Church Multiplication

Planning and Action

   The leadership of the Rocky Mountain Ministry Network is committed to aggressively facilitating the development of healthy, multiplying churches to serve the rapidly growing populations of Colorado and Utah. This website is designed to provide information and resources to assist in the planting of new churches.

Starting the Conversation

Don Steiger

dsteiger@rmdc.org

719.522.0195

Superintendent/Network Pastor

Director

Zac Wilkinson

zac@urbanislandsproject.org

315-752-6887

Urban Islands Project

East Slope Director

Alex Lucero

reval@xmission.com

801.292.8617

Senior Pastor
Abundant Life Assembly
North Salt Lake, UT

Utah Director

Travis Lowell

pstrtravis@hotmail.com

970.945.9709

Senior Pastor
Summit Bound Church
Glenwood Springs, CO

West Slope Director

Getting Started

Plant a Church

Steps To Planting A Church

In The Rocky Mountain Ministry Network

The following steps MUST BE FOLLOWED by any church planter interested in planting a church in the Rocky Mountain Ministry Network.  

To get the Steps To Planting a Church in a pdf file click here.

To get a copy of the entire Church Planting Manual click here.

 

Am I a church planter?

What traits should a church planter have? Are there discernible personal qualities evident among those who have planted successfully? The Church Multiplication Network has partnered with LifeWay Research and sought to unearth the skills and mindsets common among the most proven church planters. What resulted were specific, measurable characteristics which were consistent among those who have had success in planting churches.

Potential AG planters can receive a special rate of $29 (normally $88).  

Click here to go to the Rocky Mountain District Church Planter Candidate Assessment page.  On that page click the “Purchase Passcode" to begin your online assessment.

Parent Affiliated Churches

PAC Charter

Document

PAC Information

Document

Resources

  

ARTICLES ON CHANGE

Abandon Committees! Does it seem to you that congregations are late adapters to some trends? It does to me. It appears at times that congregations are just getting around to adapting to certain trends as the next trend is emerging. For example, organizing congregations according to teams rather than committees is now in its ascendancy, just as in the world at-large, teams are fading in favor of communities.

A Dream is Not Enough– Reality check for leaders who believe they have a God given dream.

A Senior Pastor's Priorities By Dan Reiland   My desire in this article is to keep you out of the funny farm. To do that, I will outline the top five priorities of a Senior Pastor. This set of priorities comes from years of experience and observation of Senior Pastors who lead well, and those who don't. If you invest your time wisely in these areas your ministry will be more productive and hopefully you will increase the margin in your life that increases the quality of your life.  

The Death of Denominations  In order to keep your denominational core alive you first have to know what it is. Organizations with a long life span tend to fall victim to “the diffusion of purpose." If this is the case with your denomination, it may be time to rediscover the original or primary purpose of your church. Then with God's help find a way for this unique witness of faith to live in real time as it was meant to do.  Communication among the denomination's spiritual leaders is a good place to begin.

 The Futurity of Present Events Ministry and mission are not done in a vacuum. They are always carried out in specific context and affected by local, national and increasingly, global contextual factors. Understanding the context of ministry is not an option for 21st century leaders. While we know a great deal about the inside of congregations, church leaders often have limited understanding of the external factors that are reshaping mission and ministry. Trying to lead without both inside and outside information is like a bird trying to fly with only one wing.

Hanging out and Hovering around John 3:16– A provocative look at incarnational ministry.

The Value of Values, Part I – Core Values By Dan Reiland   “I'm a believer in identifying your church's core values and intentionally pursuing their positive impact. . ."

Thoughts on Change by Steve Pike   “As a church leader in this new millennium, I find myself living with a profound sense of confusion that I find difficult to explain or understand.  Ministry methods that worked well ten years ago, no longer seem effective.  Ideas, and even beliefs, that seemed so right just five years ago are now being called into question."

The Common thread…Change and Transition   Resource for understanding the life cycle of a congregation, and change and transition. 

Transitioning: Growing into the church you want to be –   Around the world, churches are in need of transition. The 21st century is presenting church leaders with new challenges and new opportunities. It appears that God is doing something fresh and new in his church.

