stare out a window, and get lost in a conversation with God for hours. That is not a discipline I have to force. It is simply how I’m wired.

But for a long time, I felt subtle pressure to function like the driven people around me. To fill the white space. To prove that I was just as productive, just as available, just as capable of running hard.

What I’ve learned – slowly, and sometimes through exhaustion – is that in order for me to flourish, I need space. Specifically, I need time in the morning for scripture, prayer, and journaling. And I need a weekly sabbath where I can linger with God unhurried and then do whatever sounds life-giving in the moment.

I’m not sharing this to sound more spiritual than anyone else. It’s actually less glamorous than that. It’s more like being the kid in the family who simply requires more one-on-one time with a parent to thrive. Other kids might be fine with 15 minutes. I need more. That’s just the truth about how God made me.

What I’ve stopped doing is apologizing for it. I’ve built the rhythms I need into my life, and I protect them – because when I don’t, I don’t just get tired. I stop being fully myself. And a depleted, diminished version of me is not what the Kingdom needs.

What rhythms does your flourishing require? Not the rhythms you think you should have. Not the rhythms that work for the person you most admire. Yours.

Build them. Protect them. Don’t apologize for them.

Speak Up for Yourself

This one took me the longest.

I have known so many women in ministry who are like me in this way: We work hard. We give our best. We do effective, faithful work. And then we wait. We wait for someone to notice. We wait to be invited. We assume that if we just keep doing good work, the opportunities we’re hoping for will eventually find their way to us.

Here is what I wish I could go back and tell my younger self: Most of the people you are waiting for aren’t thinking about you. Not because they don’t care – they do. They appreciate you. They’re grateful for your work. But they are not sitting around asking themselves, “What new opportunity could I create for her?” They have their own responsibilities, their own pressures, their own priorities. It is simply not their job to manage your calling.

That is your job.

So, ask for the opportunity you want to explore. Put your name in when you sense God stirring something in you. Articulate to your supervisor what lights you up and what depletes you. Don’t wait to be discovered. Show up and say, “I believe I have something to offer here.”

This is not pushiness. This is stewardship. It’s taking seriously the gifts God has placed in you and refusing to let them sit unopened because you were waiting for someone else to hand you permission.

As I read through my new StrengthsFinder report, I noticed something unexpected. What I saw wasn’t just a new version of me – it was the truest version of me. The woman who had been in there all along, slowly becoming more herself through thirty years of ministry, relationships, failure, growth, and grace.

She just needed some time to find herself.

And I think that’s the invitation for each of us. Not to reinvent ourselves. Not to perform a version of leadership that gets the most applause in the room we happen to be standing in. But to do the patient, sometimes difficult, always worthy work of becoming who we actually are.

Because that woman – the one God knit together with extraordinary care, the one He called His masterpiece, the one He equipped with a unique set of gifts for a specific set of good works – she is the one the church needs.

She is the one the world needs.

Become her.

For many leaders summer becomes the season where we finally pause. We take vacations. We unplug. We disappear for a little while emotionally and physically. Some take extended sabbaticals. Others simply try to catch their breath after months of carrying people, preaching sermons, leading teams, solving problems, and absorbing the weight of ministry in the city.

But one of the things I’ve realized over the years is this: not every sabbatical actually produces health.

Some people come back rested. Some come back more exhausted than when they left. Some return entertained but not restored. Others may have escaped work for a few days but never actually encountered God in a meaningful way. And for many of us in ministry, we assume that simply stopping work automatically equals renewal. But all sabbaticals are not created equal.

The wrong question is often, “Am I going to take time off?” The better question is, “What does my soul actually need?” That question matters because sabbath is never just about getting away. Biblically, Sabbath is about trust.

The idea of Sabbath did not begin with us. It began in creation itself. In Genesis, after God created the world, He rested. Not because He was tired, but because He was establishing a rhythm for humanity. He was modeling something for us. Throughout scripture, you continue seeing that rhythm unfold. In Exodus 20, God institutes rhythms of weekly rest. In Leviticus, He even commands sabbath years for the land itself. These seasons of release were reminders that God’s people were ultimately dependent upon Him.

Sabbath is not simply about stopping work. It is about trusting God enough to stop striving.

That is difficult for ministry leaders because many of us quietly believe everything depends on us. We carry the pressure of sermons, counseling, financial stress, leadership decisions, church conflict, team dynamics, and the emotional pain of people in our communities. In urban ministry especially, the needs never stop. There is always another crisis, another conversation, another burden to carry.

But sabbath confronts our tendency to believe we are indispensable. It reminds us that we are human. It reminds us that we have limitations. It reminds us that Jesus is still Lord while we sleep.

As I’ve reflected on healthy sabbaticals over the years, I’ve found that there are four rhythms every leader needs to consider: rest, restoration, replenishment, and reflection. We need all four to some degree, but most of us heading into a sabbatical season need one or two more intentionally than the others.

#1 REST

Rest is the physical, emotional, and mental slowing down that comes from stepping away from labor. It is stopping the constant output. Jesus told His disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” Some leaders simply need sleep. They need margin. They need their nervous systems to calm down after running at full speed for too long.

Many of us have been burning the candle at both ends. We are emotionally fatigued from carrying the pain of others. We are mentally exhausted from decision-making. We are spiritually tired from constantly pouring out. And sometimes we need permission to admit that exhaustion is real.

Exhaustion is not holiness.

Busyness is not a badge of honor. God never called us to destroy ourselves in order to prove our devotion to Him. Rest is not laziness; it is stewardship.

For some leaders, rest looks like sleeping without guilt. It looks like turning off notifications and not being available to everyone all the time. It looks like taking naps, slowing the pace of life, spending unhurried time with family, or simply sitting still long enough for your soul to catch up with your body.

