We wanted to see hundreds of new expressions of church scattered across our city and suburbs – churches in neighborhoods, correctional centers, coffee shops, living rooms, and places where people desperately needed to find their way back to God.

By God’s grace, we saw real progress. Community Christian Church multiplied locations. New churches were planted. New leaders were developed. The dream was moving forward.

But eventually, we did the math. At our current pace, we were not going to reach the dream in our lifetime.

The vision was not too big. It was just too big for us.

That realization has become one of the most important leadership lessons of my life: what God wants to do in a city will almost always be too big for one church, one leader, one network, or one organization to carry alone.

That is why the 16% Mission matters. And that is why networks need collectives.

The truth is, our experience in Chicagoland wasn’t unique. We were simply discovering something the early church understood from the very beginning.

Jesus never gave His followers a mission they could accomplish alone. In fact, the mission was always designed to require His people working together.

A Mission Bigger Than Us

Jesus gave us a mission that has always been bigger than our capacity.

In Acts 1:8, He told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

That is a bigger vision.

Every church has a Jerusalem – a neighborhood, city, community, or people group God has called them to love and serve. But Jesus never intended His followers to stop there.

The mission widens.

Jerusalem becomes Judea. Judea becomes Samaria. And Samaria becomes the ends of the earth. No single church can carry that mission alone. 

And here is the reality: we are not keeping up.

More churches are closing than starting. Too many pastors are isolated. Many churches are doing good work, but doing it alone. In most neighborhoods, gospel presence is thin. And only a small percentage of churches are reproducing or multiplying.

This should create urgency in us.

Not panic. Not pressure. Urgency rooted in love.

Because every church that closes is one less place where people might encounter the hope, healing, and grace of Jesus.

We need more churches. But not just churches that gather. Churches that go. 

Not just churches that add. Churches that multiply.

 And not just churches that multiply alone – but churches that multiply together.

Why 16% Matters

The 16% Mission is rooted in a simple but powerful idea.

Everett Rogers, in his work on the diffusion of innovation, observed that when innovators and early adopters reach roughly 16% of a population, a tipping point begins to occur. What was once embraced by a few starts becoming the practice of many.¹

At Exponential, we have begun asking:

What if 16% of churches became reproducing and multiplying churches?

What if multiplication moved from the exception to the new normal?

What if enough churches in a city began making disciple-makers, developing leaders, planting churches, and forming networks so that the spiritual landscape of that city actually began to change?

In the United States, 16% represents roughly 60,000 multiplying churches.

That is a huge number. But there is another way to think about it.

There are about 346 cities in the U.S. with populations over 100,000. What if every one of those cities had multiplying networks of churches? What if in every city, region, denomination, or affinity, churches began forming networks as friends on mission?

That is not just a strategy. That is a movement horizon.

Many leaders have embraced multiplication at the church level. Fewer have embraced multiplication at the network level. But if 16% is ever going to become reality, multiplying churches will need multiplying networks, and multiplying networks will need a shared vision that brings them together.

START: Friends on Mission

If 16% is the horizon, networks are one of the most important pathways to get there.

A network is a small group of churches who become friends on mission to multiply healthy disciple-making churches together.

That definition matters.

A network is not a mailing list. It is not a conference. A true network is relational, missional, and multiplying.²

It begins when leaders stop asking only, “How do I grow my church?” and begin asking, “What might God send through us together?”

That question changes everything.

It changed things in Kansas City, where a handful of pastors chose collaboration over competition and eventually helped launch dozens of new churches by sharing leaders, resources, and responsibility for the mission.

It changed things in Chicagoland, where our earliest attempts at citywide collaboration failed because we gathered influential leaders before trust had been built.

In workshop at Exponential last year, Pete Greig said it this way: we often assume movement works like this: 

Vision + Task = Friendship.

But it actually works the other way:

Friendship + Vision = Task.

That is how networks start.

Not with impressive structure. Not with a brand. Not with a platform.

A few leaders pull up chairs. They pray. They begin to trust one another. They dream. They become friends on mission.

SUSTAIN: Friendship Becomes Infrastructure

Starting a network is one challenge. Sustaining it is another.

Many networks begin with energy. Leaders are encouraged. Gatherings feel life-giving. Relationships form. But over time, even healthy networks can drift.

What began as a launchpad can become a living room. Leaders keep gathering, but the mission stops moving outward. That is why networks need sustaining rhythms. Monthly network meetings. Network leader huddles. Collective gatherings.

These rhythms are not bureaucracy. They are friendships scheduled for the sake of mission. Because movements do not stall only because the vision is unclear. They stall because the relationships are not strong enough to carry the weight of the mission.

In Chicago, we have seen this again and again. The deepest moments in our collective have not always been the most strategic. Sometimes they have been moments when a pastor confessed discouragement, a leader shared a diagnosis, or a church planter needed prayer and people gathered around them.

Friendship is not sentimental. It is structural.

It is the infrastructure that allows multiplication to endure.

SEND: Networks Become Launchpads

But friendship is not the destination. It is the beginning.

Healthy networks eventually ask a different question: Are we gathering simply to sustain one another, or are we gathering so we can send one another?

That question determines whether a network becomes a movement or a club.

Sending always sounds inspiring until it becomes personal.

It is one thing to celebrate multiplication in theory. It is another thing to release a gifted leader, a trusted staff member, a generous family, or a promising church planter you hoped would stay.

Sending always feels like loss before it feels like multiplication. But this is the pattern of the New Testament.

Paul tells Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

That is four generations in one sentence: Paul. Timothy. Reliable people. Others.

The mission moves by entrustment.