Vision Impairment Questions by Stan Toler   Check your church's “vision" (eye sight)

Growing a Church from Good to Great
Article by Steve Pike written for Acts II, January/February 2002

Change is hard
Is a great article about change from “A House of Change" by Alan Nelson in Rev. Magazine.

Is it Time to Leave?
A great article to help you know when it's time to change your location!

Modern Team Ministry by Dan Reeves Could Paul and his ministry team be a model for modern team ministry?

Meetings and Ministry 6 steps to running an effective meeting.

Dysfunctional Architecture an article from Leadership Network about a strategy for planning a new building to match your ministry philosophy.

The Heart and Art of a 21st Century Servant a message by Wayne Cordero, Pastor of New Hope Church in Hawaii on the most essential ingredient to leading people through a change process.

Changing Congregational Culture Charlie Halley discusses the process of changing a church culture.

Inviting and Welcoming New People Great ideas for making your church a more “guest" friendly place!

Paul's Missionary Band Paul's missionary team provides a great metaphor for 21st century ministry.

ARTICLES ON BEING A PARENT CHURCH

10 Practical Ways to Increase Giving In Your Church – Proven stewardship practices used by other churches to encourage people in joyful and generous giving. It has helped increase giving 10-25% and in some cases even more.

A Church is born! – Great insights from Phil Stevens

A Dream is Not Enough – Reality check for leaders who believe they have a God given dream.

Church Planting: Call or Competency – Self assess your calling to planting or help a potential planter on your staff gain insights into his or her call.

Church Planting Insights – Pastor Rick Ferguson shares insights gleaned from a life of multiplication.

Emotions of a Leader – A veteran pastor discusses the emotional aspects of church leadership.

Hanging out and Hovering around John 3:16 – A provocative look at incarnational ministry.

How Long Should a Pastor Stay at a Church to be Effective? – Bill Easum gives a concise answer that should be considered by every pastor everywhere!

Lowering the cost of planting churches – by Ralph Moore. What is the greatest cost of being a parent church? Ralph Moore believes it is passion in those who are left behind..

The Tipping Point – Interesting ideas on the social dynamics of vision and momentum.

ARTICLES ON COACHING

10 Practical Ways to Increase Giving In Your Church – Proven stewardship practices used by other churches to encourage people in joyful and generous giving. It has helped increase giving 10-25% and in some cases even more.

Abandon Committees! Does it seem to you that congregations are late adapters to some trends? It does to me. It appears at times that congregations are just getting around to adapting to certain trends as the next trend is emerging. For example, organizing congregations according to teams rather than committees is now in its ascendancy, just as in the world at-large, teams are fading in favor of communities.

A Dream is Not Enough – Reality check for leaders who believe they have a God given dream.

Anger Inventory – Many people assume that anger is always displayed in shouting, slamming doors, speaking harshly, etc. While those behaviors certainly indicate anger, this emotion is displayed in many forms. Take a look at the following list of statements that would indicate a form of anger. How many can you relate to?

The Value of Shared Thinking – by John Maxwell  We always do things better when we do them together.

Can Conflict Be a Good Thing? – Our attitude toward conflict shapes how we as leaders handle conflict. What is your initial attitude toward conflict? Is it dread? Denial? Maybe fear? Perhaps, “What a hassle!" How about procrastination or deflection? (“Let someone else handle it.") Or do you accept conflict as a natural part of life, not preferred, but part of the reality of leadership and choose to use it as a tool for growth and progress? The last response is the wise and healthy response, but also the most difficult.

Conflict Happens – by Dan Reiland   Tip toeing around conflict never makes it go away. Rather than avoid it, we must deal with it in a straightforward manner. Dan Reiland offers some suggestions how to turn conflicts into opportunities.

Church Planting: Call or Competency – Self assess your calling to planting or help a potential planter on your staff gain insights into his or her call.

Look and Listen – A article about observing and listening aggressively.

The Value of Values, Part I – Core Values By Dan Reiland – “I'm a believer in identifying your church's core values and intentionally pursuing their positive impact. . ."

The Futurity of Present Events – Scan the horizon of large trends that will impact your church

Handling Chronic Conflict – by Dan Reiland  Conflict is a fact of life. Being intimidated by it, pretending it isn't there, and tiptoeing around it will get you nowhere. In fact, it will only make matters worse. Your ability to deal with conflict directly and effectively affects your ability to lead.