Healthy rest requires discernment because not every activity that distracts us actually restores us. Sometimes we binge entertainment or endlessly scroll social media and call it rest, when in reality we are numbing ourselves instead of renewing ourselves. True rest allows the body and soul to exhale.

#2 RESTORATION

Sometimes the deepest issue is not fatigue. Sometimes something inside of us needs healing.

You can be physically rested and still spiritually distant from God. You can be on vacation while your marriage quietly deteriorates. You can preach the gospel publicly while privately feeling disconnected from the joy of your salvation.

In Psalm 51, David prays, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Restoration is about addressing what has been neglected, strained, or fractured beneath the surface. It is allowing God to heal what busyness has covered up.

For some leaders, restoration means counseling or therapy. For others, it means reconnecting with a spouse or children after a difficult season. It may involve repentance, confession, healing, or extended time with God.

One of the dangers in ministry is that we can become productive while becoming spiritually unhealthy. We can lead ministries while neglecting our own souls. Restoration forces us to tell the truth about what is really happening internally.

Many leaders do not simply need another vacation. They need healing.

#3 REPLENISHMENT

Replenishment is different from rest because replenishment asks the question: what refills my soul?

God created us as whole people. There are things that restore wonder, creativity, joy, and delight inside of us. Some people replenish through reading, painting, music, exercise, cooking, laughter, or time in nature. Others replenish through deep friendships, silence, or creative expression.

Replenishment matters because many leaders know how to work but have forgotten how to enjoy life.

We can become so consumed with ministry productivity that we stop engaging the ordinary graces God has given us for joy. Sometimes replenishment is as simple as sitting with friends, laughing deeply, eating good food, or rediscovering hobbies and rhythms that make you feel alive again. 

For some of us, we return from vacations needing another vacation because we never actually replenished our souls in the first place.

#4 REFLECTION

Many leaders move so fast that they never process what God has actually been doing in them.

Reflection creates space to look back, look up, and look forward. Looking back allows us to see God’s faithfulness and identify lessons from previous seasons. Looking up invites us to listen to God through prayer and scripture. Looking forward helps us discern what needs to change moving into the next season.

Without reflection, ministry can easily become survival instead of formation.

We begin operating off autopilot. We repeat familiar rhythms without asking whether they are still healthy or fruitful. Reflection interrupts the cycle long enough for us to examine our hearts honestly.

One younger leader shared how older pastors warned him that if he did not learn healthy rhythms of rest, eventually his body would force him to stop. That wisdom shifted his perspective. Reflection helped him realize that God is fully aware of what He intends to accomplish in every season. We do not have to carry the burden of accomplishing more than God Himself requires.

Reflection can happen through journaling, silent retreats, strategic planning, prayer walks, or simply asking hard questions before God. What is healthy right now? What is unsustainable? What needs repentance? What needs celebration? What needs to change?

Healthy sabbaticals require both an exit strategy and a reentry strategy. Many leaders know how to leave ministry temporarily, but they do not know how to return wisely. They come back and immediately pick up every burden again. They resume unhealthy rhythms within days and quickly find themselves needing another break.

Healthy reentry requires intentionality. Sometimes sabbaticals reveal responsibilities that should not return to your plate. Sometimes God uses seasons away to expose unhealthy patterns, poor delegation, or areas where other leaders need to step forward. 

As urban missionaries and ministry leaders, we cannot afford to ignore these rhythms.

The people we serve are making a dangerous assumption: that we are spending time with God, that we are healthy emotionally, that we are leading from overflow rather than emptiness. But when leaders neglect rest, restoration, replenishment, and reflection, eventually ministry becomes fueled by exhaustion instead of the Spirit.

Healthy missionaries produce healthier movements. Healthier movements help create healthier cities.

As you move into this summer season, do not simply ask how you can get away. Ask what your soul actually needs. Maybe you need rest because you are exhausted. Maybe you need restoration because something inside of you has been neglected too long. Maybe you need replenishment because joy and creativity have disappeared. Maybe you need reflection because you have been moving too fast to hear God clearly.

Whatever it is, do not settle for merely escaping ministry for a few weeks. Let this season become an opportunity for God to realign your soul.

Because the goal of Sabbath is not simply to stop working. The goal is to remember that while we rest, God is still at work.

Exponential NEXT Podcast Episode 109

Series: Exploring Distinct Expressions Within the Landscape of Church Planting

Description:

What happens when church planting takes an unexpected turn—and it’s exactly what God intended? In this episode, join us as we take another look at the conversation between our hosts Carrie Williams and Bill Couchenour and Justin and Janae Klatt, founders of Imagine Church Global, a fully digital faith community born from obedience and innovation. What began as a traditional church plant in Phoenix shifted online when the Klatts realized people across the country wanted to join—but couldn’t move. Through Spirit-led moments and creative risk-taking, Imagine Church Global emerged as a week-long, app-based experience where “community builders” lead flexible, discussion-driven gatherings. This model reaches those often excluded from physical churches—like flight attendants, RVers, or the homebound around the country and around the world. This episode is a powerful reminder that God moves in unexpected ways—and that new expressions of the Church can meet people right where they are. This expression is highlighted in a free resource called ‘The Atlas’ which can be found on our website at exponential.org/atlas.

Hosts:

Carrie Williams, Executive Director, Exponential NEXT

Bill Couchenour, Deployment Director, Exponential

Guests:

Justin Klatt – Co-Founder and Co-Pastor, Imagine Church Global

Janae Klatt – Co-Founder and Co-Pastor, Imagine Church Global

Links Shared in Episode:

Imagine.church

IG: @imaginechurchglobal

Category: Church Expressions NEXT

Exponential NEXT Ventures has supported and funded more than 70 innovative projects over the past six years. Each year, we invite a handful of our pioneering project leaders to write articles for Innovation NEXT because we love sharing stories of Kingdom impact and innovation as they help create the future of the church.

