For most of my adult life, I’ve been immersed in the world of megachurches. While I served on staff at Granger Community Church (GCC), we saw our congregation grow from a cozy 150-person group to more than 7,000 people gathering on weekends, all in a town of just 46,000 in Northern Indiana. What a journey with Jesus—truly unlike anything I had ever witnessed before.
GCC was founded by Mark and Sheila Beeson in 1986. When they invited my wife, Michelle, and me to join the staff, Mark made a lasting impression with his words: “I’m not seeking pastors. I want missionaries who will help establish a kingdom outpost in Granger.” Michelle and I were all in, committing fully to the mission to reach the unreached from the outset. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, we embraced the “Willowback” approach, deeply influenced by Willow Creek and Saddleback churches.
Over the years, we grew steadily through authentic conversions. Our congregation consisted of so many freshly redeemed individuals, creating a sense of movement (along with the fact that we met in 17 different rented spaces over the years). What we were doing back then in terms of the attractional church is not unique anymore. But at the time, GCC was often viewed as unconventional, deemed either weird or flat-out wrong by many traditional church attendees.
Honestly, like anyone in their 50s, regardless of the form of church, I look back with some serious regrets stemming from poor decisions, my own immaturity and a lack of foresight. Yet, I cannot deny that what God was doing felt incredibly unique, almost like a miracle in the cornfields of Indiana.
Eventually, we received word from Outreach that we had made it onto the list of fastest-growing churches. That happened a few times over the years. Receiving this recognition filled us, the staff, with joy and gratitude. It was not only a reminder of God’s goodness to us, but also instilled in me a sense of reverence—a fear of God—to remain humble and stay focused on our mission.
However, the recognition also brought with it a sense of unease. I understood that such attention could be dangerous. Behind closed doors, I would jokingly refer to it with the staff as the “beauty pageant list,” reminding us not to take it too seriously and to be cautious of the allure of public acclaim.
Just as the Evil One tempted Jesus with ambition in the desert—offering him all these things—and as a recovering religious workaholic, I know firsthand how ambition and “success” can be intoxicating. While the recognition gave me a strong sense of satisfaction, I also felt the Spirit’s warning deep within.
Asking Deeper Questions
The 2008 economic downturn hit GCC hard. President Obama labeled our local economic crisis as the “white-hot meltdown of the American economy.” We had a 26% unemployment rate locally. Giving dropped drastically, and growth came to a halt for the first time in 15 years. This forced us to lay off numerous staff members, plunging our faith community and staff into a dark night of the soul.
While some staff advocated for doubling down on our current efforts, others found no solace in that approach. Instead, we began asking deeper questions about the nature of incarnational mission, disciple making and the possibility of “church as movement.” This introspection was sparked by our experiences in both local and global missions during this challenging time.
Another narrative of growth and transformation was unfolding at GCC, but it was happening on the margins rather than at the center. Locally, a story of neighborhood renewal slowly had unfolded over the previous decade, through grassroots disciple making and asset-based community development, having catalyzed the transformation of a high-risk neighborhood (graduation rates going up, crime going down, etc.) that garnered citywide attention in South Bend, which was next door to Granger.
Globally, by God’s grace and thanks to a mentor, we fell deeper and deeper into the world of disciple-making movements and church-planting movements in southern India. As the pastor charged with oversight of global mission, I was on the ground in India a lot. That prolonged exposure allowed me to participate deeply in these movements. Over a decade, we rode the coattails of a team of indigenous leaders, resulting in tens of thousands of new disciples and thousands of churches—akin to living out the book of Acts in real time. It felt like we were getting a master’s degree from their example, while deeply integrating into the work there in a mutually beneficial way. I had a profound sense that the solution for “Jerusalem” was found in the “ends of the earth.” What we had called “missions” was actually a more faithful way of living out the mission of Jesus everywhere.
A Megachurch of Microchurches
From 2008 to 2019, I ran parallel pathways of disciple making and microchurch R & D within the megachurch context. It was a period marked by incredible support by the two churches I served and freedom to innovate and run “experiments.” Yet, it also revealed the challenges posed by the centripetal force of the attractional church, which sometimes created an opposing current as we sought to develop a decentralized network of disciple makers and microchurches.