Vision Impairment Questions by Stan Toler – Check your church's “vision" (eye sight)

What Does A Healthy Church Look Like? – Compiled from various sources including Willow Creek, Natural Church Development, etc. by Rowland Croucher

Is it Time to Leave? – A great article that will help you coach someone through the hardest decision any church leader has to make!

How Long Should a Pastor Stay at a Church to be Effective? – Bill Easum gives a concise answer that should be considered by every pastor everywhere!

Modern Team Ministry – Could Paul and his ministry team be a model for modern team ministry?

What Does An “Excellent Protestant Church" Look Like? – Trying to gage the health of a church? This article provides some excellent standards to consider.

Meetings and Ministry – 6 steps to running an effective meeting.

The Heart and Art of a 21st Century Servant – a message by Wayne Cordero, Pastor of New Hope Church in Hawaii on the most essential ingredient to leading people through a change process.

Changing Congregational Culture – Charlie Halley discusses the process of changing a church culture.

Inviting and Welcoming New People – Great ideas for making your church a more “guest" friendly place!

Paul's Missionary Band – Paul's missionary team provides a great metaphor for 21st century ministry.

Recruiting Worship Band Musicians  – Great ideas for finding the musicians who will help take your worship experience to the next level.

Spiritual Growth and Ministry to Others – What is the connection between being healthy spiritually and serving others lovingly?

What Game are We Playing? – An helpful article describing the organizational changes that numerical growth brings.

ARTICLES ON CHURCH LEADERSHIP

10 Practical Ways to Increase Giving In Your Church – Proven stewardship practices used by other churches to encourage people in joyful and generous giving. It has helped increase giving 10-25% and in some cases even more.

11 Characteristics of a PD Church – Leading your church into a purpose driven model is easier when you know what characteristics you are trying to develop in the congregation as you introduce PDC concepts. Here are 11 traits you can expect to see emerging as purpose driven principles take hold in a church.

A Dream is Not Enough – Reality check for leaders who believe they have a God given dream.

A Philosophy of Leadership – A article by Rick Warren explaining some basic concepts about leadership.

Abandon Committees! – Does it seem to you that congregations are late adapters to some trends? It does to me. It appears at times that congregations are just getting around to adapting to certain trends as the next trend is emerging. For example, organizing congregations according to teams rather than committees is now in its ascendancy, just as in the world at-large, teams are fading in favor of communities.

Anger Inventory – Many people assume that anger is always displayed in shouting, slamming doors, speaking harshly, etc. While those behaviors certainly indicate anger, this emotion is displayed in many forms. Take a look at the following list of statements that would indicate a form of anger. How many can you relate to?

A Senior Pastor's Priorities, Part 1 By Dan Reiland – My desire in this article is to keep you out of the funny farm. To do that, I will outline the top five priorities of a Senior Pastor. This set of priorities comes from years of experience and observation of Senior Pastors who lead well, and those who don't. If you invest your time wisely in these areas your ministry will be more productive and hopefully you will increase the margin in your life that increases the quality of your life.  

A Senior Pastor's Priorities, Part 2 By Dan Reiland  – This article is dedicated to helping you make it through the transition from doing nineteen different things to focusing on the top five priorities. The following is a long-term strategy that will shorten your list of responsibilities and increase your effectiveness if you stick with it.

Can Conflict Be a Good Thing? – Our attitude toward conflict shapes how we as leaders handle conflict. What is your initial attitude toward conflict? Is it dread? Denial? Maybe fear? Perhaps, “What a hassle!" How about procrastination or deflection? (“Let someone else handle it.") Or do you accept conflict as a natural part of life, not preferred, but part of the reality of leadership and choose to use it as a tool for growth and progress? The last response is the wise and healthy response, but also the most difficult.

Celebrate the Equipping Church – The process of equipping others to serve and lead in the local church is challenging, but it should also be rewarding for everyone involved.

Changing Congregational Culture – Charlie Halley discusses the process of changing a church culture.

Church Planting: Call or Competency – Self assess your calling to planting or help a potential planter on your staff gain insights into his or her call.