This summer, we thought it would be fun to reconnect with three projects that joined the NEXT Ventures family in the early years. We hope you enjoy these “Where Are They Now?” updates and are encouraged by what God continues to do through their ministries.

– Tom Planck, NEXT Ventures Director

The vision of the Church Development Network is to plant 1,000 churches in creative spaces and places. That bold vision is intended to communicate our desire to see saturation church planting happen in the U.S. like it is happening in other places around the world. We were deeply challenged by stories of church planting movements around the world – testimonies of saturation church planting and the rapid multiplication of churches from village to village and city to city.

Our prayer has been simple: “Lord, You are multiplying Your church throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America – why not here? Why not in the United States?” That question launched a journey. We began studying how disciple-making movements and church planting movements were multiplying globally and asking what universal principles could be applied here in the west. What we discovered surprised us.

First, we noticed that global saturation church planting is first a disciple-making movement. Church planting is a by-product that flows out of disciple multiplication. Healthy churches emerge naturally when disciples make disciples.

Second, saturation church planting begins with the end in mind. The goal is not merely individual discipleship. The goal is to make disciples who gather as the church – even in very simple forms – as disciples make disciples.

Third, in global multiplication movements, leaders are not required to complete a long institutional pathway before being released into ministry. Instead, planting the church becomes part of the formation process.

Fourth, the laity are the leaders.

And finally, rapid obedience to the commands of Jesus becomes the expectation for every believer.

In theory, we all agree with these principles, but in many ways, these principles are opposite of the church planting methods in the U.S. The heart is the same – we all want to see the Gospel proclaimed and new churches established. But the methodology is very different.

In the West, the process frequently looks like this: educate, assess, plan, and eventually launch a worship service. In saturation church planting movements, disciples are made first, churches gather quickly, and leaders grow through Just-In-Time Training (JITT).

We often describe the prevailing model as the “Ready, Set, Go” approach.

Ready – God has called you.
Set – Complete assessment, training, planning, fundraising, and credentialing.
Go – Launch the church.

The problem is that this often becomes the “Ready, Set, Set, Set, Set…” model. Somewhere along the way, church planting became something only well-equipped experts were expected to do. The subtle message: Before you can start, you need years of preparation, a polished team, and a fully developed strategy. Ordinary believers were taught to wait until they looked like professionals. We designed CDN to prioritize practitioners. 

Don’t get me wrong, education is important, but we believe that the best learning is done as you obey Jesus and are sent into His harvest field. We describe this shift as the “Ready, GO, Set” model. 

Ready – God has called you.
GO – Obey His call and begin immediately.
Set – Learn and grow through Just-In-Time training while actively engaged in ministry.

The goal is multiplication.

As you can imagine, one of the greatest challenges is helping leaders shift from a highly institutional model of church planting toward a model built on simple ecclesiology, disciple-making, and rapid obedience.

This requires bi-vocational leaders who learn to integrate calling and career. It also requires pastors willing to release inexperienced leaders into the harvest field for real-world ministry instead of holding them back until some future day when they finally appear “ready.”

Our prayer has been that God would normalize a new pathway – one where everyday believers step out in faith, join Jesus in the harvest, make disciples, and gather as the church in creative spaces and places.

As we evaluated church planting in the West, we consistently observed three major barriers:

1. The prevailing model costs too much.
2. There are not enough church planters.
3. The process takes too long.

Those challenges forced us to ask a deeper question: What is actually preventing multiplication?

We became convinced that the problem was never the harvest. Jesus said in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into His harvest field.”

The problem is deployment. That conviction shaped the DNA of our work.

First, we believe the resources are in the harvest. Church planters do not need to wait until every outside support system is perfectly established before stepping out in faith. God often provides through the very field He sends us into. The details are in the journey.

Second, we believe God uses ordinary people. Acts 4:13 says the people were astonished by Peter and John because they were “unschooled, ordinary men.” Yet the crowd recognized one defining reality: they had been with Jesus.

The greatest credential for ministry is not polish. It is presence. Have you been with Jesus?

Third, we believe rapid obedience flows from God-filled environments. Prayer is not an accessory to mission. Worship is not a side note. Obedience is cultivated through prayer and revealed through responsiveness to the Holy Spirit. Healthy multiplication begins in the upper room before it ever reaches the streets (Acts 1).

CDN training centers are deploying people who would never have considered themselves “qualified” to plant a church. While our vision is to plant 1,000 churches, our mission is “the relentless pursuit of obedient disciples.”

We have also discovered something surprisingly simple: People often just need vision and permission to go.

Many church planters never imagined God could use them in this way because nobody had ever spoken faith over their lives. Nobody had shown them a pathway. Nobody had told them that obedience was possible.

So, we cast vision. We speak faith. And we activate people to join Jesus in His harvest field. God equips them as they go.

Today, Church Development Network functions through four primary environments that help people move from calling to planting to multiplying.

Jumpstart is where vision is cast and calling is awakened.

Encounter is an immersive worship and training experience where believers are activated into their calling.

Launchpad is a monthly prayer gathering for active church planters and leaders in the field.

And Sent Summit has become our annual gathering to equip trainers and celebrate what Jesus is doing across the movement.

These environments matter because church planting is not a single moment. It is a journey. People need environments where they can hear God clearly, be formed spiritually, receive mentorship, pray together, and celebrate what Jesus is doing.

1. God-filled environments are central to activation.

We do not want to build church planting on hype, pressure, or personality. We want to build it in the presence of God.

