What Are the Best Predictors of a Church’s Ability to Multiply Itself? A Warren Bird Conversation

Welcome back to the unSeminary podcast. We’ve got Dr. Warren Bird with us today. He’s the Senior Vice President of Research and Equipping at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), and an author of over thirty books.

Warren is back to talk about the New Faces of Church Planting survey which was performed back in the spring, and some of the results around church multiplication and replication.

* Vision for multiplication. // In the multiplication part of the study, the first thing surveyed was how much it was a part of a church’s vision, upon the launch of the original church, to create a network of multiplying churches. Was it not at all, a little, or very much? 36% of new churches were already thinking of creating a network when they launched their first location. Also, as churches have established, they increasingly have a vision to plant more churches or launch more campuses. 52% of multisite churches say it’s part of their vision to keep adding campuses.* Clarity of vision. // Church leaders always ask what size launch team they should have for a new site, and how that size influences the number of people on opening day. The study showed that the number of attendees on opening day is three times the number of the core group. In addition, churches with big vision grow at a markedly faster rate. Clarity of vision is a core issue in the growth of a church, much more than theology. If your church has an extreme clarity of vision, it always goes hand in hand with growth.* Are you making disciples? // Disciples are not people who just show up to church, but people who are being transformed to be like Jesus. The study asked where a church’s focus was on the issue of evangelism and discipleship. Growing churches were found to have a higher focus on reaching the person who isn’t there, rather than helping the person who already is present grow in their faith.* Do you have the goals and focus for multiplication? // The study identified the top ten predictors on whether a church would be likely to multiply. Warren tells us the top three: first, in the past year the church leaders have participated in a meeting that focused primarily on church multiplication. Second, the church leader surveyed is personally developing a named apprentice leader. And third, the church has specific goals for future church planting.* What describes your way of doing church? // When asked to describe their way of doing church, “missional” is the top response from the church leaders surveyed. Warren says, to him, missional means having a clear focus and being excited about bringing people into a relationship with God. Another question was how often do you give people the opportunity to receive Christ? The top response in that question was weekly, particularly among larger, growing churches.

You can access the complete results from the survey for free at www.ecfa.org/surveys. Visit www.ecfa.org/pulse to keep up with everything Warren is doing, and find free resources from ECFA for your church or nonprofit organization.

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