Executive Presbytery Approves Church Multiplication Network �?�?�?/FONT> On June 3, the Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God voted to launch the new Church Multiplication Network, a service organization that will resource, catalyze and facilitate the planting of new churches across America. The establishment of the Church Multiplication Network will help carry out one of the five core values of the Assemblies of God, “to vigorously plant new churches.�?/FONT> “The heart of this has been developing for years,�?says Steve Pike, director of the Church Multiplication Network. However, in the past, within the Assemblies of God, Pike believes, “We said church planting was important, but when you really looked at the money that we invested in it and the personnel that we had working to support church planting, there was a disconnect between our values and the amount of money, personnel and attention that we gave to church planting.�?/FONT> To develop the business plan that was presented to the Executive Presbytery, Pike called on the input of 52 individuals, including church planters, missionaries, pastors of parent churches and church planting experts from outside the Assemblies of God. The team spent months creating an organizational structure and vision that would effectively facilitate widespread church planting. Functioning directly under the Assemblies of God general superintendent, the Church Multiplication Network will be organized around seven support systems that will be housed in regional offices across the country. The systems include: �?Discovery �?identifying potential church planters �?Developing �?helping potential church planters explore the possibility of church planting by connecting them to “hands on�?experience �?Assessing �?providing processes to help affirm and clarify God’s calling on the life of church planting candidates �?Training �?equipping church planters with training opportunities �?Coaching �?providing a national coach certification standard and assisting districts with coach training systems that produce coaches to help planters accelerate their personal and church growth �?Funding �?facilitating creative and sustainable ways of accessing funds, to accelerate individuals�?abilities to plant churches �?Communications and Marketing �?developing strategies that will raise awareness of and support for all aspects of church multiplication Each of the systems will support and resource the church planting efforts of districts, parent churches and individual church planters. Pike says that one of the driving forces behind the Church Multiplication Network are statistics that demonstrate that from 1990 to 2006, the number of people in the United States who regularly attend church stayed the same, even though the population increased by 52 million. “You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results,�?Pike says. “In spite of all the church buildings we see only 17 percent [of the U.S. population] go to church.�?/FONT> Pike uses an analogy to emphasize the need for new churches. He explains that there are approximately 596,000 bridges in the United States. Each one was engineered for its specific use, but every bridge shares the same purpose. “That’s exactly what churches are,�?he says. “They are all going to reach different people, but they have one purpose: to seek those who are lost.�?/FONT> One of the primary goals of the Church Multiplication Network is to facilitate the planting of 500 new churches each year. Although the plans for the Church Multiplication Network are based on thorough research, Pike recognizes that the success of church planting ultimately relies on the Lord. “We are very dependent on the power of God. There has to be a miraculous element,�?he says. “We are cooperating with God in the miracle of reaching millions and millions of Americans with healthy churches.�?/FONT> Now that the Church Multiplication Network has been approved, the next step is to find leaders for each system. The business plan sets March 2010 as the target date for having each of the systems staffed and deployed. To learn more about the Church Multiplication Network, visit its Web site at http://churchmultiplicationnetwork.ag.org/. From firstIMPRESSIONS Vol.8.25 �?�?�?/FONT> Page Design by Aalie May copied and reposted with all credits intact. Bg by Aalie Christ Followers ~ 2008