This tool is designed to help you reflect on how God has uniquely shaped you—your story, passions, gifts, and opportunities—and consider how those might align with different expressions of church. The goal isn't to get "right answers," but to gain a better understanding of your calling, and explore which type of church expression you may be best suited to get involved in—or even start—as you live out your purpose of knowing God and making Him known.
For each statement, select the number that best reflects how much you agree. The full scale is:
1. The idea of leading a community of faith in one location that focuses on helping the community and has really good worship services excites me, and I feel God's calling to impact a broad group this way.
2. I'm interested in the idea of taking a successful church's plan and starting similar churches in many different places to reach more people, sensing this aligns with my calling to expand God's reach.
3. I believe my entrepreneurial skills to start new things can blend with my faith to launch a new faith community, feeling this is how God uniquely designed me to fulfill my purpose.
4. I would enjoy using the internet and digital spaces as key areas for building and discipling a faith community, as I see this as a powerful way to make God known in today's world.
5. The idea of starting small, really connected faith groups that grow naturally excites me more than starting and building a big church, as I feel a strong calling to build deep relationships and personal discipleship.
6. I imagine a church where smaller community gatherings are all linked by a shared purpose, with bigger gatherings where everyone comes together but are not the main focus, believing this fits my calling to create interconnected communities.
7. I feel a strong desire to reach a specific group of people (like artists, a certain age group, a particular profession) with the Gospel, and I believe this is a unique part of my calling.
8. I am often figuring out creative solutions for the problems around me. I have experience in starting my own business or projects, and I see how those skills can be used for ministry, fulfilling a unique aspect of my calling.
9. I am good at helping people work together from different areas for a common purpose and goal. I can see the big picture of how multiple things fit together to accomplish one goal, which I believe is part of God's design for my leadership.
10. I'm comfortable with technology and can see using digital tools as central to how a church runs, recognizing this as a way God might equip me to make Him known to a wider audience.
11. I enjoy leading small group conversations but also helping others take charge within a widespread network to do the same, all under one common purpose and goal, believing this empowers others to live out their calling.
12. I'm good at guiding people one-on-one in their faith and building strong, personal relationships. I prefer leading smaller groups where we can go deeper together in our faith, feeling this aligns with my calling to intimate spiritual formation.
13. I'm good at relating to a specific, unique group of people and creating ways to share my faith with them. I have a special way of discipling others within this group that the church at large seems to have a hard time doing, seeing this as a specific "position" and "passion" in my calling.
14. I do best in situations with clear plans, strong leaders, and a big team. I am good at leading lots of people at once, and I see these as gifts God has given me for larger-scale ministry.
15. I like imagining being part of a church structure that uses both larger in-person events and smaller home-based groups, with both being equally important, as this balances my calling to broad impact and deep connection.
16. I want to build a church that reaches into multiple surrounding communities in a traditional way by bringing the church to them via a multisite-style venue, believing this reflects my calling to expand God's kingdom geographically.
17. I love the idea of business and church overlapping as one. The concept of the business funding the church and reaching people through the client/business relationship sounds right for me, aligning with my calling to integrate faith into all aspects of life.
18. I prefer working with a church that has a building for gatherings and all that comes with it, feeling this is the structure where I can best fulfill my calling to establish a lasting community.
19. I'm drawn to a low-cost, more organic model where faith gatherings happen in homes, businesses, or public places. These are types of gatherings where personal relationships are at the heart of it, as this reflects my calling to build intimate, community-focused ministry.
20. I'm flexible and willing to hold church gatherings in various places that work for a specific group of friends or shared interest. There is a specific group of people that I am drawn to and think I am called to reach and disciple, understanding this is a unique expression of my calling to make God known.
21. I think I am made for an online faith expression that reaches people that may never step into a church building, feeling this is a unique calling to reach individuals in digital spaces.
Add up your scores for each of the following groups of statements. The church planting type with the highest total score might be a good fit for you to check out more.
Add Up Questions: 1, 14, 18
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of a Traditional Church! The prevailing expression of the church in the United States today encompasses congregations of all sizes, unified by an emphasis on community engagement, contemporary worship, and practical connection to daily life.
Add Up Questions: 2, 11, 16
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of a Multisite Church! This involves reproductions of an existing church, managed centrally, often led by campus pastors who excel as team players in implementing the vision of the sending church.
Add Up Questions: 3, 8, 17
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of an Entrepreneurial Church! This approach is driven by launching something new—a community of faith deeply embedded in the marketplace, often utilizing business skills for ministry outreach.
Add Up Questions: 4, 10, 21
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of a Digital Church! This belief is founded on the idea that the full ecclesiology of the Church can be embodied within fully digital spaces, connecting with people who may never step into a physical building.
Add Up Questions: 5, 12, 19
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of a Microchurch! This is a fundamentally different expression of the church—an extended spiritual family, led by ordinary people, living in everyday gospel community and owning the mission of Jesus in a specific network or neighborhood.
Add Up Questions: 6, 9, 15
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of a Network Church! A decentralized expression of church life that blends the relational depth of house churches with the collective strength of a unified church body, often featuring regular large-group gatherings.
Add Up Questions: 7, 13, 20
Based on your score you may be a great fit to start or be a part of an Affinity Church! These churches are intentionally designed to reach and disciple a specific group of people who share a common interest, background, or life experience.
Reflect on these seven areas, which represent who you are. For each point, consider the questions and how they relate to you:
Consider the seven church expressions and how your 7 P’s fit within those expressions. You may see a pattern within 1-3 expressions that best fits your unique design!
Every person ever born asks the same fundamental question - WHY AM I HERE? It starts with this: you were created for the purpose of knowing God personally and making Him known to others. That means seeking Him daily, listening for His guidance, and letting Him shape your heart into who He’s made you to be.
Your calling is simply the unique way God has wired you to live out that purpose—it’s how your passions, gifts, and opportunities line up to impact others, whether that’s through building a faith community, serving in ministry, or reflecting Christ in everyday life.
Calling: Your calling is the unique way in which God asks you to fulfill your purpose. It's how your "7 P's" come together to serve Him, specifically in the context of starting or growing a faith community.
And while your purpose never changes, your calling might shift as you move through different seasons, experiences, and doors God opens. The key is staying close to Him so you can recognize where He’s leading you next.
Now it’s your turn to lean in. Don’t just skim these questions—sit with them, pray through them, and actually write out your answers. Use the 7 P’s as a mirror to see how God has uniquely designed you, then look at the seven expressions of church to imagine where your gifts and passions could come alive. Remember, your purpose will never change—to know God and make Him known—but your calling will take shape as you honestly explore who you are, where God has placed you, and what He’s stirring in your heart.
This week, commit to explore The Atlas along with one next step: journal your reflections, talk with a mentor, or take a gifting test. Your calling won’t become clear all at once, but clarity grows as you move with God.
