A breakout session on building a culture of church planting and multiplication.
Introduction (brief story)
- Lifepoint Church, Mount Vernon, Ohio
- Church plant launched February 2013
- Sent first church planting team October 2015 (less than 3 years later)
- We didn’t “transition” into sending—we assumed it was normal from the beginning
- Sending isn’t something we added. It’s who we are.
Churches / leaders sent:
- 2015 – Kale & Morgan (Lifepoint Delaware)
- 2022 – Bill & Karen (House Church in MV)
- 2023 – Jordan & Ann (IMB, Sicily)
- 2024 – Sam & Taiyler (Redemption Church, Johnstown)
- 2025 – Brandt & Nicole (Lifepoint Newark, making us multisite: “Lifepoint Family of Churches”)
- 2026 – Tony & Laura (Lifepoint House Church in Mansfield)
- 2026 – TBD…Lifepoint Bellville (Replant, in process)
Four Things That Enable a Church to Send
1. We’re healthy.
Not perfect, but healthy.
We know who we are (core values, mission statement, Christ-centered culture), and we’re willing to help people find another church to attend if we’re not a good fit for them. That clarity helps us build a church that’s aligned and moving in the same direction.
We’re not trying to multiply out of dysfunction or instability. There’s enough leadership, enough systems, enough clarity that when we send people, the church isn’t going to fall apart.
Health doesn’t mean everything’s easy—it just means there’s enough strength to absorb the hit.
2. We’re reaching people in our own community.
You can’t give what you don’t have.
If the gospel isn’t actively at work where you are—if people aren’t coming to Christ, if you’re not making disciples—it’s really hard to send that somewhere else.
This also creates an abundance mindset. We’re not operating out of scarcity like, “We can’t afford to lose people.” It’s more like, “We’re reaching people, we’re growing—we actually need the room.”
So when we send our best leaders and people, yes, that’s a real cost—but it’s something we can do because there’s ongoing life and growth behind it.
You don’t want to kill the mother while trying to give birth to a new church.
You reproduce who you are. You can teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are. Since we’re reaching our own community, we’re far more likely to reproduce churches that do the same.
It also means we have the people and the financial resources to send—because healthy, growing churches generate both.
3. We’re a church plant ourselves.
That gives us credibility in three directions:
- When we tell guys, “We think you can do this,” it means something
- When we tell them how to do it, it’s not theoretical—it’s lived
- When we tell our church, “We’re going to send,” they trust it
We’re not asking people to do something we haven’t done.
4. We’re completely committed to it.
We’re not just interested in sending—we’re committed to it. It’s a conviction for us.
Think marriage: when you’re committed, you don’t ask if it’s convenient—you figure it out.
That’s how we think about sending.
It’s not a side initiative. It’s not something we do when it’s easy. It’s part of who we are.
So when it’s costly—and it always is—we’re not reevaluating whether we should do it. We’re just figuring out how to keep doing it faithfully.
How Do You Move Toward This?
1. Choose health on purpose.
You don’t drift into health—you pursue it.
- Clarify who you are
- Mission statement
- Core values
- Simple LifeGroup model (no programs)
- Legal hierarchy functioning as a plurality
- Relentless effort to cultivate a healthy staff team
- Grace and truth in action (Christ-centered culture)
- Build real discipleship systems
- Recognize that how you treat people matters a lot
And practically: be okay not being everything to everyone.
We know who we are, and we’re willing to encourage people to attend other churches if we’re not a good fit.
2. Prioritize reaching your own community.
This is a decision.
You have to decide that evangelism, discipleship, and real gospel fruit will matter.
Because you reproduce who you are.
If you’re not reaching people, you won’t suddenly start doing it somewhere else. But if you are, that DNA multiplies.
And over time, this creates the margin—people, leaders, and finances—to send.
Ask yourself:
Are we actually structured to reach people where we are?
3. Borrow experience if you don’t have it.
You can’t manufacture this overnight.
If you’re not a church plant, don’t try to fake it—learn from those who’ve done it.
- Build relationships with church plants and sending churches
- Ask questions
- Learn from their mistakes
- Invite them into your process
Many churches are happy to help.
When we send guys, we’re not sharing theory—we’re sharing what we’ve actually done. You can access that same kind of wisdom through relationships.
4. Make it a conviction, not a preference.
This is the biggest shift.
If sending is an interest, you’ll do it when it’s easy. If it’s a conviction, you’ll do it even when it’s costly.
So this becomes a leadership decision:
- We are going to be a sending church
- We are going to sacrifice for it
- We are going to figure it out
Like marriage—you don’t stay committed because it’s easy, but because you’ve already decided.
Conclusion
Q&A