The church in Antioch understood this too. In Acts 13, while they were worshiping and fasting, the Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul. These were not marginal leaders. They were among the best. And the church sent them.

Antioch became a launchpad, not a holding tank.

That is what healthy networks do.

They apprentice leaders. They entrust responsibility. They release people. They celebrate fruit, even when it grows on someone else’s tree.

SCALE: The Collective Advantage

This is where collectives become essential.

A network helps a small group of churches multiply together, and a collective helps multiple networks take responsibility for a shared city, region, denomination, or affinity. 

Tim Keller often reminded church leaders that cities are culture-forming centers and that gospel movements emerge when churches pursue the flourishing of an entire city together.³

Networks are where multiplication becomes relational. Collectives are where multiplication gains a wider horizon.

A collective does not replace networks. It strengthens them. It aligns vision. It clarifies the mission field. It helps leaders see beyond their own church and even beyond their own network.

In Chicagoland, we have seen this happen.

What began with a few tables of pastors has become a growing collective of networks across the city and suburbs. Today, the Chicagoland Collective includes 18 networks, more than 80 churches, and by God’s grace, has helped start more than 90 new churches in the last seven years.

We’re seeing similar patterns emerge in other places as well. In Colorado, Corey Garris and the Front Range Network has helped leaders across the Denver region build relationships, align around multiplication, and pursue a shared vision for gospel impact. 

In Idaho, Brian Taylor and the Valley Network have connected churches throughout the Treasure Valley through simple relational rhythms, collaborative leadership, and a commitment to church planting. Different contexts. Different structures. The same principle: multiplication accelerates when networks stop operating in isolation and begin pursuing a shared mission together.

But the real story is not the numbers. The real story is the shift in imagination.

Pastors from different denominations, ethnic backgrounds, church models, and neighborhoods are beginning to ask collective questions: What would it look like for the love of Jesus to reach every community in Chicagoland?

What would it take for 16% of churches in our region to become reproducing or multiplying churches?

What if we stopped measuring only what grows in our own church and started celebrating what God is multiplying across the city?

For Chicagoland, with roughly 4,500 churches, 16% would mean about 720 multiplying churches. If the average network includes five churches, that means we need about 140 networks across the region.

That is not something one church can do. That is not even something one network can do. That requires a collective.

Owning the Lostness of Our Cities

One of the gifts Christ Together has brought to this conversation is a simple but powerful challenge: take responsibility for the lostness of your city.

That is what collectives and networks help us do.

Networks are at their best when they help churches move beyond their own success and embrace a shared mission. Collectives are at their best when they help networks embrace a shared responsibility for a city, region, denomination, or affinity.

The goal is not simply more churches. The goal is that every man, woman, and child would have repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the gospel.

That is why the 16% Mission matters. Not because 16% is a magical number. But because reaching a tipping point of multiplying churches could fundamentally change the spiritual trajectory of a city.

No single church can accomplish that. No single network can accomplish that. But networks working together as a collective just might.

That’s what we’ve seen emerging in Chicagoland. And increasingly, it’s what we’re seeing in cities across North America.

The path forward is surprisingly simple:

Start with friends.

Sustain those relationships.

Send leaders.

Scale through networks and collectives.

If we want to see 16% become reality, we will need more than multiplying churches. We will need multiplying networks working together for the flourishing of their cities and the advancement of the gospel.

And that is a mission worth giving our lives to.

NOTES

1. Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York: Free Press, 2003). Rogers identified innovators (2.5%) and early adopters (13.5%) as the groups that often create the tipping point for broader adoption.
2.  Damon Centola, Change: How to Make Big Things Happen (New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2021). Centola’s research demonstrates that significant behavioral change spreads most effectively through clusters of trusted relationships rather than isolated exposure.
3. Tim Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 148–154, 320–338.

You can feel it if you’ve been anywhere near a college campus, a young adults gathering, or even a rural church that somehow has a thriving 20-something community. God is moving. Not subtly. Not quietly. But powerfully, visibly, and in ways that are stirring hunger in the next generation.

I’ve seen it firsthand. In places where there are no major universities. In communities where you wouldn’t expect a spiritual awakening among young adults. And yet, there it is – rooms filled, hands raised, hearts surrendered, lives being transformed. It feels revival-like. It feels raw. It feels real.

And it also feels… a little out of control.

That’s where the tension lies.

Because young adult ministry today is not neat and tidy. It doesn’t fit into clean church structures. It doesn’t always align with denominational lanes. It lives somewhere in the middle – between churches, between leadership models, between independence and authority.

In other words, it’s the Wild West.

The Beauty and the Chaos

If you’ve spent any time with young adults, you already know this: they are in a season of life where they are spreading their wings.

They’re asking big questions.
They’re forming convictions.
They’re stepping into leadership.

And yes… they often think they know more than they actually do.

That’s not criticism – that’s reality. And honestly, it’s part of the beauty.

There’s a boldness in young adults that many older believers have slowly lost. There’s a willingness to take risks, to pray big prayers, to believe God for things that seem impossible. They aren’t as concerned with polished environments or perfect execution. They want authenticity. They want passion. They want something real.

But here’s where things get complicated.

While they crave independence, they still desperately need guidance.
While they resist authority, they still need covering.
While they want to lead, they still need to be led.

It’s the paradox of the Wild West.

The Missing Piece: Spiritual Fathers and Mothers

When you look at Scripture, you don’t see isolated leaders rising up on their own. You see relationships.

You see Paul and Timothy.

You see mentorship, encouragement, correction, and empowerment all working together.

Paul didn’t control Timothy – but he also didn’t abandon him.

He spoke into his life.
He challenged him.
He reminded him of truth when culture and fear tried to pull him away.

That’s the model young adult ministry desperately needs today.