That is why prayer-saturated environments matter so deeply to us. We are not primarily trying to produce religious entrepreneurs. We are trying to help people hear Jesus clearly and obey Him courageously. In Acts 13, the church was worshiping and fasting when the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.” Mission flowed out of worship. Sending flowed out of prayer.

 That pattern still matters.

2. Rapid deployment changes everything

One of the strongest values inside CDN is rapid deployment.

This is not about lowering standards. It is about restoring biblical order. In the New Testament, leaders were developed while actively engaged in ministry. Jesus modeled this when He sent the 12 and the 72 into the harvest field in Luke 9 and 10. Many leaders only discover what God has placed inside them after they step into the field.

3. People need permission to go

This lesson may sound simple, but it has proven incredibly powerful.

Many lay people never believed God could use them in this way because nobody had ever spoken faith over them. Nobody had given language to their calling. Nobody had shown them a pathway. Sometimes the breakthrough is not complicated. Sometimes people simply need someone to say, “Yes, God can use you. Obey. Get started.”

4. The world needs all forms of churches

We have learned not to force one model onto every community. Some churches begin in homes. Others in parks, gyms, storefronts, campuses, or coffee shops. Some remain small. Others grow large. Every community is different. Every planter is different. Every church plant is different.  The point is not uniformity. The point is obedience. 

That is why we say: The pathway is unpredictable, but the steps are predictable. The 5 predictable steps that we emphasize are: Pray, Speak Out, Gather, Obey, and Send Out. These five strategies provide a dashboard for multiplication.

One ongoing challenge is the deep cultural pull toward institutional definitions of church. Many still assume a church is only legitimate if it has a building, staff, a large budget, and established infrastructure. But a church is not validated by a building. A church is validated by the presence of God among a people gathered in the name of Jesus and living on mission together.

We have also learned that many leaders struggle to release inexperienced people into the harvest. It feels safer to guard them until they appear fully prepared. But that “fully ready” moment is elusive. At some point – and we say it’s “right away” – leaders must be trusted and sent. 

We have also learned that systems alone do not create multiplication. Training matters. Strategy matters. Rhythms matter. But healthy multiplication ultimately grows out of spiritual hunger, prayer, obedience, and faith.

And perhaps one of the most important lessons is this: If we do not change the prevailing model scoreboard, we will never change the outcomes. That is why we celebrate a different set of goals: calling, gathering, and sending – not merely attendance, budgets, and buildings. That realization has helped us create a new scoreboard shaped by three milestones:

Milestone One: A Church Conceived in Heaven

The first milestone occurs when a person says “yes” to the call of Jesus to plant a church in a specific place or among a particular people group.

That moment matters deeply to us.

We describe it as “a church conceived in heaven.”

Like conception in the natural world, nothing may yet be visible externally, but something significant has already changed. God has initiated something new in the heart of the planter.

I remember when I first responded to the call to plant a church. Something shifted inside me. In that moment, I knew heaven had initiated something before earth had yet seen it.

All that remained was for the church to be born on earth.

Milestone Two: A Church Born on Earth

The second milestone occurs when the church gathers for the very first time.

We intentionally celebrate that first gathering.

Like a newborn child, a newly planted church may still be small and undeveloped. It has years of growth ahead of it. But it is still fully and completely the church.

That first gathering matters. It represents a church born on earth.

Milestone Three: A Church That Multiplies

The third milestone represents maturity.

Some define church maturity through staffing, buildings, budgets, or organizational systems. While those things have value, we define maturity through multiplication. In biology, maturity is reached when something can reproduce. In the same way, we believe a church reaches maturity when it helps give birth to another church.

The goal is multiplication. Every church can become a training center that helps new disciples move from calling to gathering to multiplying. CDN Training centers are places where believers are activated, disciples are made, churches are gathered, and leaders are sent again and again. We believe Jesus raises up church planters in every kind of place. We believe He wants churches in neighborhoods, campuses, parks, homes, gyms, and overlooked communities.

As we look ahead, several priorities continue to grow clearer.

First, we want to see more localized training centers established across the country and beyond. Every region needs environments where people can hear God’s call and be equipped to obey.

Second, we want to see hundreds more workers deployed into the harvest. If the vision is thousands of churches, then we must accelerate calling, mentoring, and sending leaders.

Third, we want to see more leaders embrace multiplying rhythms instead of treating church planting like a rare event.

And fourth, we are committed to celebrate small beginnings. Small beginnings do not limit Kingdom impact – they are the evidence of it. Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” 

The greatest mindset shift is this: church planting is not primarily about building institutions. It is about gathering obedient disciples in the harvest and allowing Jesus to build His church.

That is how movements multiply.

At its core, Church Development Network exists because we believe Jesus is still calling ordinary people into the harvest. We believe the church grows when disciples obey, when leaders are released, and when believers are willing to step into the field before they feel fully prepared. The vision of planting 1,000 churches is not driven by ambition or organizational expansion – it is driven by faith that Jesus still builds His church through ordinary men and women who have been with Him. 

The harvest is still plentiful. The need is still urgent. And the invitation remains the same: hear His voice, obey quickly, and join Him in the work of gathering disciples and planting churches in creative spaces and places throughout the world.

Most pastors and church leaders can feel it, even if they struggle to name it. The strategies that once produced momentum do not seem to carry the same weight they once did. Attendance patterns are changing. Institutional trust is lower. Communities feel fragmented. Many leaders are exhausted from trying to sustain systems that increasingly feel heavy and difficult to reproduce.

At the same time, spiritual hunger remains deeply present.

People are still searching for meaning, belonging, healing, purpose, and hope. The mission of Jesus has not become less relevant. If anything, the need for the gospel feels even more urgent.

