At the heart of everything we do at Exponential is our 16% mission. We want to see at least 16% of churches reproducing; this is the tipping point in which church reproduction catches on and becomes a movement across the USA.
We believe that there is no such thing as a one style fits all or silver bullet approach to the church. The church is a movement, not a building or service. This movement is expressed through many different approaches, models, and methods where men, women, and children gather to know Jesus together.
Church Expressions NEXT highlights the churches that don’t “fit” the normative, the ones who are trying different approaches to reach people who may not step foot into the prevailing church model we currently know in the USA.
Welcome to the post-Covid era, where the world of church planting has undergone a significant transformation. Gone are the days of solely focusing on the traditional “launch large” model. Now, a rising number of young leaders are embracing new aspirations.
Join one of two vibrant learning communities to unravel the emergence of this fresh approach to movement and unlock the power of key paradigms and tools within your own context. Don’t miss out on this chance to be part of the future of church planting.
Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey of prayer and mission? Look no further than Extraordinary Prayer: Tools, Movements, Microchurches, and the Missionary Pathway by Rob Wegner and Brian Johnson. This practical guidebook is designed to equip ordinary people on mission with the tools they need to advance the Kingdom of God through extraordinary prayer.
Guest – Léonce Crump
Description – In this episode, join hosts Carrie Williams and Bill Couchenour as they sit down with Léonce Crump—Co-Founder and Senior Pastor of United Church—for an honest and inspiring conversation about traditional church planting. From his journey in the NFL to his calling into vocational ministry, Léonce opens up about the path that led him to plant a traditional church. He shares not only his personal story, but also the realities of starting, leading, and sustaining a church in today’s cultural landscape. Tune in for a moving conversation about calling, perseverance, and the complex, rewarding journey of church planting.
Guest – Christy Gibas
Description – Is your church ready to reach more people in more places? Dive into the world of multisite church with Christy Gibas, Lead Pastor of The Table Church. Drawing from her own leadership journey, Christy offers a behind-the-scenes look at how her church has reproduced its ministry into multiple locations. She unpacks the vision, strategy, and lessons learned along the way—offering practical insights for any church exploring the multisite church planting model. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation about growth, leadership, and multiplying ministry impact.
Guests – Carl Johnson and Scott Woller
Description – What if your church could fight hunger AND fuel your soul? Discover the forward-thinking approach of entrepreneurial church planting with our guests, Carl Johnson and Scott Woller. These innovative leaders are embedding their churches in the heart of their communities, using coffee shops, grocery stores, and workforce development programs as powerful expressions of their mission. Whether you’re a church planter, pastor, or just curious about new models of ministry, this episode will challenge and inspire you to think beyond the building—and plant churches that meet people where they are.
Guests – Justin & Janae Klatt
Description – What happens when church planting takes an unexpected turn—and it’s exactly what God intended? In this episode, hosts Carrie Williams and Bill Couchenour talk with Justin and Janae Klatt, founders of Imagine Church Global, a fully digital faith community born from obedience and innovation. What began as a traditional church plant in Phoenix shifted online when the Klatts realized people across the country wanted to join—but couldn’t move. Through Spirit-led moments and creative risk-taking, Imagine Church Global emerged as a week-long, app-based experience where “community builders” lead flexible, discussion-driven gatherings. This model reaches those often excluded from physical churches—like flight attendants, RVers, or the homebound around the country and around the world. This episode is a powerful reminder that God moves in unexpected ways—and that new expressions of the Church can meet people right where they are.
Guests – Rob Wegner and Brian Johnson
Description – Forget the building, forget the budget – what if all you needed was your neighbors? Join Brian Johnson and Rob Wegner, leaders of the Kansas City Underground, as they share their powerful journey into microchurch planting. The Kansas City Underground equips people to live as missionaries in their own networks through rhythms of prayer, listening, eating, serving, and storytelling. Microchurches—defined as extended spiritual families—emerge from these relational networks, led by unpaid leaders who embrace the mission of Jesus in everyday life. Discover how to empower everyday believers to lead, foster authentic community, and live out the mission of Jesus in their own circles. This episode will challenge your assumptions and inspire you to see ministry opportunities all around you.