Not control.
Not heavy-handed governance.
But intentional, relational guidance.

Because here’s the truth: Passion alone is not enough to sustain a movement.

Passion can start a fire. But without wisdom, structure, and spiritual covering – it often burns out just as quickly as it started.

I’ve seen it happen too many times. A group of passionate young adults gathers. Momentum builds. Lives are being changed. It feels unstoppable. But over time, without guidance, things begin to drift. Leadership transitions happen. Vision gets blurry. And eventually, what once felt like revival quietly fades away.

Not because God stopped moving. But because the structure to sustain it wasn’t there.

Guidance Over Governing

If we’re going to steward what God is doing in this generation, we have to understand this first principle: Guidance works where governing fails.

Young adults don’t respond well to being told what to do. The moment something feels controlled, institutional, or overly structured, they begin to pull away.

And honestly, can you blame them?

They are in a life stage where ownership matters. They don’t want to inherit someone else’s ministry – they want to build something they believe in.

But here’s where church leaders often get it wrong.

In an effort to “protect” the ministry, we over-govern it. We tighten control. We impose structure too quickly. And in doing so, we unintentionally suffocate the very thing God is trying to grow.

The goal is not control. The goal is sustainability.

And sustainability is built through guidance.

I’ve seen some of the healthiest young adult ministries thrive when a middle-aged couple steps in – not as directors, but as mentors. They don’t run the ministry. They don’t control every decision. But they are present.

They ask questions.
They offer wisdom.
They speak truth when needed.
And most importantly, they build relationships.

That kind of guidance creates an anchor.

Because here’s the reality: young adults are transient.

They graduate.
They move.
They get married.
They start families.

And without intentional guidance and continuity, the ministry often doesn’t outlast the current group of leaders.

Guidance provides the bridge from one generation of leaders to the next.

But – and this is critical – the young adults themselves must embrace that guidance.

Because wisdom that isn’t received can’t shape anything.

Passion Over Perfection

If there’s one thing that defines this generation, it’s passion.

They are drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

They don’t need perfect lighting.
They don’t need flawless transitions.
They don’t need a professionally produced environment.

They need something real.

And sometimes, as church leaders, we struggle with that.

We’ve spent years refining systems, improving excellence, and creating environments that are polished and predictable. And those things have value. But if we’re not careful, we can elevate perfection over presence.

Young adults don’t want to watch a performance. They want to encounter God.

They want to worship like it matters.
They want to pray like something is actually happening.
They want to be part of something that feels alive.

And here’s the challenge: passion is messy.

It’s not always organized.
It’s not always efficient.
It’s not always comfortable.

But it’s often where God moves most powerfully.

If we try to clean it up too quickly, we risk losing it altogether.

So instead of correcting every imperfection, what if we chose to celebrate the passion? What if we made room for authenticity – even when it feels a little unpolished?

Because at the end of the day, God has never been limited by imperfect people. In fact, He seems to prefer working through them.

Say Yes, Say Yes, Say Yes

My wife and I have a phrase we use in parenting: “Say yes if at all possible.”

It doesn’t mean we say yes to everything. But it means our default posture is openness, not resistance.

And I think that posture is desperately needed in how we approach young adult ministry.

Because if we’re honest, many of us have a tendency to say no – especially to things we didn’t start.

We evaluate.
We critique.
We question motives.
We hesitate.

And sometimes, in our caution, we miss the move of God right in front of us.

What if instead, we leaned toward yes?

Yes to supporting them.
Yes to resourcing them.
Yes to believing in them.
Yes to giving them space to lead – even if they don’t do it the way we would.

These young adults are not just leading a ministry – they are becoming the future of the Church.

The decisions we make now will shape the kind of leaders they become later.

If we shut them down, we may raise cautious leaders.
If we empower them, we raise courageous ones.

And courage is what this next generation needs.

The Tension We Must Embrace

Young adult ministry will always feel a little out of control.

It will feel risky.
It will feel unpredictable.
It will feel, at times, like something you can’t fully manage.

But maybe that’s the point.

Because the same passion that makes it feel chaotic is the very thing that fuels its impact.

The goal isn’t to tame it. The goal is to steward it.

To create a space where passion and wisdom can coexist, where independence and accountability can work together, and where young leaders are both released and supported.

It’s not easy. There’s no perfect formula. It requires discernment, humility, and a willingness to adapt.

But when it works, it’s powerful.

It creates movements that don’t just start strong – but actually last.

A Call to Action

If you’re a church leader, the question isn’t whether God is moving in young adults – it’s whether you’re willing to lean into it.

Will you choose guidance over control?
Will you prioritize passion over perfection?
Will you say yes when your instinct is to say no?

And if you’re a young adult leader, there’s a challenge for you too.

Will you embrace wisdom, even when you don’t think you need it?
Will you invite voices into your life that can strengthen and sharpen you?
Will you build something that lasts, not just something that feels exciting in the moment?

Because the truth is, this Wild West season is a gift.

It’s a window of opportunity. It’s a moment of momentum. And it won’t last forever.

Let’s not waste it trying to control it – or ignoring it altogether.

Let’s lean in.
Let’s invest.

Let’s build something that carries both the fire of passion and the strength of wisdom.

Because when those two come together, we all get to witness a powerful sustained move of God. And that’s what this generation is really longing to be part of.

