This past fall, Lifeway Research came alongside Exponential to survey 1,001 Protestant pastors for the Becoming Five Multiplication Study. The Becoming Five framework encourages every church to take steps to be reproducing and multiplying.
Becoming Five
The five levels of Becoming Five capture where individual churches are in terms of their core context (Levels 1–3) and identify reproducing (Level 4) and multiplying churches (Level 5).
Every church is identified as either subtracting, plateauing or adding. While change in attendance is a key component, this starting position is modified to also incorporate offerings and spending changes, staffing level changes, the number of new commitments to Christ per attendee, opening new sites, and financially supporting church plants.
Many churches are still benefitting from a post-pandemic rebound in attendance, so, not surprisingly, fewer churches are classified as subtracting compared to the 2019 study (19% versus 35%). More churches are adding compared to 2019 (38% versus 30%) and more are plateauing (43% versus 35%).
To be evaluated as reproducing (Level 4), a church must be participating in church planting by providing ongoing, direct financial support to church plants and having been involved in opening an autonomous church in the last three years. The same percentage of churches are reproducing as in 2019 (7%).
A church reaches multiplying (Level 5) if they qualify as reproducing and demonstrate many of the following practices: are directly involved in opening a greater number of church plants and show significant activity in raising, preparing, sending and financially supporting church planters. Multiplying churches also plant churches that reproduce for multiple generations into the future. Less than 1% of all Protestant churches qualify as a Level 5 congregation.
A church’s core context does not normally change overnight. Making improvements today will help the metric in the long term, but it won’t move you to a new level immediately. Becoming a reproducing church, however, can happen quickly. A church can begin directly supporting a new church plant today and become a Level 4 church.
Looking at a few key elements of church health and reproduction over the last five years can give us an idea of the current state of ministry and how it has changed since 2019.
Signs of Growth
In our latest study, attendance was compared to where pastors reported their attendance two years ago. A two-year time frame was used to minimize the impact of the pandemic on attendance trends. While this cannot be compared to the 2019 survey that used a three-year time frame, it is clear that many churches have experienced recent attendance growth. The majority of pastors (52%) indicate that worship service attendance has grown by at least 4% over the last two years. Such widespread attendance growth clearly was not the trend prior to and during the pandemic.
Much of the growth can be attributed to a post-pandemic rebound that occurred much more slowly and required much more work than pastors had hoped. The growth is likely a combination of slow returners and newly reached people—as Ed Stetzer points out in How to Level Up Evangelistic Growth in Your Church, there is positive movement around more new commitments to Christ.
Many of these churches have not yet reached their pre-pandemic attendance levels, but rather than dwelling on earlier disappointments that contribute to the larger growth percentage, it would be wise to build on the recent momentum itself. Celebrate what God is doing. Highlight ministry activities that have created connections with new people. Share the testimonies of people who have recently followed Christ or recommitted their lives to him.
Church Staffing
Both 2024 data and plans for 2025 include more churches adding staff than in 2019. In 2024, 18% of pastors said the number of paid staff at their church increased compared to 12% who added staff before the 2019 survey. Similarly, 22% say their paid staff will increase in 2025 compared to 15% who anticipated staff growth in 2019.
Despite the staff growth trend, a large majority of churches (82%) are not increasing the size of their staff. Similar to attendance growth, some churches now experiencing staff growth possibly made staff reductions during the pandemic. An Increase in the number of paid staff is also much more likely among churches with attendance of 250 or more (35%).
For churches that have added staff, this is an important time to start and expand ministries under their leadership. Existing staff should go the extra mile to help them start well. Laypeople should join their efforts. Churches that are not adding paid staff could still have new volunteers and new leaders. They too, can help spur new and expanded ministry if welcomed and if others follow their lead.
Support for Planting
The percentage of churches participating in the last 12 months in any way to help start new churches is largely statistically unchanged from 2019 (36% versus 32%). And 17% of churches say they were directly or substantially involved in a church plant that opened in the last three years. Finances are a necessary part of church planting. It is estimated that 10% of all Protestant churches were directly involved in opening a church plant in the last three years and were a primary or ongoing financial sponsor of a church plant.
Finances can be a real hurdle for a church to become involved in planting new churches. This is often a sacrificial investment for a church. In “Mission Possible: Working Toward a Church Multiplication Tipping Point,” Dave Ferguson and Jason Stewart highlight some of these difficulties and possible avenues for overcoming them.
Among the 36% of churches that currently participate in church planting in any way, the majority provide support services (57%) and are involved in a church planting network (57%). The types of “support services” were not specified on the survey, but likely include help with equipment, meeting space, accounting or teams who serve alongside the church plant.
Jumping straight to financial support may not be possible for every church, but participating in church planting often begins with building relationships with those planting in your region, and looking for practical ways you can help.
Future Planters
Developing leaders who could serve as future church planters is also an important part of multiplying. This is an exciting area of growth over the last five years.
Among the 36% of churches who currently participate in church planting in any way, more are developing church planters by assessing (30% versus 23%), training (31% versus 21%), coaching (38% versus 29%), and providing an internship or residency for them (13% versus 8%) than in 2019. More churches involved in church planting are concentrating on equipping a person God has called rather than only including a line item in their budget.
The first steps of church planter development can be done in any local church. It starts with identifying people God is using, and giving them more responsibility. This should coincide with equipping them and connecting them with others who can teach them. Churches should do this all while holding the potential future leaders loosely if God guides them to take next steps in ministry or church leadership—perhaps even starting their own Level 4 or 5 church down the road.