If you stood on any street corner in your city and asked a passerby to describe “church,” what would they say?
A building?
A weekly event?
A Sunday ritual with singing, sermons, and a race to beat the brunch crowd?
What if we’ve misunderstood the assignment?
In a post-Christian, post-pandemic America, church attendance has been steadily declining. According to recent data from Gallup and Pew Research Center, only 20% of Americans attend church weekly, and the number of people with no religious affiliation has risen to 30%. The trend lines are undeniable: The city isn’t coming to church like it used to.
But here’s the good news: Jesus never said, “Build a service and they will come.”
He said, “Go.”
Go make disciples.
Go to the broken.
Go to the margins.
Go to the people no one else is reaching.
That’s the heart of The LINC Experiment – a bold reimagining of what the Church can look like when we stop trying to get the city to come to us and instead raise up leaders to go to the city.
LINC stands for Leaders in Every Community – and for more than 20 years, LINC has been doing just that: identifying, equipping, and walking with local leaders who are literally taking it to the streets in the heart of our cities.
Rethinking Reach: What If Gospel Transformation Starts at Ground Level?
At LINC, we’ve asked a disruptive question:
What if everyone in a city experienced the gospel – not through a billboard or a stage – but in a way they could understand, from someone they know and trust?
That’s not just a compelling vision. It’s our mission.
And we believe the best people to reach a community are those who’ve lived through its struggles – those who know the pain, the promise, and the potential of their neighborhood. We call them local missionary leaders – ordinary people with extraordinary callings. LINC exists to find them, equip them, walk with them, and unleash them.
And the beautiful thing? It’s working.
Why It Works: The Gospel Moves Best Through Relationships
Think about how you first heard the Gospel. Odds are, it wasn’t through a program or a podcast. It was through a person – a coach, a friend, a family member. Someone who lived it in front of you. Someone who earned the right to be heard.
LINC leaders are doing that every day in under-resourced neighborhoods, among immigrant populations, and in places most churches can’t or don’t reach. Some have overcome addiction. Some have left gangs. Some are raising families in the very communities they now serve.
Their lives are the sermon.
And when you walk with a leader like that, it changes your view of church.
Because it turns out, “church” isn’t just a Sunday thing – it’s a Kingdom thing. And Kingdom impact can look like:
- An entrepreneurial church planter starting a business that sustains a ministry – and becomes the ministry
- A mobile shower unit for the homeless
- A redeemed dancer bringing hope and healing through the back doors of strip clubs
- A local barbershop that doubles as a discipleship hub
- A home for victims of sex trafficking
- A grassroots church plant with folding chairs and fiery faith
Wherever Jesus shows up – that’s church.
From the Ground Up: A Movement, Not a Model
In 2025 alone, LINC identified, trained, and released over 70 local leaders across eight U.S. cities. These leaders are launching non-profits, planting churches, creating social enterprises, and addressing the spiritual, social, and economic challenges of their communities head-on.
And here’s what makes it different: none of them are doing it alone.
Through spiritual entrepreneurship, mentoring relationships, our Mission Building programs, and an uncommon network of support, LINC creates an ecosystem of empowerment – so these leaders can focus less on finding resources and more on being a resource.
Many of these leaders are entrepreneurial church planters, blending business savvy with spiritual calling. They don’t just launch a worship service – they create sustainable platforms that meet real needs, build trust, and open doors for discipleship. Their work reminds us: The church doesn’t have to choose between spiritual impact and economic innovation.
Bottom line? We’re not planting events. We’re growing movements.
Why It Matters: A Church That Looks Like Heaven
At a time when the American church is shrinking, LINC isn’t wringing its hands – it’s rolling up its sleeves.
The leaders we walk with are radically diverse in ethnicity, culture, expression, and style. But they’re united by one thing: the urgency of the gospel and the belief that God is not done with our cities.
In fact, we believe He’s just getting started.
And the best part? This experiment is open source.
If you’re a church leader, we want to partner with you.
If you’re a disciple looking to make a difference, we want to walk with you.
If you believe the gospel still transforms lives, we want to invite you into something that might just reignite your imagination for what the church can be.
Because the city may not be coming to church, but through LINC leaders, the church is going to the city.