Church Planting Insights – Pastor Rick Ferguson shares insights gleaned from a life of multiplication.

Conflict Happens by Dan Reiland – Tip toeing around conflict never makes it go away. Rather than avoid it, we must deal with it in a straightforward manner. Dan Reiland offers some suggestions how to turn conflicts into opportunities.

Dispel the myth of the super pastor – Trying to kill the myth.

Dysfunctional Architecture 
An article from Leadership Network about a strategy for planning a new building to match your ministry philosophy.

Emotions of a Leader – A veteran pastor discusses the emotional aspects of church leadership.

The Futurity of Present Events – Scan the horizon of large trends that will impact your church.

Growing a Church from Good to Great – Article by Steve Pike written for Acts II, January/February 2002.

Growing Strong   John C. Maxwell's leadership “growth statements" on  developing everyday to reach your potential.

Handling Chronic Conflict – by Dan Reiland  Conflict is a fact of life. Being intimidated by it, pretending it isn't there, and tiptoeing around it will get you nowhere. In fact, it will only make matters worse. Your ability to deal with conflict directly and effectively affects your ability to lead.

Hanging out and Hovering around John 3:16 – A provocative look at incarnational ministry.

Guidelines for Interviews- How to ask legal, effective questions when interviewing prospective staff members.

How Long Should a Pastor Stay at a Church to be Effective? – Bill Easum gives a concise answer that should be considered by every pastor everywhere!

Inviting and Welcoming New People – Great ideas for making your church a more “guest" friendly place!

Is it Time to Leave?  Good advice for knowing when it's time to move on.

Look and Listen – A article about observing and listening aggressively.

Meetings and Ministry – 6 steps to running an effective meeting.

Modern Team Ministry – Could Paul and his ministry team be a model for modern team ministry?

Paul's Missionary Band – Paul's missionary team provides a great metaphor for 21st century ministry.

Preaching Points – Learn about how your church can expand it's ministry through “Preaching Points."

Recruiting Worship Band Musicians – Great ideas for finding the musicians who will help take your worship experience to the next level.

Small Group Shift? Pay Attention to What Really Matters. – Discovering what works best for your church is the smart thing to do, more so than studying what the mega-churches are doing and then copying them. Study them, and adapt what you learn to fit your culture and community.

Starting Early – John Maxwell outlines key issues that must be settled early in a leaders life.

Spiritual Growth and Ministry to Others- What is the connection between being healthy spiritually and serving others lovingly?

Ten BIG Mistakes in Church Staffing – How are you doing with your church staff? Are you learning, growing, and therefore making fresh “new territory" mistakes? Or do you continue to repeat mistakes from lessons you could have benefited from by now?

The Heart and Art of a 21st Century Servant – a message by Wayne Cordero, Pastor of New Hope Church in Hawaii on the most essential ingredient to leading people through a change process.

The Value of Values, Part I – Core Values By Dan Reiland – “I'm a believer in identifying your church's core values and intentionally pursuing their positive impact. . ."

The Value of Shared Thinking – by John Maxwell  We always do things better when we do them together.

The Tipping Point – Interesting ideas on the social dynamics of vision and momentum.

Vision Impairment Questions by Stan Toler – Check your church's “vision" (eye sight)

Walking People Through the Door – by James Moss, Sr. Little is understood about the hard work necessary to walk people through the door of a church for the first time.

What Does A Healthy Church Look Like? – Compiled from various sources including Willow CreekNatural Church Development, etc. by Rowland Croucher

What Does An “Excellent Protestant Church" Look Like?
Trying to gage the health of your church? This article provides some excellent standards to consider.

What Game are We Playing? — An helpful article describing the organizational changes that numerical growth brings.

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WHY PLANT CHURCHES

Anointed Mavericks

Why Another Church?

