The future of the church is whispering again.
You can sense it in the growing hunger for collaboration, the rising fatigue with isolated ministry, and the unmistakable stirrings of leaders who refuse to believe that addition is the best we can hope for. There are moments when God invites His people out of the familiar and into the future, and right now, the invitation sounds like this: The next great movement will be built on networks.
This is the vision behind Networks NEXT. It is not a branding exercise or another ministry initiative. It is a calling – one that carries both a challenge and a promise. The challenge is to think differently about how church multiplication happens. The promise is that if we do, the next decade could look dramatically different from the last. And at the center of it all is a simple conviction spoken to us by a man whose life helped shape global movements long before many of us were dreaming about them.
A Movement Architect Walks Into Chicago
Years ago, Sam Stephens came to Chicago to speak with us about the movement he was leading – one of the most remarkable church-planting explosions in modern history. Sam didn’t arrive with fanfare. He didn’t need to. His quiet presence carried the weight of someone who had spent decades walking with Jesus into some of the hardest places on earth. He led with humility, but everything in him radiated conviction.
Sam told us stories of house churches multiplying across India, of everyday disciples becoming leaders, and of the gospel moving through villages in ways no single church could have accomplished alone. He described networks of believers who prayed, trained, sent, and supported one another without celebrity pastors or massive budgets. Then, when we finally asked the question that had been sitting in our hearts – “What’s the backbone of movement?” – Sam didn’t hesitate.
“Networks,” he said. “Networks are the backbone of movement.”
That sentence became a hinge moment for me. Sam wasn’t giving us a theory; he was giving us the lived wisdom of thousands of churches planted across an entire continent. He was telling us what works. He was telling us what lasts. When church planting is the priority, and when churches choose to work together in networks, multiplication happens. Not in small doses, but in sweeping waves.
That Chicago conversation helped shape the DNA of NewThing. It shaped my leadership. It shaped the way we think about mission. And today, it shapes the future of Networks NEXT.
What Ten Years of NewThing Taught Us About Networks
Before networks were trendy, before they became a common part of ministry language, NewThing spent more than a decade living in the trenches of collaborative multiplication. We walked with pastors, church planters, denominational leaders, and city catalysts who were brave enough to ask, “What if we didn’t do this alone?” Over those years, we saw one truth emerge again and again:
Networks plant more churches.
Networks sustain more churches.
Networks multiply more churches.
That’s not theory. That’s not hype. That’s experience.
We learned that when churches link arms around a shared mission, they plant more churches than any one of them could have planted individually. We discovered that networks create environments where leaders grow faster because they are surrounded by peers who encourage them, challenge them, pray with them, and hold them accountable. And we saw that networks create stability – churches don’t shoulder the mission alone, and leaders don’t have to manufacture vision out of their own exhaustion.
To put it simply, networks give multiplication a home.
This is why I can honestly say: I don’t know church planting without the Great Collaboration. My entire ministry life has been shaped by the belief that movements rise where churches choose to work together, not apart. Collaboration isn’t a strategy; it’s oxygen.
A New Chapter: NewThing Joins Exponential
This is why I am so energized – truly stoked – about what comes next. NewThing is now part of Exponential. That means the story we’ve been living for more than a decade is now merging with the infrastructure, reach, and influence of a national movement committed to accelerating multiplication. And that changes everything.
We aren’t simply adding our voice to Exponential. We are bringing a decade of innovation, learning, and relational pathways into a family that is ready to scale these ideas across the country. This partnership gives us the capacity to help more leaders, more churches, more cities, and more movements explore networks as the central engine of multiplication.
Together, we are now asking a powerful question:
What would it take to see networks started, sustained, and scaled across North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the world?
Not 10 networks.
Not 100 networks.
Thousands.
Networks in local neighborhoods.
Networks across cities.
Networks within denominations re-imagining their future.
Networks forming around shared mission, shared values, and shared responsibility.
The hunger is already there. Denominations are leaning in. City movements are asking deeper questions about collaboration. Pastors are rediscovering the joy of linking arms with peers. And leaders everywhere are tired of carrying the mission alone.
This is the perfect moment for Networks NEXT.
The Church Has Always Been a Network of Networks
One of the most important truths we need to recover is this: the church has always been a network of networks. The early church didn’t grow because of large central campuses or isolated congregations. It grew because churches were interconnected – sharing resources, sending leaders, supporting missionaries, and encouraging one another through letters, visits, and prayer.
Jerusalem was connected to Antioch.
Ephesus was connected to Corinth.
Churches were linked by mission, relationship, and responsibility.
Movements don’t emerge from isolated ministries; they emerge from connected communities.
This is why networks matter. A network is not a hierarchy. It is not a management structure. A network is a small group of churches committed to multiplying together. They share vision. They share responsibility. They share practices that help them stay focused on the mission of Jesus.
And as networks grow and multiply, something even more powerful emerges:
Collectives
These are groups of networks who partner around a larger regional or missional vision. They function as Partners in Mission, supporting one another across cities or regions.
Hubs
Hubs serve as movement-level ecosystems that support networks and collectives with training, coaching, and resourcing. They are Champions for Mission, creating infrastructure that sustains long-term growth.
This language matters because it gives leaders a mental map for where their network is and where it can go. Networks multiply into collectives. Hubs support it. This is how the early Church spread. This is how NewThing grew. And this is how we believe Networks NEXT will help shape the future.
Why This Matters Now
There is a growing sense that the church is at an inflection point. Attendance patterns are shifting. Cultural assumptions are changing. Leaders are navigating complexity that previous generations didn’t face. But there is also a rising wave of innovation, hunger, and spiritual curiosity.
The soil is different, but the mission is not.
And in this moment, networks offer something the church desperately needs:
shared purpose
shared wisdom
shared risk
shared mission
When churches work together, they move faster.
When churches work together, they innovate more.
When churches work together, they multiply.
Sam Stephens saw it.
NewThing lived it.
City movements are rediscovering it.
Denominations are pursuing it.
And Exponential is now ready to scale it.
The question is not whether networks matter.
The question is how many leaders will step into this calling.
An Invitation Into the Reproducing Networks Accelerator
If something inside you is stirring – if you feel a sense of possibility, excitement, or even holy discomfort—there is a clear next step. The Reproducing Networks Accelerator is a hands-on, practical pathway for leaders who want to build or strengthen a multiplying network.
It is intentionally crafted for:
- churches starting a new network
- leaders revitalizing an existing network
- pastors who want to collaborate across their city
- networks ready to scale
- denominational leaders exploring new models
In the Accelerator, we help you clarify vision, establish rhythms, build leadership pipelines, strengthen reproduction, and identify the commitments that sustain healthy networks. You don’t walk alone. You walk with peers, practitioners, and leaders who are on the same journey.
If you want to be part of the future of church multiplication, this is where you begin.
A Final Dare
Let me speak plainly: the church in the United States is not short on ideas. What we are short on is collaboration. What we are short on is shared mission. What we are short on is the spiritual courage to believe that God might use us – not in isolation, but together – to spark the next great movement.
Sam was right. Networks are the backbone of movement.
So I dare you to believe again.
I dare you to dream again.
I dare you to imagine what could happen if the churches in your city chose mission over isolation, reproduction over maintenance, and networks over silos.
This is the moment.
This is the invitation.
Let’s build the future together – one network at a time.