Exponential NEXT Podcast Episode 112

Series: Exploring Distinct Expressions Within the Landscape of Church Planting

Description:

What if church planting wasn’t tied to a place—but to a people? In this episode, we will explore anew the conversation surrounding the innovative world of affinity church planting—a model focused on reaching specific communities rather than geographic regions. Join us as we hear from Steven Barr, founder of Cast Member Church, which ministers to Walt Disney Company employees around the world, and Victor Glover, leader of Fathers on the Move, a movement planting churches within federal and state prisons. Through powerful stories and practical insight, they share how relational discipleship, hospitality, and trust-building can lead to deep spiritual transformation—often in places the traditional church may not reach. This conversation challenges conventional models and invites you to imagine how God might be calling you to minister to the people you’re uniquely positioned to reach. 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:

Steven Barr, Co-Founder & Visionary Leader, Cast Member Church

Victor Glover, CEO/Executive Director, Fathers on the Move

Links Shared in Episode:

Fathers on the Move

Last Days World Outreach Ministries

Cast Member Church

Category: Church Expressions NEXT

Drawing from Revelation 5:9 and 7:9, we established that heaven itself is multiethnic where a redeemed people from every tribe, language, people, and nation are united as one in Christ and around His throne. We then considered the first five Kingdom parables in which Jesus repeatedly described the Kingdom of heaven as something expansive, transformative, inclusive, and growing.

1. Like a mustard seed becoming a great tree, healthy multiethnic churches grow into visible expressions of the Kingdom where people of different backgrounds find belonging together in Christ. 
2. Like yeast working through dough, the multiethnic church movement has quietly grown from the margins beyond early doubters to become one of the most influential movements shaping the trajectory of the local church in this century.
3. Like wheat growing among weeds, healthy multiethnic churches are formed not by avoiding tension and complexity, but by leaning into them for the sake of the gospel.
4. Like a net gathering all kinds of fish, healthy multiethnic churches are not narrow, selective, or centered on one type of person but more broadly engage others beyond human preferences.
5. Like a banquet table expanding to welcome unexpected guests, healthy multiethnic churches embody the inclusive nature of God’s Kingdom where diversity is not erased but united in Christ.
   

In this second article, we turn to five additional Kingdom parables that deepen the vision. Here Jesus reveals not only the inclusive nature of the Kingdom, but also its value, cost, stewardship, readiness, and shared reward. Together, these parables further demonstrate why the multiethnic church is not merely one expression of the Kingdom among many, but perhaps the most visible and compelling foretaste of heaven on earth.

6. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Treasure Hidden in a Field

Jesus said the Kingdom is like a treasure worth selling everything to obtain (Matthew 13:44). Building a multiethnic church often requires sacrifice. It may involve giving up familiar worship styles, preferred leadership structures, or cultural comfort. Yet the reward is worth it.

When believers choose reconciliation over convenience, they demonstrate that the kingdom is more valuable than preference. They show that unity in Christ is worth the cost.

7. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Merchant Seeking Fine Pearls

Similarly, the merchant sells everything to obtain the pearl of great value (Matthew 13:45–46). The multiethnic church represents such a pearl. It reflects the beauty of the gospel made visible. It demonstrates that Christ has broken down dividing walls. It reveals the power of the cross to create one new humanity.

This is not merely theological. It is practical. When the world sees diverse believers loving one another, it becomes credible evidence of God’s love. Jesus prayed in John 17 that unity would cause the world to believe. The multiethnic church answers that prayer.

8. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like Workers in a Vineyard

In Matthew 20, workers arrive at different times but receive equal pay. The Kingdom disrupts assumptions about status and privilege. It affirms equal dignity and shared identity.

The multiethnic church embodies this equality. No ethnicity dominates. No culture defines the whole. All stand equally at the foot of the cross. Leadership is shared. Voices are heard. Gifts are honored.

 9. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like 10 Virgins

The parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25) emphasizes readiness. The church must be prepared for the coming Kingdom. Building multiethnic communities is part of that readiness. It anticipates heaven. It aligns the church with the future God has promised.

10. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like Talents Entrusted

In the parable of the talents, servants are entrusted with resources and expected to multiply them (Matthew 25:14–30). Diversity within the body of Christ is one such resource. Cultural perspectives, experiences, and gifts enrich the church. A multiethnic church multiplies these gifts for greater Kingdom impact.

Revelation and the Parables Together

When we read Revelation alongside the parables, a clear picture emerges. Heaven is multiethnic. The Kingdom grows inclusively. It gathers diversity. It forms unity. It expands the table. It values reconciliation.

Healthy multiethnic churches therefore express perhaps the most faithful, credible, and compelling witness of the Kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven.” While not at all perfect or easy, they are profoundly biblical. 

More than this, healthy multiethnic churches push back against the divided patterns of the world. In a culture increasingly fragmented by politics, race, class, ideology, and fear, they demonstrate a better way forward through the reconciling power of Jesus Christ. They remind us that the gospel is not merely about individual salvation, but also about the formation of a new humanity in Christ. As Paul declared in Ephesians 2, Jesus Himself ‘is our peace,’ having torn down the dividing wall of hostility to create ‘one new humanity’ from many peoples.

Why This Matters Now

In a divided world, the credibility of the gospel is often questioned. Words alone are not enough. The church must demonstrate reconciliation. When believers of different ethnicities worship together, it becomes visible evidence of Christ’s work.

This is why the multiethnic church matters. It is not simply about diversity. It is about witness. It is about the Kingdom becoming visible. It is about heaven touching earth.

When Jesus taught us to pray, “on earth as it is in heaven,” He invited us into this work. He invited us to build communities that reflect the future. He invited us to embody the Kingdom now.

A healthy multiethnic church is that embodiment.

• It is a preview of heaven.
• It is a sign of the Kingdom.
• It makes the gospel visible.
• It compels diverse others to come and see.
  