But perhaps the challenge before us is not primarily about passion or vision. Perhaps it is about imagination.

For decades, much of the modern church world has operated with an institutional imagination. We built around campuses, attendance, programming, branding, and centralized growth. Again, none of those things are inherently wrong. Many churches have faithfully served their communities through those models.

But the New Testament presents something much more relational, distributed, and missionary in nature.

The early church did not primarily spread through isolated churches working independently. It spread through interconnected relationships, shared leadership, collaborative mission, and sending communities working together as networks.

That is why Antioch matters so much right now.

Most people speak about “the church at Antioch” as though it were simply one particularly healthy congregation. But Antioch was far more than that. Antioch functioned as a relational missionary ecosystem, a collaborative network of leaders, house churches, teachers, prophets, and sending communities united around the mission of Jesus.

What emerged there was not simply church growth.

It was a movement.

And I believe the future of the church may depend on rediscovering this Antioch imagination once again.

Antioch Was Built at a Crossroads

Antioch itself was a strategic city.

Located in Syria, Antioch was one of the largest and most influential cities in the Roman Empire, behind only Rome and Alexandria. It was wealthy, diverse, intellectual, commercial, and deeply multicultural. Trade routes flowed through it. Cultures mixed there. Roman influence, Greek thought, Jewish tradition, and Eastern spirituality all collided inside the city.

In many ways, Antioch looked more like a modern global city than Jerusalem.

That matters because movements are often born at crossroads.

The church in Antioch emerged after persecution scattered believers beyond Jerusalem following the death of Stephen (Acts 8:1–4). What initially looked like disruption became expansion. Ordinary believers carried the gospel wherever they went.

Acts 11 tells us that some traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. At first many spoke only to Jewish communities, but eventually some believers from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to Greeks as well (Acts 11:19–20).

This was a major turning point in the story of the church.

The gospel was moving beyond familiar cultural boundaries, and Antioch became one of the first truly multiethnic Christian communities in history.

Luke writes, “The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).

Jerusalem heard what was happening and sent Barnabas to investigate. When Barnabas arrived, he did not try to control the movement. He recognized the grace of God already at work and encouraged the believers to remain faithful (Acts 11:22–24).

Then Barnabas did something deeply relational and profoundly strategic.

He went looking for Saul.

At that point Saul was still viewed cautiously by many believers because of his past persecution of the church. Barnabas saw potential others were hesitant to trust. He brought Saul into Antioch, and together they spent a year teaching and forming the community (Acts 11:25–26).

This is important because Antioch was never built around one personality.

From the beginning, it operated through collaborative leadership and relational trust.

Antioch Was a Network, Not Simply a Church

Acts 13 gives us one of the clearest pictures of what Antioch actually looked like.

Luke writes: “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen… and Saul” (Acts 13:1).

That short verse reveals something remarkable.

This was not a monocultural leadership team. It was ethnically diverse, socially diverse, and geographically diverse. African leaders. Jewish leaders. Roman-connected leaders. Men from different regions, classes, and experiences serving together in shared mission.

Antioch was not functioning like an isolated institution protecting its own interests.

It was functioning like a relational network.

What held the community together was not branding or hierarchy alone. It was shared mission, shared worship, shared prayer, and shared surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Then comes the defining moment.

“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).

Notice what happens next.

The leaders prayed. They fasted. They laid hands on Barnabas and Saul. Then they released them into mission (Acts 13:3).

This became the launching point for Paul’s missionary journeys across the Roman world.

But here is what we often miss:

Antioch was not simply sending missionaries from one local church.

Antioch functioned as a collaborative sending ecosystem capable of identifying leaders, developing leaders, resourcing leaders, and releasing leaders into mission together.

That distinction matters enormously for the church today.

From Independent Churches to Kingdom Ecosystems

Many churches today still operate as though they are standalone ministries competing for survival, influence, or growth. Even when leaders care deeply about the Kingdom, systems often pull them toward isolation.

But the New Testament presents something far more interconnected.

Paul traveled with teams (Acts 16:1–3). Churches shared financial resources across regions (2 Corinthians 8:1–5). Leaders worked collaboratively. Relationships carried the gospel from city to city.

Romans 16 reads almost like a relational map of the early church. Paul names co-workers, hosts, servants, apostles, and ministry partners throughout the chapter (Romans 16:1–16). The movement expanded because trusted relationships expanded.

The early church functioned more like an interconnected missionary ecosystem than a collection of isolated congregations.

That is why the future of the church may depend less on building larger isolated churches and more on helping churches rediscover themselves as connected Kingdom networks.

This does not diminish the local church. It strengthens it.

A healthy network does not replace churches. It connects them relationally around shared mission.

That is the Antioch vision.

The Shift From Gathering to Sending

For many years, churches have largely measured success through gathering metrics: attendance, budgets, buildings, and participation. While those things can provide helpful information, they were never intended to become the ultimate scorecard of Kingdom fruitfulness.

Jesus did not simply command the church to gather crowds. He commanded us to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

That requires sending.

A gathering-centered church naturally organizes around bringing people inward. A sending-centered network organizes around releasing people outward into mission.

Antioch understood this instinctively.

They did not cling tightly to Barnabas and Saul because they understood that Kingdom success is not measured by how much you can accumulate, but by how faithfully you can release people into God’s mission.

Many churches today have inherited structures that unintentionally prioritize preservation over multiplication. What once helped sustain ministry can now hinder movement.

The challenge before us is not whether churches should grow. Healthy churches should absolutely grow.

The deeper question is whether our churches are becoming sending bases inside a larger missionary ecosystem.

