Valuing the edge over the center!

I strongly encourage you to check out Outreach Magazine's current issue

"...A glance at America’s Top 25 Multiplying Churches list reveals teams of pastors, leaders and church members spurred by vision and determination to follow the mission Christ mandates in Acts 1:8—to multiply beyond Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. And while they are but 25 of the many churches, denominations and organizations also committed to church planting, the scope and experience of these congregations provide valuable lessons for the rest of us.

As Dave Ferguson, lead pastor for Community Christian Church (communitychristian.org; No. 7 on the list), explains, the motivation for reproducing leaders, artists, sites, churches and networks comes from the Acts 1:8 mission.

“For us to accomplish Christ’s directive, we have come to value the edge over the center, the new over the established, and the lost more than the found,” says Ferguson.

Today’s multiplying churches are adopting new ways of planting, as well as new principles. As they multiply themselves—taking care to instill a DNA of reproduction in each new church they plant—these churches are increasing their Kingdom impact..."