As more churches embrace this calling, the prayer of Jesus moves closer to fulfillment:

“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Darrian Graves didn’t set out to be a pastor. He was a digital media major with a passion for storytelling and a dream of becoming a news anchor. But God had a different story to write with his life—one that would center not on personal spotlight but on multiplying leaders for the Kingdom.

His journey began in the suburbs of northeast Atlanta, in a city called Peachtree Corners. Raised by what he calls “a praying woman,” Darrian experienced church more as an obligation than a passion. “I was the kid who showed up to church high or drunk,” he admitted. “I’d say all the right things on Sunday, but Saturday night was a different story.”

Everything changed at a Young Life camp. In the span of a few days, Darrian encountered the Holy Spirit in a way that radically altered his life. “I went from drugs and rap music to feeling like I had to tell every person I met about Jesus,” he said.

He enrolled at Liberty University, soaked in mentorship, and eventually found himself working in news reporting in Beaumont, Texas—a city he had never heard of. Feeling the tug of God again, he Googled nearby churches and landed at Praise Church. Within days, he met Pastor Reggie Lloyd, a leader whose approach would change Darrian’s life.

Reggie had just read HeroMaker, and he had been praying for someone to disciple. When Darrian asked how he could serve, Reggie invited him to show up early, stay late, and learn everything he could. “I didn’t know it at the time, but that was the beginning of a two-year apprenticeship,” Darrian recalled. “He let me see everything. How he prepped for sermons, ran teams, hosted guest speakers—he even let me spend holidays with his family.”

It wasn’t just mentorship; it was spiritual fathering. Reggie didn’t just develop Darrian’s ministry skills—he gave him access to his life. “He showed me how to pastor, how to be a man of God, how to be a husband someday,” Darrian said. “And I made a vow that I’d do the same for others.”

Since then, Darrian has lived out the HeroMaker process with relentless intentionality. As the Young Adults Pastor at Praise Church, he’s raised up more than 80 leaders, some of whom are now pastors themselves or on staff at other churches. “It’s not just about addition anymore,” he explained. “We’re seeing multiplication.”

His strategy is both relational and rigorous. Each year, Darrian selects 15–18 high-potential young leaders and invites them into a discipleship process that includes reading HeroMaker together, meeting weekly at his house, and getting full access to his life. “If someone cancels, we don’t meet,” he said. “That’s part of the commitment. I’m not looking for people with just potential—I’m looking for people with desire.”

The process isn’t always easy. “I don’t bat a thousand,” Darrian admitted. “Some people flake. Some grow resentful when they don’t have as much access to me after being launched. Others wrestle with their faith or simply walk away.” Still, he sees this as part of the cost of leadership. “If I get one out of three leaders to the other side, that’s success. And if you’re hitting 50%, you’re crushing it.”

For those who stick with the process, the results are transformative. Darrian has created a leadership pipeline where former mentees are now leading their own HeroMaker groups. “Two of the girls who read the book with me last year are launching groups of their own this May,” he shared. “We’ve got three generations of this thing going now.”

What makes Darrian’s model so compelling is the authenticity behind it. His leaders don’t just see him preach—they see him argue with his wife, wrestle with decisions, and confess when he misses the mark. “They need to see the real you, not the pretend you,” he said. “I tell them, this is what it looks like to follow Jesus at a high level—and here’s the cost.”

One of his most meaningful stories involves a young man who had fallen away from church and confessed serious sin. “We walked through reconciliation together,” Darrian said. “And now I’m raising him up to be a pastor. He could be my replacement someday.”

When asked what advice he’d give to someone who wants to multiply leaders, Darrian didn’t hesitate. “Someone poured into you—now go and do the same. You don’t have to be perfect. Just be obedient. The Holy Spirit will connect the dots.”

He emphasized that leadership development isn’t just a good thing—it’s a necessary thing. “If you’ve been given something—a word, a skill, an insight—it wasn’t meant to stop with you,” he said. “We all stand on the shoulders of someone else. Now it’s your turn to carry somebody.”

Exponential NEXT Podcast Episode 111

Series: Exploring Distinct Expressions Within the Landscape of Church Planting

Description:

Can a church actually grow by getting smaller? Join Bill Couchenour as we revisit his discussion with Jason Shepperd, founder of Church Project in The Woodlands, Texas, to uncover the secrets to Network Church Planting. Explore the power of relational communities, discover how to cultivate leaders from within, and learn how to use your church building as a shared resource for the community. For pastors curious about transitioning from traditional church models, Jason offers thoughtful advice: start small, lead with biblical conviction, and let the vision take root gradually. This episode invites you to rethink what it means to plant—and multiply—churches in ways that are relational, reproducible, and rooted in everyday life. This expression is highlighted in a free resource called ‘The Atlas’ which can be found on our website at exponential.org/atlas.

Host:

Bill Couchenour, Deployment Director, Exponential

Guest:

Jason Shepperd, Founder and Lead Pastor, Church Project

Links Shared in Episode:

A Church of House Churches: An Articulated and Applied Ecclesiology

churchproject.org

rethinkandreturnpodcast.com

goodgodgospel.com

Category: Church Expressions NEXT

I am encouraged by that, because these questions are about integrity, trust, and theology. And they all deserve direct answers.

5 Messy Middle Questions Pastors Are Asking About AI in Ministry

Question 1: Is it cheating to use AI for sermon prep?

This is the question pastors ask most, and it usually comes with a layer of guilt that does not quite fit the actual situation.

The Christian Post recently reported that about 51% of church leaders said they were very concerned about plagiarism and compromised message integrity, and 49% said they were very concerned about losing the authenticity of their preaching and teaching.

Worth noticing: most pastors who feel guilty about using AI for sermon prep are not actually worried the output contains bad theology. They are worried about what it says about them that they needed help. That is a different problem, and AI did not create it.

