Viral Churches

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 ixForeword xiRick Warren1 Introduction 12 Church Planting: The New Evangelism 113 Growth by Multiplication: Big Contrast to Addition 314 New Players: Aggressive Local Churches and Church Planting Networks 495 Kingdom Cooperation: Church Planters Learning Together 676 Predictors of Success: Recruitment, Assessment, and Deployment 837 Thriving: New Church Survival Rates 1018 House Churches: Separating Reality from Fiction 1159 Multisite Strategy: A Fast-Growing Trend That Affects Planting 12910 Rapid Growth: Still Not Reproduction 13911 Funding: Partnerships Matter 14912 The New Scorecard: Measuring a Church Multiplication Movement 16113 Obstacles to Missional Replication: What Holds Us Back 18514 Conclusion: Solving the Toughest Challenges 195Acknowledgments 209Appendix: List of Churches and Networks Cited 211Notes 215Annotated Bibliography for Church Multiplication 225The Authors 233Index 237Scripture Index 244