Viral Churches

Recent years have seen a clear increase in church planting enthusiasm across the globe. As church leaders look for ways to start multiple new congregations that in turn reproduce virally, they need credible information, healthy examples, and reliable guidance.

Based on a national, cross-denominational study commissioned by Leadership Network, Viral Churches outlines the best practices in church multiplication movements and reveals the common threads among them. A hands-on resource, Viral Churches offers the fresh vision and critical perspectives essential as a catalyst fortoday's church planting leaders.

Authors Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird draw from their own experiences, the insights of numerous pioneering leaders, and what was arguably the nation's largest research project on church multiplication. They show leaders how to plant churches that multiply into a movement, and they offer inspiration for the need to do so. Filled with illustrative stories from successful church planters, this important book outlines practical ideas that are essential to the success of church multiplication networks. Each chapter highlights a different point on such issues as keeping the focus on evangelism; recruiting, assessing, and deploying planters; increasing the survivability of new churches; using a multisite strategy effectively; funding; overcoming obstacles; facing challenges ahead; and many more.

Throughout the book, Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird advocate the core belief that "Church planting is good. A vision for a church multiplication movement is better."

ED STETZER, PH.D., is president of LifeWay Research, visiting professor of research and missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, visiting research professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a contributing editor for Christianity Today, and a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly. He has been a church planter and has trained pastors and church planters on five continents. His books include Planting Missional Churches.

WARREN BIRD, PH.D., directs the research division at Leadership Network, teaches atAlliance Theological Seminary, and regularly contributes to several magazines. An ordained minister, he has been involved in five church plants. Bird has coauthored twenty-one books including Starting a New Church.

About Leadership Network ix

Foreword xi
Rick Warren

1 Introduction 1

2 Church Planting: The New Evangelism 11

3 Growth by Multiplication: Big Contrast to Addition 31

4 New Players: Aggressive Local Churches and Church Planting Networks 49

5 Kingdom Cooperation: Church Planters Learning Together 67

6 Predictors of Success: Recruitment, Assessment, and Deployment 83

7 Thriving: New Church Survival Rates 101

8 House Churches: Separating Reality from Fiction 115

9 Multisite Strategy: A Fast-Growing Trend That Affects Planting 129

10 Rapid Growth: Still Not Reproduction 139

11 Funding: Partnerships Matter 149

12 The New Scorecard: Measuring a Church Multiplication Movement 161

13 Obstacles to Missional Replication: What Holds Us Back 185

14 Conclusion: Solving the Toughest Challenges 195

Acknowledgments 209

Appendix: List of Churches and Networks Cited 211

Notes 215

Annotated Bibliography for Church Multiplication 225

The Authors 233

Index 237

Scripture Index 244