Churches Planting Churches

In a world where almost nothing seems to work as it used to…there is one ministry expansion strategy that is working better than ever in 21st Century America…

The Multi-site Strategy...

Healthy Churches

• who believe deeply in the Great Commission
• leveraging their strength to plant new campuses
• sometimes repopulating closed church facilities
• sending 75 or more to load a launch team
• partnering with friends in new neighborhoods
• with the highest rate of success for any form of planting

In 2018-19, Path 1 New Church Starts is partnering with First UMC McKinney, Texas (just north of Dallas) and group facilitators with solid experience as executive pastors of multi-site churches.

Together we intend to mentor leader teams from ten United Methodist congregations across America who are preparing to launch a second campus. If your church is ramping up to go multi-site (either in a new location or in a location where ministry has historically been offered), we would love to come alongside you during this coming appointment year to help you prepare to launch strong!

First UMC McKinney was 100 years old and running 290 AWA about thirty years ago, a staid and sleepy place. Today they are nearing 2,000 each weekend on three campuses - indicative of a very different ministry story than most UMCs have seen in recent years. They are an ideal mentor for the strong and steady county seat church that is ready to leap to a different place.

There are two key components to the CHURCHES PLANTING CHURCHES year:

• A four-day weekend gathering in the fall of 2018 at First UMC McKinney to see their ministry in action, to learn, ask questions, and make plans (includes a day trip into Dallas to see the campuses and learn about the multi-site strategy at Highland Park UMC). Each church is invited to bring three people to Texas).
• A nine-month online pastors' cohort with five peer congregations, facilitated by seasoned multi-site leaders, focused on specific points of preparation that will help your foray into multi-site to thrive!

Starting April 2, 2018, we are accepting applications from interested churches, and giving approval on a caseby-case basis, first come, first served. The cost for the year is $2,295, plus travel to Texas and a few books to purchase. If you are interested, would like to learn more and to receive an application, please reach out to Paul Nixon at Path1: [email protected]. Paul Nixon was a pioneer in UM multisite ministry two decades ago. He has coached and consulted with hundreds of churches and is author of nine books. Paul is excited about the journey ahead.

After 2018-19, we will be ramping up CHURCHES PLANTING CHURCHES to four mentor churches and forty churches in learning cohorts in 2019-20, and on up to 8 or more simultaneous hubs by the end of the quadrennium. We are excited about the possibilities of allowing the most fruitful churches among us to train the next generation of multi-site churches for excellence.

More information and application please reach out to Paul Nixon.