Healthy Leaders for a Multiplying Conference

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8

 

As we begin a new year, many churches set goals, refine calendars, and plan initiatives. But if we are serious about becoming an Annual Conference where Every Church Plants, we must begin at a deeper level. Multiplication does not start with strategies or structures, it starts with spiritual health and spiritual health only comes from being connected to the Vine: Jesus Christ.  

 

Healthy multiplication flows from healthy pastors, healthy leadership groups, and healthy disciple-making congregations that are evangelistic and missional at their core. Without health at these levels, churches may grow larger, but they rarely reproduce.

 

Across North America, committed believers, especially younger generations, are increasingly frustrated with programmatic, consumer-driven church models. National research from Discipleship.org and Exponential reveals a sobering reality: 95% of churches do not have a disciple-making culture, and 93% are not reproducing. Even more concerning, many leaders overestimate their effectiveness while relying on systems optimized for consumption rather than reproduction.

 

Why does this matter?

Because multiplication is the fruit of healthy reproduction, and healthy reproduction requires spiritually healthy, mission-focused leaders.

 

A pastor who is spiritually depleted will struggle to lead others into a life centered on Jesus and attentive to the Spirit. A leadership council focused on maintenance will rarely discern God’s call to send. A church without a missional disciple-making culture unintentionally trains people to attend rather than obey.

 

The Right Questions Make a Difference

Health is not abstract. It can be prayerfully discerned by asking honest, mission-centered questions. As pastors and local church leaders enter 2026, consider asking these questions monthly, not to shame, but to lovingly hold one another accountable to the Great Commission:

• Who have you personally shared Christ with in the past three months, and how are you following up?

• Who are you intentionally discipling with the expectation that they will disciple someone else?

• Who are you investing in to replace your leadership role?

• What new ministries outside the walls of the church have recently been launched by laypeople?

How soon do we believe God is calling our church to help plant another church?

These are not performance metrics. They are missional markers that help us discern whether we are maintaining ministry or actively participating in Christ’s mission.

 

Abide and Bear Fruit

Being a healthy multiplier begins in the interior life and extends into the shared life of the church. When pastors are healthy, leadership groups discern together, and disciples are equipped to live on mission, multiplication becomes natural.

 

This year, invest intentionally in spiritual health. Ask honest questions. Listen for the Holy Spirit. Nail preferences and worldly comfort to the cross, and take steps of faithful obedience.

 

As we move toward Conference-wide health by 2030, I truly believe that God will shape us into a multiplying movement - one where Every Church Plants.