Every Church Plants: The Task Before Us

What is the task before us as the people of the Global Methodist movement?

It is nothing less than recovering the multiplying DNA of the gospel and the evangelistic zeal of our historic Methodist movement. It is to become a movement where Every Church Plants.

But Why “Every Church Plants”?

When we look at the New Testament churches, church history, and the history of our scriptural Methodist movements what we find is that healthy churches don’t simply grow large; they multiply.

They multiply disciples, raise up leaders, and birth churches that birth churches. This is not new strategy - it is who we are and who we must be. Every Church Plants is not some program, it is a vision rooted in the way of Jesus and carried forth in our Methodist heritage.

• Jesus commanded it in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20) and Acts 1:8

• Paul instructed it in 2 Timothy 2:2.

• The early church lived it out, like in Acts 11:19-26 where “some men” shared the Gospel and we first were called Christians.

• John Wesley and the early Methodists spread the movement through discipleship bands and rapid church planting across England and the American frontier, at one point planting on average more than 700 churches per year.

Multiplication has always been at the heart of how God grows His kingdom. Be fruitful and multiply.

Now this vision belongs to us in the Upper Midwest. Our communities, counties, and cities are filled with people who need a living witness to the gospel. Not every church will multiply in the same way but all can participate by actively raising disciple-makers, developing and sending leaders, supporting church planting efforts, and launching a fresh expression of ministry in their community.

How do we assess this across our 7 states and varied context of congregations? In healthy, multiplying movements three marks are present:

• Disciples making disciples making disciples.

• Leaders empowering leaders

• Churches planting churches

  
  

This is not a program or a formula. It is the natural fruit of prayerful discernment, bold obedience, and Spirit-led courage.

Already, we see small signs of this vision taking root. In Des Moines a new congregation is being planted; a number of our new church starts, like Harvest Church in Bismarck, ND, are being bold in taking new ground in their communities; long established churches are cultivating a sending mindset, such as Prairie View Church in Ollie, IA (a rural village of 200) who is sowing generously with monthly support to a new church start or like Aldersgate Church in Aberdeen, SD who has been the support/sending church for Rapid City Faith Community. In our conference ALL are called to participate in shaping the multiplication culture that is needed in this Global Methodist movement.

The task before us is clear: we are not here to maintain the church, but to multiply it. We are builders laying the foundations and developing an intentional culture where Spirit-led discernment, intentional discipleship, and healthy multiplication can be “the way we’ve always done it.”

So here is the question for every congregation in the Upper Midwest:

👉 As a congregation, How is it with our soul?

👉👉 Is our mindset Survival, Maintenance, or Mission? Pick up an assessment tool at the Bishop’s Gatherings this month or email multiplicationteam@uppermidwestgmc.org for a digital copy.

Together, we can see the gospel multiply across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Together, we can live into our historic and future vision: EveryChurch Plants.

📨 Reach out to us at multiplicationteam@uppermidwestgmc.org for tools, coaching, and support as wemove together toward becoming a conference where Every Church Plants.

📅 Join the Monthly Multiplier Zoom Call (Third Saturday, 10 AM CST) to connect with other leaders. Find the link for the zoom call on our website calendar.