Guest – Jason Shepperd
Description – Can a church actually grow by getting smaller? Join Bill Couchenour as he sits down with Jason Shepperd, founder of Church Project in The Woodlands, Texas, to uncover the secrets to Network Church Planting. Explore the power of relational communities, discover how to cultivate leaders from within, and learn how to use your church building as a shared resource for the community. For pastors curious about transitioning from traditional church models, Jason offers thoughtful advice: start small, lead with biblical conviction, and let the vision take root gradually. This episode invites you to rethink what it means to plant—and multiply—churches in ways that are relational, reproducible, and rooted in everyday life.
Guests – Steven Barr and Victor Glover
Description – What if church planting wasn’t tied to a place—but to a people? In this episode, we explore the innovative world of affinity church planting—a model focused on reaching specific communities rather than geographic regions. Join us as we hear from Stephen Barr, founder of Cast Member Church, which ministers to Walt Disney Company employees around the world, and Victor Glover, leader of Fathers on the Move, a movement planting churches within federal and state prisons. Through powerful stories and practical insight, they share how relational discipleship, hospitality, and trust-building can lead to deep spiritual transformation—often in places the traditional church may not reach. This conversation challenges conventional models and invites you to imagine how God might be calling you to minister to the people you’re uniquely positioned to reach.
Brought to you by Exponential NEXT and KC Underground
Before we can begin disciple-making, we must know the answer to the question, “To whom have you been sent?” Breanna Wiebe will walk us through the context map, a tool that helps us explore the various relational networks in which exist and determine where we might have the most spiritual interest. These are often the best places to engage in missionary living. We can be a missionary everywhere we go. To be effective in missional living, we need to discern one or two contexts and approach those relationships with greater intentionality. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Once we know our primary context in which we will focus our disciple-making, we have to begin the relational work to know the people in that network of relationships. Jay Pathak walks us through the neighboring map, a tool that will assist us in knowing the people in our lives in a deeper way. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Jesus sent the 12 disciples and the group of people known as “the 72” on mission to the next towns and villages he was about to travel to. He instructs his followers to identify people of peace who would welcome them and receive the Good News from them as well as open their network of relationships. Gina Mueller teaches us that the finding the persons of peace in our context can accelerate our mission as well. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Each of the BLESS rhythms has a breathing in and breathing out element. As we Begin In Prayer, we breathe in prayer first, that is, we start with listening prayer. Rob Wegner will walk us through a listening prayer practice called The Prayer of Examen. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Breathing out prayer is probably far more natural to most followers of Jesus. This is where we bring our requests to God or engage in some form of intercession. Jill Randall will teach us another form of prayer we call “Blessing Prayer.” This form of prayer is how we join God in praying blessing into this world. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Jesus was a listener. He asks a lot of questions. Even when he is asked a question, he often begins his response with another question. Good missionary leaders practice listening first, rather than bringing our own ideas to the table. Darryl Answer will challenge us to think about how we approach our context as a listener first. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
The BLESS rhythm that most of us love is Eating. There’s something about sharing a meal that can move a relationship from merely an acquaintance to deeper intimacy. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus sharing meals as part of the way he learns more about the people he is asking to follow him. Hugh Halters shares about how meals have played an integral part in his family’s disciple-making practices. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Serving often feels like the BLESS rhythm that is the most missional. It’s the rhythm where we get to do something for another person. Stacy Gaskins helps us reframe our serving to see that our serving must be highly contextualized based on our specific calling. The way we serve, that is, must be a natural response to the needs of the people to whom we’ve been sent. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
We must breathe in the Gospel before we can speak Good News. If we are not regularly proclaiming the Good News to ourselves, we will not have a Gospel to speak to others. And the Good News will always reshape our lives. Jeff Vanderstelt will walk us through a practical tool called Fruit to Root which helps us identify areas of unbelief in our life, speak the Good News over those areas, and move toward greater belief in Jesus in response. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
We breathe out the Gospel in natural ways by helping others discover Jesus in the Scripture and then respond in obedience. Dori Yuen will share how their network engages Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) to lead people toward a surrendered life to Jesus while also helping believers grow in their faith. Brought to you by Leadership Network and KC Underground.
