The remarkable growth and global impact of churches like Yoido Full Gospel Church, North Point Community Church, Saddleback Church, and others demonstrate that multiplying groups is not just a strategy—it’s a reality. At the heart of these churches’ success lies a set of shared principles that any church can adopt to foster a culture of disciple-making and multiplication.
However, these principles come to life only when leaders joyfully and wholeheartedly embody the vision. It’s not enough to teach the principles or delegate them to others—leaders must live them out, modeling the kind of discipleship and multiplication they wish to see in their church. When this vision is embraced at every level of leadership, from the senior pastor to the entire staff, it creates a culture that inspires and sustains growth.
1. Leadership Must Embody the Vision
The most crucial principle in multiplying groups is this: the leader must joyfully embody the vision. If the leader doesn’t live and breathe the mission of disciple-making, it won’t spread. When leaders lead by example, their passion becomes contagious.
The Role of the Senior Leader
Be the First to Multiply: Leaders like David Yonggi Cho, Andy Stanley, and Rick Warren didn’t just delegate small group leadership—they participated in it. They led groups, invested in leaders, and set the example for others to follow.
Celebrate the Mission: A leader’s enthusiasm sets the tone for the entire church. When leaders celebrate stories of multiplication, highlight life change, and rejoice in every new group that forms, it reinforces the importance of the vision.
Teach with Integrity: Leaders must align their personal lives with the principles they teach. If they emphasize prayer, service, and multiplication, they must demonstrate those same values in their daily lives.
All Staff Must Embrace the Vision
Multiplication cannot succeed if it’s seen as the responsibility of a single department or ministry. All staff members, regardless of their role, must embody the vision of multiplying groups. This requires:
Cross-Departmental Alignment: Every ministry, from children’s to worship, should emphasize small groups and multiplication as core values.
Staff Participation: All staff members should lead or participate in a small group, modeling discipleship for the congregation.
Unified Messaging: From the pulpit to the parking lot, the vision for multiplying groups should be clear, consistent, and compelling.
2. Start Simple, Stay Focused
One of the greatest strengths of multiplying churches is their ability to keep things simple. Complex systems and programs can stifle multiplication, but simple, reproducible methods empower anyone to lead and multiply a group.
Principles of Simplicity
Easy to Start: Leaders like Rick Warren’s “Grab Two Friends” strategy or Neil Cole’s organic church model ensure that starting a group is accessible to anyone. Clear, simple steps lower the barriers to leadership.
Reproducible Tools: Churches like Saddleback provide resources like video lessons and discussion guides that make it easy for new leaders to succeed.
Focus on Essentials: Multiplying churches focus on a few core practices—prayer, Bible study, relationships, and mission—rather than overwhelming leaders with activities. In short, start small; think big:
The gospels show us how Jesus handed down a model of personal discipleship and evangelism—a model that we would say is solid addition-growth. In the local church, we need a strategy that creates environments where each and every follower of Jesus can participate in addition-growth with a focus on their personal sphere of influence.
At the same time, we must simultaneously and intentionally embrace a strategy that looks beyond our local context and seeks to extend and multiply churches. This strategy recognizes that the most powerful way to multiply is to equip and send leaders who create new churches, which become platforms for addition at the individual believer level.
Another way of paraphrasing this strategy is: “You must have a micro or local strategy close to home for adding the next one, and simultaneously a macro strategy for multiplying your impact beyond your local context.” The two must work in synergy with the adding fueling the multiplying.[1]
3. Empower Lay Leaders
The success of multiplying groups hinges on mobilizing ordinary believers to lead. Empowering laypeople decentralizes leadership, making growth scalable and sustainable.
Key Practices
Identify and Train Leaders: Churches like North Point and Yoido Full Gospel identify potential leaders early and provide clear training pathways. Apprenticeship models ensure that every group has a future leader in the making.
Trust Your People: Leaders like Francis Chan emphasize that every believer is equipped by the Holy Spirit to lead. By trusting laypeople to shepherd others, churches unleash the full potential of their congregation.