Did you do the actual interpretive work? Sitting in the text long enough for it to say something to you specifically, not just something plausible to a general audience. AI produces plausible. Your congregation does not need plausible. They need the version of this passage that passed through your particular life, your particular losses, your particular convictions.

The 2026 State of AI in the Church Survey found that AI use in sermon preparation has stabilized at 64% of preaching leaders for two consecutive years. That plateau is telling. The pastors who tried AI for sermons and stepped back probably noticed it flattening something they did not want flattened.

Use AI for research, commentary synthesis, and structure. That is using it the way you use a study Bible. If you use it to generate voice, application, and illustration and then stand in the pulpit and deliver it, you have outsourced the one thing your congregation cannot get from a podcast or a YouTube preacher. They came to hear from you. Not from the aggregate of everything ever written on Romans 8.

Question 2: How do I know if the AI got the theology right?

Lifeway Research surveyed more than 1,000 Protestant pastors in fall 2025 and found that more than 4 in 5 (84%) worry AI-generated content must be edited because it might contain errors. A similar percentage (81%) believe it is hard to ensure AI tools only use reliable sources, and three in 4 (76%) say biases may exist in how the AI makes its decisions.

The theological error risk is not primarily about AI hallucinating a bad Bible verse. That is the easy problem to catch. The harder problem is what Exponential AI NEXT described in their research: AI tools are trained on theology from across the entire internet, including traditions that may not match your church’s convictions. The output does not know your statement of faith. It generates the most statistically likely theological answer, which is the theological center of gravity of the whole internet. If your tradition sits outside that center of gravity, you get drift you barely notice until it has already shaped something.

A Reformed pastor asking about election gets an answer tuned to the widest possible Protestant audience. A Pentecostal pastor asking about prayer gets something that quietly folds cessationism into the mix. The AI is not lying. It is averaging.

That is the real review problem. You are not just catching factual errors. You need to catch any potential theological issues that might be subtle, well-worded, and sound completely reasonable, but not fully theologically aligned with where you are. That requires a reader who knows their own tradition well enough to notice when something is slightly off. The review step is careful work regarding the theological content. Budget time for it.

Question 3: Should I tell my congregation I use AI?

Lifeway Research found that three in five pastors (62%) worry that AI users are not disclosing the technology as a collaborator in their work.

Disclosure tracks purpose, not AI tools. For example, you typically wouldn’t disclose that you used a specific concordance, but you might say “theologian X argues” when you are advancing someone else’s interpretation as your own.

If AI contributed research and organization that you then thought through yourself, that is a process detail. If AI produced the interpretation and application you are presenting as your own pastoral insight, that is worth examining.

Most pastors using AI honestly are doing the former. They feel guilty anyway because the culture has not worked out what responsible use looks like yet, and guilt fills the gap where clarity should be.

This is also a team question, not just a personal one. In some of our previous workshops and resources at Exponential AI NEXT, we noted that when your communications director, your youth pastor, and your executive pastor all operate from different unspoken assumptions about where AI belongs in ministry, you get inconsistency at best and a real mistake at worst. The 2026 survey found that only 9% of churches have a formal AI policy in place while 78% of church leaders use AI weekly or daily. That gap is where problems are quietly forming right now.

A written AI policy is not bureaucracy. It is the moment your team stops making individual judgment calls in isolation and starts operating from shared convictions.

Baptist News Global put the larger stakes plainly: AI will reshape Christianity less by replacing faith than by rewriting the conditions of trust, specifically who gets to speak with authority, what counts as authentic, and whether communities can still recognize truth. A church that has thought carefully about these questions before the first complaint lands is in a completely different position than one making it up in the moment.

Question 4: My congregation members are already using AI for their faith. What do I do about that?

Most pastors are framing this as a technology question. But I believe this is more accurately framed as a discipleship question: your congregants are being formed by AI sources and algorithms right now, whether you have addressed it or not.

We named this directly in the past: the algorithms deciding your congregants’ social media feeds, the AI writing assistants helping their children with homework, the chatbots answering their questions about life and faith are active participants in worldview formation. These systems are operating without specific Christian biblical lanes of thought since they are largely generated from large language models. They are shaping how your people understand suffering, identity, forgiveness, and truth, consistently, repeatedly, and at scale.

Baptist News Global reported that congregants are already asking chatbots to generate sermons on the same passage their pastor preached and comparing the results. Some have said, half-seriously, that the machine preached better. That observation deserves a genuine pastoral question, not a defensive one: what was that congregant actually looking for that they felt they found in the AI version? Clarity? Directness? Permission to wrestle with something? That answer can potentially tell you more about your teaching and ministry engagement than AI does.

Exponential AI NEXT also found that 25% of church leaders have already seen AI-generated scams or misinformation reach their congregation, and 60% are very concerned about AI voice cloning being used to defraud their congregants. Your people are not just passive consumers of AI content. They are targets of it.

The pastor who preaches a grounded sermon on what it means to be human when machines can imitate humanity is doing something no algorithm can replicate: standing in front of a specific community with a specific history and saying, this is what I believe and why. Your congregation came for that.

Question 5: Am I going to fall behind if I do not use more AI faster?

ChurchTechToday has noted that the pressure pastors feel around AI shows up as overwhelm, confusion, fatigue, and a sense that things are moving faster than anyone can process.

You are not going to fall behind by moving at a sustainable pace. But you are probably asking the wrong speed question.

The 2026 State of AI in the Church Survey found that 43% of church leaders use AI every single day today, nearly double the rate from 2024, and 40% identified AI automations as the capability they most want to explore. That kind of growth makes the pace feel like a mandate. It is not.