Watch Leadership Network’s Microchurch Next Directors, Rob Wegner and Brian Johnson, with guest Doug Paul from Catapult for Part 1 of, “The State of the Microchurch in the West,” Over the course of three gatherings in 2022 hosted by Leadership Network, Microchurch Networks from across the US gathered to explore three questions, “How did we get here? Where are we currently? Where are we headed?”
In part 1 of this 2 part series, Rob, Brian, and Doug will primarily explore the answers discovered to the first question, “How did we get here?” You’ll hear about the process these networks engaged to discern the critical factors that led to the return of the Microchurch in the West over the past three decades, both within the church world and the cultural contributing factors.
Over the course of three gatherings in 2022 hosted by Leadership Network, microchurch networks from across the US gathered to explore three questions: “How did we get here? Where are we currently? Where are we headed?”
In part 2 of this 2 part series, Rob, Brian, and Doug will address the barriers to success and sustainability discovered by these microchurch networks. As a note, we admit that we don’t have holistic answers to these barriers, but we do see bright spots where networks are creatively exploring solutions. There will also be Q/A time with Rob and Brian following the discussion. Before joining us for the second part of this webinar, we encourage you to read the “State of the Microchurch in the West” which you can find at leadnet.org/microchurch-next.
In our present moment, Microchurch is at the fore-front of the conversation for many in light of the changing cultural landscape we find ourselves in, coupled with the ongoing deconstruction and reform back to what many believe is a return to a more biblically faithful expression of church. Call it Missional Community or MicroChurch (MCs for short in this article), there really is a big difference between typical small groups and MCs.
by Jeff Vanderstelt
Bill has a fervent desire to see gospel saturation locally, regionally, and throughout the US. He has served churches across the country for over 30 years. As Deployment Director at Exponential, he provides strategic and operational oversight of Exponential’s R&D and expanding educational opportunities. He facilitates the Exponential Learning Communities that have included Future Travelers and Radical Multisite and, currently, Multipliers: Leading Beyond Addition. He also serves network and denominational leaders of church planting movements with the Exponential resources. Bill also serves as a governing elder and board member at the Underground Network, a network of micro-churches around the world that is based in Tampa, Florida. He has also served in leadership for several other organizations including Youth for Christ, Heartland Christian School, and BeTheChangeProject, and co-founded the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Bill is married to Pam, and they have five adult children and three grandchildren. He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Youngstown State University and an MBA from The University of Tampa.
Carrie Williams is the Executive Director of Exponential NEXT. She has over 25 years of vocational ministry experience and has held leadership positions in global mission organizations, nonprofits and churches. Carrie was the CEO of Leadership Network during its acquisition under the Exponential brand. She was also part of the core leadership team that launched The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida. She was the founder and CEO of The Truth Republic, a non-profit ministry focused on equipping women to fulfill their calling. Currently she uses her vocational experience serving on the front lines as an ambassador carrying the multiplication message while discovering and sharing new learnings from innovative projects that are helping shape the future of the church. Carrie is a nationally known leader and influencer, using her experience to help others explore, be equipped, and empowered toward their unique God-given calling.
She is married to Benjamin Williams, Executive Pastor of Culture and Creativity at the Church of Eleven22 and together they have two daughters Kyah and Taylor.
