Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers

Praise for Viral Churches "This book by . . . my dear friends and partners in ministry . . . is pure gold. . . .There is simply no better way to reach, teach, train, and send out disciples than through churches that are planted with the intentionality of planting others." Rick WarrenSaddleback Church "This book is for those who want to go from making adent to making a difference." Mark Driscoll Mars Hill Church (www.marshillchurch.org), Acts 29 Network, The Resurgence "There is no doubt that the idea of exponentially reproducing church isthe next step, providing us with perhaps the only viable way forward toovercome the current impasse of Christianity in the West. In Viral Churches,Ed and Warren team up to produce a characteristically well researched,missiologically hefty, and definitive book for our times." Alan Hirschauthor, The Forgotten Ways, and coauthor, Untamed "Ed Stetzer′s experience in planting churches and training pastors makeshim one of today′s most experienced and trusted voices. He has an ability to take research and make it applicable to this generation′s Christian leaders.I applaud his efforts to build spiritual movements everywhere." Steve Douglasspresident, Campus Crusade for Christ International

1. Introduction. 2. Church Planting: The New Evangelism. 3. Growth by Addition: Big Contrast to Multiplication. 4. New Players: Aggressive Local Churches and Church Planting Networks. 5. Kingdom Cooperation: Church Planters Learning Together. 6. Predictors of Success: Recruitment, Assessment, and Deployment. 7. Thriving: New Church Survival Rates. 8. House Churches: Separating Reality from Fiction. 9. Multisite Strategy: A Fast–Growing Trend That Affects Planting. 10. Rapid Growth: Still Not Reproduction. 11. Funding: Partnerships Matter. 12. The New Scorecard: Measuring a Church Multiplication Movement. 13. Obstacles to Missional Replication: What Holds Us Back. 14. Conclusion: Solving the Toughest Challenges. Acknowledgments. Appendix: List of Churches and Networks Cited. Notes. Index. Annotated Bibliography for Church Multiplication. The Authors.

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. Visit the Leadership Network Website, www.leadnet.org, for more innovative resources and information.