The pastors getting genuine ministry value from AI are the ones who identified specific friction points in their weekly workflow and applied AI to those spots. That takes honest self-awareness about how you actually spend your time, which most pastors skip in favor of downloading the next tool someone mentioned at a conference.

How Pastors Are Actually Using AI in Ministry Right Now

The 2026 State of AI in the Church national survey found AI use in ministry clusters around a few practical categories:

• Text content creation leads at 36%, covering newsletters, social posts, and communication drafts. 
• Research comes in at 22%, covering commentary work, background study, and fact-checking. 
• Image and graphics generation accounts for 21%, primarily for social media and announcement graphics. 
• Administrative work rounds it out at 13%, covering emails, meeting notes, and scheduling.

Notice what is not on that list in large numbers (yet!): pastoral care, counseling, crisis response, and spiritual direction.

The pastors who have thought carefully about AI seem to be drawing the line at the relational core of ministry and used AI to protect their capacity to show up there fully. Ask yourself what you would do with one, two, or three recovered hours a week if AI handled the content production, administrative work, or basic research work for you? Your answer to that is the outcomes of an actual AI strategy. Tool selection comes after that, not before.

The real question pastors should ask now about AI

The 2026 State of AI in the Church Survey captured it plainly: two years ago, pastors were asking whether they should even be using AI. That question is gone.

The new question is how to use it well. 

That is a harder question because it requires something AI cannot supply: a clear sense of what your ministry is actually for and which tasks only you can do. 

AI can execute on almost anything you hand it. Deciding what is worth handing it is still yours. The answer also starts by exploring how your peers are approaching AI today with those same questions.

What every pastor should walk away knowing about AI for church work

Leadership teams could benefit from focusing on the same underlying problem. Pastors are making individual, private, ad hoc decisions about AI every single week: what to use it for, how much to disclose, where to draw the line in counseling or pastoral care, whether to address it from the pulpit, how to respond when a congregant says a chatbot helped them more than their small group did. Those decisions are happening in isolation, without shared language, without team alignment, and without a theological framework the whole church is working from.

The senior leaders navigating this season well are the ones who took the time to think out loud in front of their people, named the tensions honestly, and built a shared set of convictions before the hard situations forced the conversation. Go first. Say what you actually believe. Create the conditions for your community to think faithfully together.

Just know that your congregation and community is already being shaped by AI elsewhere and everywhere. You can engage that reality with clarity and courage by doing exactly what pastors have always done when culture shifts faster than institutions: staying present, thinking theologically, and refusing to let the most important conversations happen somewhere else.

In February 2002, Tim Keller wrote a short article called ”Why Plant Churches.” The lead sentence was a thunderclap. The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations, he argued, is the single most crucial strategy for the growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and for the renewal of the existing churches in it.

The response from many established pastors wasn’t great. We already have plenty of churches. New plants will compete with existing churches for the same people.

Two decades of data have proven Keller right.

We are now in another moment of similar weight. And I contend that empowering entrepreneurial believers is the single most crucial strategy for reaching our communities, planting new churches, and renewing existing ones.

By entrepreneur I don’t mean a business founder, though some are. I mean the broader definition of that term, someone who sees a need and takes responsibility for meeting it. Innovators. Builders. Everyday Missionaries.  

In the Kingdom lens, an entrepreneur is the ordinary believer who takes their part in the mission seriously. Who doesn’t just invite people to attend church but takes the good news of Jesus to the streets. Some run businesses. Some start nonprofits. Some are digital creators. All of them are loving and serving their neighbors, helping make right the wrongs of the world in the name of Jesus.

This is not a call to throw out what has already been built. Keep gathering for worship. Keep training pastors. And inspire and empower the everyday believer. Adapt how we form our people. Expect them to do more than volunteer at church events. Empower them to be movement makers in their own circles and communities.

Why Plant Entrepreneurs: Three Reasons

1. The American church needs a new front line.

The numbers are sobering. Exponential’s own research with Lifeway has found that most church growth happens through transfer growth, not new believers. Even church plants, which reach the unchurched at higher rates than established churches, see that reach drop sharply after their first five to seven years. 

Exponential’s stated mission is to see 16% of U.S. churches become reproducing or multiplying. That’s the tipping point. We are nowhere near it. We are running out of pulpits that move people. But, we have not run out of people. They are in coffee shops, on apps, in workplaces, in neighborhoods where the institution of the church has little to no presence. Entrepreneurial followers of Jesus are the key. 

2. The pulpit has moved.

Ask a kid born after the year 2000 what they want to be when they grow up, and the answer has changed. For four generations in a row, the top of the list held steady: doctor, lawyer, teacher, executive. Around the turn of the century, the list flipped. Today’s kids name creators, influencers, streamers, entrepreneurs. That is a momentous shift! The old list shared a feature the new one doesn’t: positional authority. Today, just because someone has a title doesn’t mean they’re respected. Just because a pastor has a pulpit doesn’t mean people are listening. The lens through which most people now see Jesus is not the positional leader. It’s the everyday follower. Every single follower of Jesus is now a living pulpit. 

3. Scriptural Mandate.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV)

Peter wasn’t writing to professional clergy. He was writing to ordinary believers scattered across the Roman empire. Slaves. Tradesmen. Mothers. Soldiers. He told all of them they were a royal priesthood. Every one of them was sent.

We are the priesthood. Our lives are the pulpit. 

A Tale of Two Sanctuaries

When I’m in a typical suburban American church and I ask the congregation, “Who here is called to full-time ministry?” almost always, most people point to the people on the platform.

When I ask the same question in an immigrant church, especially in an African or South American congregation, every hand in the room goes up.