Rediscovering the DNA of Multiplying Networks

If churches are going to recover this Antioch imagination, they will need more than vision language. They will need relational structures capable of sustaining collaboration and multiplication over time.

At the center of healthy networks are four foundational commitments: Relationships, Reproducing, Residents, and Resources.

Relationships: Building Trust Before Strategy

Everything begins with relationships.

Not networking. Not transactional partnerships. Genuine friendship.

Many pastors today are deeply isolated. They carry pressure, decision fatigue, and emotional exhaustion while trying to lead alone. Healthy networks create spaces where leaders become companions on mission rather than competitors for influence.

Movements grow at the speed of trust.

Trust cannot be manufactured through organizational charts. It is formed slowly through prayer, honesty, shared mission, and long-term relational investment.

Reproducing: Making Multiplication Cultural

Healthy networks assume multiplication from the beginning.

In many churches, sending leaders away can feel threatening. Releasing resources can feel risky. Yet throughout scripture, fruitfulness often requires release.

Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

Multiplication must become cultural, not accidental.

Churches that only gather eventually plateau around centralized leadership and capacity. Networks that reproduce leaders, apprentices, churches, and mission communities create exponential Kingdom impact over time.

Residents: Formation Through Apprenticeship

The early church formed leaders relationally.

Jesus did not simply lecture His disciples. “He appointed twelve… so that they might be with him” (Mark 3:14).

That principle still matters.

Future leaders are best developed inside real mission where they can observe, participate, fail, mature, and grow alongside trusted mentors. Paul later told Timothy, “What you have heard from me… entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Programs can distribute information.

Communities form people.

Resources: Stewardship for Shared Mission

Every church has something meaningful to contribute.

Not every church has the same size, budget, staff, or visibility, but every church carries gifts entrusted by God for the sake of the larger mission.

Peter writes, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10).

This is where many churches need a renewed imagination.

Resources are not merely assets to protect internally. In a Kingdom network, resources become tools for shared mission.

Buildings become training spaces. Relationships become bridges. Finances become shared investment. Influence becomes something leveraged for others rather than guarded for ourselves.

The 4Ps: What Every Church Brings to the Network

One of the most practical ways to help churches see themselves inside a relational ecosystem is through the framework of the 4Ps: People, Pennies, Platform, and Prayer.

The purpose of the 4Ps is not comparison. It is recognition.

Every church already brings something valuable to the larger network.

Some churches bring experienced leaders. Others bring younger leaders ready to be developed. Some carry financial capacity. Others carry relational credibility in neighborhoods and communities. Some bring organizational stability. Others bring entrepreneurial energy.

The goal is not uniformity.

The goal is shared stewardship.

People

In a sending network, people are not lost when they leave. They are deployed into mission.

That shift alone changes how churches think about leadership development.

Pennies

Shared generosity lowers the barrier to obedience. The early believers modeled this beautifully when “there was not a needy person among them” because resources were shared for the sake of the mission (Acts 4:34–35).

What feels impossible for one church often becomes achievable when multiple churches invest together.

Platform

Every church carries influence.

Some churches have large audiences. Others have deep local trust. Healthy networks leverage influence to elevate and strengthen emerging leaders and new works.

A platform becomes dangerous when it exists only to preserve itself. But when influence is shared, it accelerates multiplication.

Prayer

Prayer remains the foundation underneath everything else.

Antioch prayed before it sent (Acts 13:1–3). That pattern still matters today because movements are sustained not merely through strategy, but through shared dependence on the Holy Spirit.

The Antioch Invitation

The world does not need more isolated churches competing for attention.

It needs relational networks of churches willing to move together in mission.

Antioch reminds us that movements begin when communities choose collaboration over competition, stewardship over ownership, and sending over accumulation.

The future of the church may not depend primarily on building bigger individual ministries.

It may depend on rediscovering how to become interconnected missionary ecosystems once again.

In other words, the invitation before us is not simply to become a stronger church.

It is to become Antioch together.

Exponential NEXT Podcast Episode 108

Series: Exploring Distinct Expressions Within the Landscape of Church Planting

Description:

What if your church could fight hunger AND fuel your soul? Let’s revisit the forward-thinking approach of entrepreneurial church planting with our guests, Carl Johnson and Scott Woller. These innovative leaders are embedding their churches in the heart of their communities, using coffee shops, grocery stores, and workforce development programs as powerful expressions of their mission. Whether you’re a church planter, pastor, or just curious about new models of ministry, this episode will challenge and inspire you to think beyond the building—and plant churches that meet people where they are. This expression is highlighted in a free resource called ‘The Atlas’ which can be found on our website at exponential.org/atlas.

Hosts:

Carrie Williams, Executive Director, Exponential NEXT

Bill Couchenour, Deployment Director, Exponential

Guests:

Carl Johnson, Lead Pastor, Faith City Church Network

Scott Woller, Pastor/Planting Pastor, Corner Church

Links Shared in Episode:

scott@cornerchurch.tv

www.corner.coffee

www.corner.church

Category: Church Expressions NEXT

What struck me about the invitation wasn’t the topic itself, but the assumption behind it.  They were acknowledging the challenges are real, but so are the opportunities.  And our ability to impact the next generation will be directly related to how intentionally we face the realities in front of us. 

As church leaders we are entrusted with the privilege and responsibility to shepherd the next generation. These are the top four realities we have to wrestle with and have answers for if we are going to reach the next generation.

1. They are shaped by algorithms, but aching for authenticity

One of the most common complaints about the next generation is how much they are on their phones.  And no doubt, the algorithms are shaping what they watch, buy, and believe.  Virtual friends are on the rise and information overload is at an all-time high.  And in this current AI saturated culture, every video is watched with skepticism as to whether it’s authentic or AI generated.