I firmly believe in the diversity of the kingdom ecosystem, where all forms of the church are enlivened and empowered by God’s Spirit. However, by 2019 my wife and I sensed a clear personal calling to step out from the megachurch we were a part of here in Kansas City, and go all in by launching the KC Underground. We did not do this alone. There was a group of six couples that functioned as a “mission agency,” supporting the work of 72 committed disciple makers and three microchurches at the time. Please note, we didn’t plant a church, we planted a mission agency. In the KC Underground, we plant disciple makers who plant the gospel and make disciples. Microchurches emerge from disciple making. Our mission is to fill Kansas City with the beauty, justice and good news of Jesus. Our vision is a disciple maker on every street and a microchurch in every network of relationships. We long to see gospel flourishing in every corner of culture in Kansas City, so that every person has repeated opportunities to see, hear, experience and respond to the good news in their network of relationships.
Let me tell you one recent story, about David and Cheryl. They felt called to bring the gospel to Leavenworth Prison. David began his work there around five years ago, by gaining employment within the prison, and his wife Cheryl has joined him in weekly rhythms. Since then, they’ve seen three microchurches emerge, in minimum-, medium- and maximum-security settings. This year, 46 men have been baptized, with former gang members baptizing each other in a powerful gospel chain reaction. Just last weekend, 50 men accepted Christ. It’s reminiscent of the early days of Acts right within the cell blocks. Again, they didn’t do it alone. There’s an entire community of like-minded teams that are on mission together in partnership.
We’ve witnessed countless stories unfold of ordinary individuals being trained and supported as missionary disciple makers. They embed themselves deeply in their contexts, live incarnationally making disciples and forming new microchurch expressions of church. Our Hub teams provide training, support, coaching and oversight to these highly localized networks of microchurches and disciple makers.
Most of the stories are not as dramatic as what David and Cheryl are experiencing, but every story is unique and deeply contextual, and beautiful and messy. I feel uncomfortable writing this, but technically a new megachurch exists in Kansas City through the KC Underground, based solely on the sheer number of people impacted by our disciple makers and microchurches. Yet, we operate without weekend services, volunteers or lead pastors. Instead, we decentralize our gospel presence, demonstration and proclamation to where people naturally live, work, learn and play.
Half of those in the KC Underground aren’t even aware they’re part of it. They just know they have a faith family they do life with that helps them live in amazing grace under the lordship of Jesus, and it’s changing their lives and their context.
Former colleagues from my time as a teaching pastor in megachurches often ask if I miss preaching. I just smile and reply, “Nope. The joy of equipping God’s people for the works of ministry and watching them flourish in their masterpiece mission is an almost inexpressible joy.”
So, how did I get here? A lot of pain, a lot of repentance and amazing grace. That’s my story. Allow me to summarize why this transition became imperative for me. These reflections are not intended as criticism, but rather an invitation to discernment and exploration.
1. A Biblical Motivation
After my deep exposure to a disciple-making movement in southern India, I was wrecked. It felt like I was walking around in the book of Acts. I began to read the Bible differently. I realized how much my “filter” was being influenced by the form of church I had been pastoring. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola was also a game changer. Now I couldn’t help but see the New Testament as the story of Jesus acting through a movement of multiplying disciples and microchurches. Some facts about the early church began to emerge for me:
• After Acts 8, the New Testament church began to operate almost exclusively as a decentralized network of microchurches. At the beginning of Acts, the early church gathered in two main social spaces: the temple courts and house-to-house. The temple courts were where apostles taught, performed miracles and evangelized within that larger social space, while believers learned, worshipped, prayed and fellowshipped.
Meanwhile, in homes, the church lived as extended spiritual families in everyday gospel community, led by ordinary people who embraced Jesus’ mission within their relational networks—these were the early microchurches. Multigenerational homes hosted gatherings of a couple dozen or more people, focusing not just on meetings, but on seeing relational networks transformed by the gospel into new extended spiritual families united in disciple making in everyday life.
After Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 8:1 and the subsequent persecution shutting down public temple gatherings, did the church cease to function? Far from it. Instead, the church thrived and multiplied disciples rapidly across the Roman Empire.
How did this primarily happen? Through microchurches. After the temple court gatherings ended, we don’t see the church gathering in that larger social space until Paul convened discussions in the hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus (Acts 19). Consider that. The primary expression of the early church was the microchurch.
• Networks of microchurches emerged in cities (Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Laodicea, etc.). Take Rome, for instance. In Acts 16, Paul mentions various microchurches meeting in different households: Priscilla and Aquila’s, the household of Aristobulus, Narcissus’ household and more. Leading New Testament scholar James Dunn notes that these groupings suggest at least five microchurches were networked as the citywide church of Rome.
Similar patterns emerge in Corinth, Ephesus, Laodicea and other cities. For a deeper dive into this phenomenon, once again consider reading The Untold Story of the New Testament.
