Full-day Church Multiplication Pre-Conference at SpireConference aims to help move American churches from a 7% multiplication rate toward a 16% tipping point.
CARMEL, IN, UNITED STATES, August 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Stadia Church Planting and Exponential are partnering to lead the Church Multiplication Pre-Conference at Spire Conference on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at Northview Church’s Carmel Campus. The full-day gathering (9:00 AM–3:00 PM) is designed to equip pastors and church leadership teams to know how to become multiplying churches.
The stakes are significant. According to Lifeway Research conducted for Exponential, only 7% of America’s approximately 356,000 Protestant churches are reproducing and multiplying. This is up from 4% in 2019, but far short of the 16% that researchers identify as the tipping point for a self-sustaining church multiplication movement. Meanwhile, population growth and church closures mean thousands of new churches are needed every year just to keep pace.
“The math is simple, and it’s sobering,” said Greg Nettle, President of Stadia Church Planting. “Between churches closing their doors and communities growing faster than we’re planting, we need thousands of new churches every single year in the United States alone.”
The pre-conference carries special significance for churches in the Restoration Movement. Independent Christian Churches have historically been among the most fruitful church-planting groups in America, giving rise to organizations including Stadia, Exponential, Orchard Group, Nexus, Waypoint Church Partners, and many others. The pre-conference gathering at Spire Conference (a conference serving Restoration Movement Churches and more) is an intentional effort to ensure the next generation of Stone-Campbell Movement leaders carries that same DNA.
“Church multiplication is in the bloodstream of this movement,” Nettle said. “Our tribe has planted churches for two hundred years, and some of the most catalytic church planting organizations in the country trace their roots here. We’re asking churches to make sure the next generation of leaders has the vision, tools, pathways, and partners to keep planting.”
The day will feature four working sessions led by Nettle; Jon Ferguson, co-founder of Community Christian Church and City Movements Catalyst with Exponential; Patrick O’Connell, Executive Director of Practice with Exponential, and co-author with Ferguson of The End of Leading Alone; Will Blanchard of The Training Center at Fellowship Bible Church of Northwest Arkansas; and others. Sessions move from vision (why America needs more churches) to pipeline (identifying and apprenticing multiplying leaders) to practice (the four vital components of reproducing churches) to commitment, with every participating leader walking away with an action plan prioritized around their next best steps in multiplication.
“We believe 16% is audacious but attainable. 60,000 churches making disciples who make disciples, and churches birthing churches that birth networks and movements,” said Jon Ferguson. “But no church gets there alone. Movements happen when leaders stop asking ‘How do we grow our church?’ and start asking ‘How do we multiply the Church?’ That shift, from individual effort to collaboration, is exactly what this day is designed to catalyze.”
The Church Multiplication Pre-Conference is open to any church leader, with leadership teams especially encouraged to attend together. Registration is available at spire.network, and attendees can use the code Stadia2026 for 50% off both the pre-conference and SpireConference registration (September 29–October 1, 2026).
About Exponential: Exponential exists to help the Body of Christ reach a 16% tipping point of the 356,000 Protestant churches in America becoming reproducing and multiplying churches. Through conferences, resources, research, and networks, Exponential equips leaders to multiply disciples, leaders, churches, and movements. Learn more at exponential.org.
About Stadia Church Planting: Stadia helps leaders start thriving, growing, multiplying churches for the next generation. Providing comprehensive, end-to-end church planting services for any church model, from discovery and assessment through launch, post-launch, and multiplication. Stadia works with a diverse and global community of planters and partner churches. Learn more at stadia.org.
Alex Robinson
Stadia Church Planting
+1 855-478-2342
info@stadia.org
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