Every hand.

The American church has built a church culture that quietly teaches people that ministry is what happens in the building, performed by the credentialed, supported by the rest. The credentialed have done extraordinary work. But the rest were never meant to be the support. They are called to be the front line.

What This Looks Like

We see this everyday in the LINC network. 

In Sacramento, an entrepreneurial leader runs a mobile shower unit for the homeless. They offer physical cleansing and along the way lead people to spiritual newness.

In Milwaukee, a local leader runs homes for women coming out of sex trafficking. The living room is the pulpit. The first night of sleep without fear is a first taste of the gospel.

In San Francisco is a woman whose local park bench became a ministry to immigrants in her neighborhood. She started by learning names. Now she runs a ministry helping immigrants adjust to life in a new country, all in the name of Jesus.

All of them are reaching people that only they could. 

You may not be called to change the world, but more than likely, you have been called to help change the world for one person. 

This is exactly the moment Exponential’s forthcoming Entrepreneurial Church expression in The Atlas is built for. It names the shape of what these leaders are already doing, and gives pastors and networks a way to recognize, equip, and release them.

Empowering People: A Pastor’s Confession

When I was a local church pastor, I constantly heard from people about what we should do as a church. A ministry we should start. An outreach that should happen. Someone the church needed to serve. For a time, I tried to do what everyone was asking.

Then I realized I had it backwards. My job, given by God, was not to do what they were asking. It was to empower them to do it.

Four principles I’ve learned about empowering people::

Throw logs on their fire.

When you see a believer already lit up about a calling, your job is not to redirect them to your priorities. It’s to add fuel. Bring resources, connections, encouragement. Most God-stirred ideas die not because they were wrong but because no one threw a log of encouragement on the fire.

What you water grows.

Attention is fertilizer. The ministries, leaders, and dreams you give your attention to will grow. The ones you ignore will wither. Pastors and leaders water the wrong things by accident all the time, watering compliance instead of conviction, attendance instead of mission. Pay attention to what you want to see more of. What you celebrate will replicate!

Let them try, fail, and try again.

Real empowerment means I will stand with you when the first version of this doesn’t work, and the second, and we’ll learn together until you find the version that does. It means not fixing it for them but walking with them as they learn and relearn along the way. It means giving them room to try and fail, and try again. 

Their calling, their place.

The point of empowerment is to release each believer to live out the mission in the unique way and place they are called to do it. The shower unit, the safe house, the park bench: none of those were on anyone’s strategic plan. But, they were on God’s!

Here’s How to Be an Entrepreneurial, Empowering Community

For pastors and church leaders ready to make the shift:

• Stop being the answer. Start being the equipper. When someone brings you a ministry idea, your first instinct should not be “the church should do that” but “you could try that, and here’s how we will empower you.”
• Identify the entrepreneurs already in your pews. They are there. They run businesses, raise families, build things. Ask them what God has put on their heart. Then water it.
• Redefine “full-time ministry.” In every sermon, every membership class, every baptism. Until every hand in your sanctuary goes up when the question is asked.
• Build the equipping pipeline. The leaders carrying the mission outside the building need at least as much investment as the ones inside it. Want help doing this, shoot me a message. I’d love to share resources and connections to others who are living it out. 
• Celebrate the wins outside the walls. Tell the stories. The shower unit, the safe house, the park bench. What you celebrate, will replicate. 

The creators, entrepreneurs and influencers have a place, a crucially important one. 

Keller asked us to plant churches. I believe that the same Spirit is asking us, now, to plant entrepreneurs.

Let’s go. With Jesus! 

Sources

1. Timothy Keller, “Why Plant Churches,” Redeemer Presbyterian Church, February 2002, https://redeemercitytocity.com/articles-stories/why-plant-churches.
2. Thom Rainer, “Major New Research on Declining, Plateaued, and Growing Churches from Exponential and LifeWay Research,” Church Answers, February 2020, https://churchanswers.com/blog/major-new-research-on-declining-plateaued-and-growing-churches-from-exponential-and-lifeway-research/.
3. Exponential, “About / The 16% Mission,” accessed May 2026, https://exponential.org/about/.
4. Outreach Magazine, “Beyond Numerical Growth,” citing conversion growth research showing only 3–5% of U.S. churches grow primarily through conversion, accessed May 2026, https://outreachmagazine.com/features/77707-beyond-numerical-growth.html.
5. Lifeway Research and Exponential, “Half of Churches Experiencing Post-Pandemic Attendance Growth,” March 2025, https://news.lifeway.com/2025/03/18/half-of-churches-experiencing-post-pandemic-attendance-growth/.
6. Tony Lambert, “As For Me and My House,” Christianity Today, August 2008, https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/house-church-movement-china-persecution-christian/.
7. Advertising Week, “Shifts in Career Aspirations and Higher Education,” accessed May 2026, https://advertisingweek.com/shifts-in-career-aspirations-and-higher-education-how-gen-zs-path-has-been-impacted-by-social-media/.
8. Morning Consult, “Gen Zers Still Really Want to Be Influencers,” accessed May 2026, https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/gen-z-interest-influencer-marketing.
9. Fortune, “Gen Alpha Is Snubbing the Careers Boomers Dreamed About,” accessed May 2026, https://fortune.com/article/gen-alpha-dream-careers-youtuber-influencer-social-media/.
10. Fast Company, “Gen Alpha’s Dream Job Is YouTube Content Creator,” accessed May 2026, https://www.fastcompany.com/91285945/gen-alpha-dream-job-youtube-content-creator.
11. “Career Aspirations of Generation Z in the Digital Age,” ResearchGate, accessed May 2026, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384896513.

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.