Church Planting: The Most Successful Form of Church Growth

New Church Planting: The Cutting Edge Ministry in Ethnic/Languarge Groups

Twelve Reasons Why We Plant Churches

 

Why New Churches Grow Faster than Existing Churches


Enrichment Journal – A journal for Pentecostal Ministy

       
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
       

MEDIA RESOURCES

Click below for resource websites regarding:

Media Resources

Graphics Information

Movie Indexes

Other Good Resources

Copyright Information

 Media Resources

http://www.midnightoilproductions.net/ – Midnight Oil Productions. Telling the Story in a New Light, through professional-quality worship resources and media training. Midnight Oil is Len Wilson and Jason Moore, authors of Digital Storytellers, The Wired Church, former media ministers at Ginghamsburg Church, and co-founders of Lumicon Digital Productions. Midnight Oil Productions offers high quality worship graphics and videos at a price churches can afford, as well as one-day workshops on the use of media in worship. We'll see samples of their products today.

http://www.highwayvideo.com   – Highway Video. Good video started library. Lots of documentaries, Music videos for discussion starters plus some good starting elements for video editing. Check out their Vibe Videos, a visual compliment to powerful, humble worship. Vibe Videos are formed around fundamental themes such as love, forgiveness, etc and are created with images, text, music, and scripture to create synergy within any worship experience. Great to use as background worship videos.

http://www.avisualplanet.com – A Visual Planet.com. It's a subscription site. Very reasonable and great content. Beautiful images that you can quickly and easily get them whenever you need them. They also add hundreds of new images every month. We'll see samples of their products today.

http://www.interlinc-online.com  – Interlinc. Used by youth leaders for several years now. A great source for Christian music videos.

http://www.churchmedia.net/home/  – Church Media.net  Has over 1000 subscribers and a very active online forum discussion board, as well as equipment and media for sale.

http://www.screenvue.com/  – ScreenVue. They provide Direct on subject clips from movies that are covered by CVLI licensing. 200 movie clips on 4 to 5 DVD's…..they are attempting to expand in the near future to more mainstream videos.

http://www.grouppublishing.com/ – Provides movie indexes, clips and discussion starters as part of their company.

Graphics Information

https://www.lightstock.com/ – Lightstock – Christian images, photos, vectors, video clips.  When you join, you can get one free each week.

http://www.avisualplanet.com – A Visual Planet.com. It's a subscription site but very reasonable and great content. All images are original by avisualplanet.com artists, or are public domain so there are no copyright concerns.

http://www.midnightoilproductions.net/ – Midnight Oil Productions. Telling the Story in a New Light, through professional-quality worship resources and media training. Midnight Oil is Len Wilson and Jason Moore, authors of Digital Storytellers, The Wired Church, former media ministers at Ginghamsburg Church, and co-founders of Lumicon Digital Productions. Midnight Oil Productions offers high quality worship graphics and videos at a price churches can afford, as well as one-day workshops on the use of media in worship.

http://www.freefoto.com  – FreeFoto.com. It's a place in England.  Graphics are free to churches and non-profits. Thousands of good graphics.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/powerpoint.cgi   – Heartlight.org. Has photos from all over the world posted by professional and amateur photographers.  You have to post a message to the owner of the photo for permission to use.

http://www.ebibleteacher.com/imagehtml/backgrnd2.html  –  eBibleteacher.com. Has some free graphics and links to pay sites.  Very good quality and a nice resource

for graphics on the web.

http://www.churchmedia.net/forums/  – Church Media.net Has over 1000 subscribers and a very active online forum discussion board, as well as equipment and media for sale.

http://www.christart.com/ – Christian Art. Free Christian Graphics

http://www.gifs.net/animate/webl1.htm  – Animated GIF Finder. A ton of free animated .gifs that work with the latest versions of Power Point

Movie Indexes

http://www.textweek.com/movies/themeindex.htm   – Textweek.com. Great Movie Theme Index. You can find references to scenes from all sorts of movies that will help you find just the right clip to use to make your point.

Other Good Resources

http://www.trainingmag.com – training Magazine. Excellent resource to keep you on the cutting edge of the presentation industry. You can sign up for a free magazine and online newsletter that I have found to be very valuable.

http://www.worshipleader.com/ – Worship Leader. An excellent way to stay on top of today's worship issues.

Copyright Information

http://www.criterionpic.com – Criterion Pictures. Has a copyright license that covers most of what CVLI doesn't.

http://www.Swank.com – Swank Motion Pictures. Has a copyright license that also covers most of what CVLI and Criterion doesn't.