What makes this especially significant is that many students are growing up in a world where connection is constant, but trust is fragile. They are more connected than any generation before them, yet can struggle to know what or who is actually trustworthy. They can access endless content, opinions, and voices with a swipe, but access has not produced clarity. In many cases, it has only produced confusion, skepticism, and exhaustion.

The other side of this is if everything in their world is optimized, then authentic belonging, imperfect community, unfiltered stories, and faith lived out become compelling in its opposition to their digital world.  If we are accessible, consistent, and care for them genuinely, we will have a compelling voice in their lives.  If we don’t offer that, then the algorithms will continue to disciple them.  

This creates a defining moment for the church as the algorithms are exposing their hunger for something different.  When students encounter relationships that are steady, conversations that are honest and humble, it stands in sharp contrast to the online world they navigate every day. What feels ordinary to us may feel revolutionary to them.

2. Mental health is their shared reality, but vulnerability feels risky

The other day my son came home and he seemed very distressed, but not wanting to talk about it for a few days. Now this was very concerning for us, mostly because he was almost always in a good mood and rarely in his life has shown much emotion at all. As his dad, I couldn’t wait to find out what was wrong, and the days in between were agonizing.  When he did finally feel comfortable enough to share, I was surprised by what he said.  It was none of the things I had guessed it might have been in the days in between, but instead was about his friend, whom he had self-diagnosed as depressed and was struggling to know how to help him.  

Two things about this experience has really stirred me. First, mental health issues are not just affecting the one going through them, but they are carrying the mental health of their friends on their shoulders too. Mental health is universal for this generation. They either are in the midst of their own struggles or walking alongside a friend who is and the weight of that by each one in the next gen is heavy.

Second, to be vulnerable about it with an adult, including parents, pastors, coaches, etc. feels incredibly risky.  Even when they have a close relationship with them or are able to trust them with other personal issues.  And it’s not just because they think we will judge them or try to fix it for them.  They literally think we wouldn’t understand.

3. They desperately want mentors, but struggle to find them

I lead an organization called the Intern Academy, on mission to build a pipeline of leaders for the church and help with our leadership crisis shortage. When I’m on college campuses and meet with ministry students, a common theme is rising and that is their desire to be mentored.  They recognize the challenges of ministry are changing and the expectations are more demanding.  And though they aren’t going to do ministry exactly like I have (just like I’m not doing ministry exactly like the generation before me did it), they are more open than ever to being mentored.

The problem is they are struggling to find someone to mentor them.  Some of the reasons impacting that is many leaders in previous generations weren’t mentored so they don’t really know how.  Another reason is older leaders don’t have time, or they are too prideful or insecure.  The truth is the next generation is desperate for mentoring. The opportunity in front of us to intentionally mentor will have massive implications one way or the other.

What they are looking for is not just occasional advice or someone to admire from afar.  They are looking for proximity. They want access to someone’s life, not just their leadership. They are asking questions like: Can I see how you handle pressure and how you make decisions or how your faith holds up when things are hard? This generation isn’t impressed by titles or platforms, but they are drawn to leaders who are willing to be known, to be honest about their failures, and to share in the process of growth. Mentoring for them is less about information transfer and more about relational formation.

4. They are spiritually sensitive, but institutionally opposed 

This is a hard thing for us to be experiencing.  On one hand, we are so ecstatic to see the spiritual responsiveness of this generation.  They are passionate about the gospel, bold in sharing their faith, willing servants in social justice causes and hungry for intimacy with Jesus. This is incredibly good news.  

On the other hand, they are institutionally opposed.  And for those of us who have given our life to the church, that can be hard to process.  How is it they are so spiritually sensitive yet pushing back against the church? They are spiritually hungry, but not always biblically rooted. Can’t the church help with that? And our pressure to grow bigger is colliding with their desire to grow deeper. Don’t they want to see the church grow?

These realities are not problems to solve as much as they are invitations to respond. The next generation is showing us, with surprising clarity, what they are hungry for.  They want authenticity, understanding, mentoring, and depth. 

If we have the humility to listen and the courage to adapt, the impact will be both deeply relational and profoundly transformative. The future of the church will not be shaped by how well we preserve what has been, but by how faithfully we step into what is needed now. And if we get this right, we won’t just reach the next generation, but they’ll stand on our shoulders and go further than we ever could.

Indeed, the Lord’s Prayer was never meant to end in words alone, but to move us beyond rhetoric to results for the glory of God. At the heart of the prayer stands this petition: “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The prayer, then, is not simply about private devotion, but about something more public-facing: the expected and visible manifestation of heaven on earth. Petitioners ask that the character, culture, and community of heaven would be expressed in the present age by the people of God, both individually and collectively, through the local church.

But what is heaven actually like?

What Heaven is Like (John’s Vision)

The clearest biblical answer comes in Revelation.

• In Revelation 5:9, the redeemed worship the Lamb, declaring that He has purchased people “from every tribe and language and people and nation.” 
• Then in Revelation 7:9, John describes the fulfillment: “A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
  

In both eschatological passages, heaven is not monochromatic. It is multiethnic, culturally diverse, and unified beyond earthly distinctions that so often divide. Around the throne are people “from every nation, tribe, people, and language” worshiping as one, while the nations walk by the light of God’s glory and bring their splendor into the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24–26). It is one body comprised of many parts (1 Corinthians 12:12–27).

In heaven, diversity is not an obstacle to overcome. It is an intended reality, preserved, sanctified, and reconciled in the presence of God through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross (Ephesians 2:13–16).