Provide Ongoing Support: Multiplying groups require support structures, such as coaching and regular check-ins, to ensure leaders stay encouraged and aligned with the vision.
4. Prioritize Relationships
Multiplication is not just about numbers—it’s about changed lives. The churches highlighted in this book succeed because they prioritize relationships, creating environments where people feel known, loved, and supported.
Relational Principles
Circles Over Rows: Andy Stanley’s mantra, “Circles are better than rows,” highlights the importance of small, relational settings for spiritual growth.
Focus on Care and Accountability: Strong relationships within groups foster trust and accountability, creating the foundation for discipleship and multiplication.
Build from Existing Connections: Saddleback’s “Grab Two Friends” strategy demonstrates the power of starting groups with people you already know. This approach lowers barriers and accelerates group formation.
5. Commit to Prayer and Dependence on the Holy Spirit
Multiplying groups is ultimately a spiritual movement, not just a strategic one. Churches like Yoido Full Gospel emphasize that prayer and dependence on the Holy Spirit are essential for sustaining growth.
Practices of Prayerful Dependence
Corporate and Individual Prayer: Early morning prayer meetings at Yoido and Prayer Mountain retreats demonstrate the power of collective intercession for multiplication.
Spirit-Led Leadership: Multiplication requires sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading, both in identifying leaders and in deciding where to plant new groups.
Pray for the Lost: Multiplying groups keep mission at the forefront by praying for those who have yet to hear the gospel.
6. Design for Multiplication
Multiplication doesn’t happen by accident—it must be built into the DNA of the church. This means creating systems and structures that encourage groups to reproduce regularly.
Strategies for Multiplication
Apprenticeship Models: North Point and Saddleback train new leaders within existing groups, ensuring a constant flow of leaders ready to multiply.
Set Clear Expectations: From the outset, members of a group should understand that multiplication is the goal. This helps avoid resistance when it’s time to start new groups.
Celebrate Multiplication: Highlight stories of successful multiplication during services or events. Recognize leaders and groups that embrace the mission.
7. Stay Missionally Focused
Multiplying groups are driven by a desire to reach others, not just maintain the status quo. Churches that prioritize mission ensure that groups remain outward-facing, engaging their communities with the gospel.
Missional Practices
Adopt a Local Focus: Groups are encouraged to pray for and serve their neighborhoods, creating opportunities for evangelism.
Engage the Unreached: Saddleback’s global PEACE Plan and Yoido’s commitment to missions demonstrate how multiplying groups can impact the world.
Celebrate Outreach: Highlighting stories of groups reaching their communities inspires others to do the same.
A Unified Vision for Multiplication
The churches profiled in this book share a unifying principle: multiplication is not just a program—it’s a culture. This culture begins with leaders who joyfully embody the vision and filters down to every staff member, volunteer, and small group participant.
A Vision Lived Out
When leaders live the vision:
Staff members are inspired to prioritize multiplication in their own ministries.
Congregants see multiplication modeled and are more likely to embrace it themselves.
The church becomes a vibrant, Spirit-led community focused on making disciples who make disciples.
The Power of Unified Leadership
When every staff member embodies the vision:
There is consistency in messaging and mission across all ministries.
Departments work together to support and resource multiplying groups.
The congregation experiences a clear and compelling call to action.
Conclusion: Living the Vision
Multiplying groups is not just about strategies and systems—it’s about embodying a vision of discipleship that reflects the heart of Jesus. When leaders and staff joyfully live out this vision, they create a culture where multiplication becomes second nature.
As you lead your church toward multiplying groups, remember this: the vision begins with you. Let your life reflect the mission you want others to embrace. As you model the joy, sacrifice, and faithfulness of disciple-making, you’ll inspire others to follow—and together, you’ll witness the transformative power of multiplication in your church and beyond.
[1] Todd Wilson, Dave Ferguson, and Alan Hirsch, Becoming a Level Five Multiplying Church Field Guide (Nashville, TN: Exponential, 2015).