TOPICS

Natural Church Development

Natural Church Development

This classic book by Christian Schwarz is one of the best tools available to use as a guide for leading your church through a process of improving the overall health our your church. You may also order this book through ChurchSmart Resources.

Change 

  Leading Change – John P. Kotter

  Who Moved My Cheese – Spencer Johnson, MD

  How to Change Your Church – Alan Nelson, Gene Appel, Jim Mellado

Coaching 

  Coaching for Performance – John Whitmore

  Why You Can't Be Anything You Want To Be – Arthur F. Miller, Jr.

Empowering Leadership

   Leadership on the Other Side – Bill Easum

  Courageous Leadership – Bill Hybels

  A Fish Out of Water – George Barna

Gift-Oriented Ministry

#1-You may purchase DISC tests directly from Uniquely You.

#2- The 3 Colors of Ministry presents a holistic approach to identifying and developing your spiritual gifts. It is based on the three dimensions of God's nature, for which the author has chosen the colors of green, red and blue.

#3-Unleash Your Church!- This comprehensive leader's guide provides you with the foundational Biblical principles for gifts mobilization, a strategic seven step process for action, and instructions for using the “Getting Your Gifts in Gear" workbook, the “Ministry Mentor Guide" and the book “Seven Principles for Mobilizing Spiritual Gifts."

#4-Use this online Jung-Myers-Briggs personality test to help deepen your understanding of your own “wiring."

Jung – Myers-Briggs typological approach

 

Functional Structures

  Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs– Excellent guide for leading your church through a process of healthy change.

  Good to Great by Jim Collins This book is the classic text on helping a good organization of any kind become a great organization!   Especially applicable to the church.

  Leading Change by John Kotter– Understand the dynamics of change and learn how to avoid the common mistakes that leaders      make while changing the organizations they lead.

 Holistic Small Groups

  The Connecting Church by Randy FrazeeFresh insights into the heart of healthy small groups.

Need-Oriented Evangelism

  The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter III A fresh look at how to build bridges to the unchurched among us!

  A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren What does sharing your faith look like in a Post-modern world?

  The Church of Irresistible Influence by Robert Lewis Read the story of a church that learned how to reach out and meet people at    their point of need.

REPRODUCING CHURCHES

The principle of multiplication is an idea that runs all the way through scripture. God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. He told Abraham that he would make him the father of many nations (implying multiplication). Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples (again the implication is “multiply yourself"). The church at Jerusalem was scattered and multiplied all over Judea and Samaria. Later, churches like Antioch intentionally multiplied themselves by sending out their best, Paul and Barnabas. It is normal for healthy growing churches to give birth to more churches. Research shows that new churches are far more effective at reaching unchurched people than established churches.

 

Follow the links below to visit the websites of churches that are creatively multiplying themselves!

Community Christian Church Naperville, Illinois

Anchor Church Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

Allison Park Assembly of God  Allison Park, Pennsylvania

Bethel Temple  Hampton, Virginia

CMN Launch

What is CMN Launch and why should I attend?

LAUNCH

A training event for church planters who are planning to launch or who have recently launched a church. Using a mixture of online classrooms and on-site training, participants will be prepared by an experienced team of church planters to launch a healthy church. Launch runs from Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. to Friday at 12:00 p.m.

Here's a sample of what is covered during Launch . . . 

  • Clarifying Core Values

  • Focusing Vision
  • Defining a Mission Statement
  • Circles of Ministry
  • Mobilizing People to Pray
  • Mobilizing People to Lead
  • Assimilating People
  • Designing a Ministry Flow Chart
  • Building Shared Vision
  • Launching Public Services
  • Improving First Impressions
  • Planning for Implementation
  • Sharing your Vision

Every approved church planter must attend a CMN Launch training event before beginning public meetings. The church planter must consult with the Director of Church Multiplication to make arrangements for attending the CMN Launch. Each Church Plant project will receive up to $500 from Multiplication Team funds to assist with Launch expenses.

 
Click here to find out more about the AG Church Multiplication Network and Launch.

Monthly Reports

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  4. Save a copy for your files.
  5. Click the submit button.  The form will be emailed to the Church Multiplication Department 

Summary Form

Financial Form