Since we are taught to pray, “…on earth as it is in heaven,” we are expected to pursue and embody that reality now, together as one in the local church. The multiethnic church, therefore, should not be understood as a sociological trend, passing fad, or growth strategy rooted in demographic shifts. As Dr. David Anderson has long said, the multiethnic church is not just nice but necessary; not optional but biblical. It provides a credible and compelling witness of God’s love for all people, not just some, which is the heart of the Gospel.

What the Kingdom is Like (Jesus’ Parables)

The Kingdom of heaven becomes even clearer when we consider 10 parables of Jesus that begin, “The Kingdom of heaven is like…” Jesus describes a Kingdom that expands, gathers, includes, reconciles, and creates a new people of God. With this in mind, these parables not only point toward the multiethnic church, but call pastoral leaders to plant, grow, and multiply such churches on earth as it is in heaven for the sake of the gospel.

1. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31–32)
Jesus emphasizes growth that is not merely about size, but about expanding welcome and widening influence. In time, the small seed becomes a tree large enough for birds of all kinds to nest in its branches, a picture of many people finding shelter in one shared space. So too, a healthy multiethnic church becomes a safe and welcoming place where people from many backgrounds walk, work, and worship God together as one.

In the 21st century, assuming structural health, the greater a church’s ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity, the broader its reach and the deeper its influence will be in a city. Building a healthy multiethnic church, however, requires passion, prayer, patience, and persistence rooted in biblical conviction. When pastors play the long game, a simple vision embraced by a few committed people often bears fruit far greater than first imagined.

2. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like Yeast (Matthew 13:33)
Jesus emphasizes transformation that begins from within and spreads outward over time. A small measure of yeast works silently through the whole batch of dough, changing its nature from the inside. Likewise, Kingdom influence often starts in unseen places, rooted first in the hearts of pastors and congregants before it becomes visible in the world. So too, a healthy multiethnic church is established through biblical conviction.

When pastors and congregants are clear on mission, refuse to quit, and stay the course, that steady resolve strengthens both the foundation and future of the church. Over time, such faithfulness does more than shape life within the congregation. It begins to influence neighborhoods, cities, and institutions beyond its walls.

3. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Field with Wheat and Weeds (Matthew 13:24–30)
Jesus emphasizes growth that takes place amid tension, complexity, and imperfection. The Kingdom does not wait for ideal conditions before advancing, but grows in the real world where differences, misunderstandings, and challenges remain present. So too, a healthy multiethnic church is not formed by avoiding tension, but by leaning into it.

Building such a church requires maturity enough to navigate complexities. Diversity is not always easy, but neither is discipleship. Jesus died with His arms outstretched to the right and to the left, not forsaking one side for the other, but extending love and opportunity to all. In much the same way, the unity of the church is found in the tension, not apart from it. When pastors and congregants alike surrender personal preferences for the greater good, the church reflects the sacrificial love of Christ, so that others may come to know Him as we do.

4. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Net (Matthew 13:47)
Jesus explains that the Kingdom gathers all kinds of people and reaches farther than many expect. As a fisherman’s net draws in a varied catch, this parable reminds us that God’s purposes are broader than human preference or limited expectation. Kingdom ministry is not narrow, selective, or centered on one type of person. It reaches across boundaries and touches people from every walk of life.

A healthy multiethnic church embodies this principle when it serves not only its members but effectively engages its community. Beyond good intentions, it advances works of justice, compassion, and mercy to glorify God (Matthew 5:16). While some come to faith, others do not, even as they benefit from the church’s investment. Either way, pastors are called to cast the net wide and trust God for results beyond what they can see.

5. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Banquet (Matthew 22:1–10; Luke 14:15–24)
Jesus emphasizes welcome, celebration, and a table with room to spare. The invitation extends beyond the expected guests to outsiders, the marginalized, and those otherwise forgotten by a society too often ordered by personal privilege or financial status. The Kingdom is not reserved for such as these. Rather, it is equitable. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

A healthy multiethnic church extends this invitation to people from different backgrounds and mirrors this banquet when they gather as one in Christ. When people of different color, class, and culture willingly choose to become one in the church, they provide credible evidence that the gospel has power to reconcile what society too often keeps divided. Pastors in pursuit of heaven on earth must structure churches that empower diverse leaders, pursue cross-cultural intelligence, and promote a spirit of inclusion.

When Jesus taught us to pray, “on earth as it is in heaven,” He invited us to do more than contemplate the Kingdom of God. He invited us to participate in bringing it about here and now. And it is no secret: I believe healthy multiethnic churches were envisioned by Christ, described by Luke, and prescribed by the Apostle Paul as one of the most credible and compelling ways of doing so.

In this first of a two-part article, we considered the first five parables. Next month, I’ll look at parables six through 10 to help you more fully discover what Jesus teaches about the coming Kingdom of God, how to build churches that reflect heaven on earth, and why that matters.

Exponential NEXT Podcast Episode 107

Series: Exploring Distinct Expressions Within the Landscape of Church Planting

Description:

Is your church ready to reach more people in more places? Join us as we revisit this conversation and dive into the world of multisite church with Christy Gibas, Lead Pastor of The Table Church. Drawing from her own leadership journey, Christy offers a behind-the-scenes look at how her church has reproduced its ministry into multiple locations. She unpacks the vision, strategy, and lessons learned along the way—offering practical insights for any church exploring the multisite church planting model. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation about growth, leadership, and multiplying ministry impact. This expression is highlighted in a free resource called ‘The Atlas’ which can be found on our website at exponential.org/atlas.

Hosts:

Carrie Williams, Executive Director, Exponential NEXT

Bill Couchenour, Deployment Director, Exponential

Guest:

Christy Gibas, Lead Pastor, The Table Church

Links Shared in Episode:

Table Resources

Table Crash Course

Category: Church Expressions NEXT