• The microchurch makes the church instructions and patterns given in the epistles much more possible and practical. Consider that the “one another” commands about community can best be fleshed out within a microchurch. Most people still conceive of “church” as a service in a building, or a whole congregation of scores, hundreds or thousands of people. Can you embody and live out the one another commands in a meaningful way in a service for an hour or in a small group of people from different relational networks who often find it challenging just to meet regularly? Can you live those out in a meaningful way with a congregation of hundreds or thousands that you don’t even know? Not really. Church is most tangible and embodied at the smallest level, not the largest.
Consider also the worship instructions: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation” (1 Cor. 14:26). Paul was envisioning a microchurch where everyone in the room could participate, not a large corporate worship service with hundreds or thousands of people where the only participation by the vast majority is through singing.
Finally, consider the way of life in Acts 2:37–47, and the dynamics shared there. Recently we read this passage with our microchurch, which has emerged here in our neighborhood, and one of the neighbors who has met Jesus pointed at her Bible three times and said, “This! Is! Us!”
The next 45 minutes were spent retelling the story of our microchurch the last couple of years. I hardly said a word. Two new families were joining our gathering for the second time. At the end, one family said, “We don’t fully understand all of this, but we want to be a part of this family.”
The next time we gathered, we engaged in an exercise developed by movement leaders in West Africa, using a tool to help a group realize when they’ve become a church. After reading the passage, the group identifies all the marks/behaviors of the early church specifically mentioned. Then they draw a circle to represent the group and ask questions about each of the dynamics, “Do we engage this? How so?” We had all the marks of the church, minus the “temple court gatherings.”
Upon this revelation, one of our neighbors went, “Whoa. We are a church.” We had experienced the most fundamental realities of what it means to be the church, and that revelation filled us with a sense of awe. At that moment, a 9-year-old in our microchurch family said, “There’s one thing we haven’t done yet. We need to sing to Jesus.” Unchurched people don’t know many “church songs,” but a few of us knew “Jesus Loves Me.” We sang together for the first time with tears in our eyes, and the rest picked it up quickly.
In my view, the microchurch is the primary and most essential expression of the church.
2. A Cultural Motivation
In post-Christian, postmodern America, the era of a homogenous mainstream culture is long gone. The digital age, fragmented families and societal mobility have splintered our culture into hundreds of distinct tribes within each community. These tribes are culturally diverse and unique.
Americans often “live above place,” especially in urban cultures, grouping themselves by affinities—common interests, needs or causes—rather than geographic or familial ties. This differs from rural cultures, where identity is more tied to location and family. Understanding this is crucial for effective mission work. You’ll likely be called to a network of people connected by interests rather than proximity.
Currently, 95% of American churches use a model developed for rural/familial cultures, which, at best, reaches less than half the population. This is akin to the “Red Ocean” and “Blue Ocean” strategies detailed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. The Red Ocean is a highly competitive space where many compete for the same market. The Blue Ocean, however, is about innovating and creating new demand in an uncontested market space. American churches overwhelmingly target the same 40%, leaving the larger 60% increasingly unreached.
We suggest that this is the reality of Kansas City and many contexts in the West. Many people will resonate with what is offered in the predominant model, but that number is shrinking, and rapidly. The current cultural realities now require highly contextualized expressions of church for every unreached pocket of people. The microchurch provides the laboratory for this highly contextualized missionary work. In the KC Underground, we wholeheartedly dedicate ourselves to the long, slow, patient sprouting of a grassroots movement, where everyday individuals and simple expressions of the church selflessly invest their lives in a particular place with a particular unreached pocket of people.
That would put a gospel presence, a gospel demonstration and a gospel proclamation in every nook and cranny of our city to join Jesus in filling that little part of the city with his beauty, justice and good news.
3. A Personal Motivation
I have labored many years inside of large, organized churches. I have the utmost respect for those who do. But the longer I stayed, the harder I found it to tend to my own soul, make disciples and multiply churches. Simple things reproduce. Complex things are much harder to reproduce. Leading a large church is complex, there’s no other way around it.
I’m fascinated with and radically devoted to how we can equip all of God’s people to reach their maximum influence, not just a few with everyone else in supporting roles as “volunteers” and “members.”
Ten years ago, my wife, three daughters and I moved into our neighborhood in Kansas City with a sense of calling—to deeply root our lives there and discover where God was already at work, and then join him. For the first 18 months, we focused on extraordinary prayer and simply being good neighbors. This involved simple actions: praying for our neighbors by name, walking our dogs at the same time every evening to meet other dog walkers, asking questions to understand our neighbors and neighborhood better, and opening up our front porch, kitchen table and backyard to them.
At the 18-month mark, during one of these dog walks, we noticed a neighbor looking downcast. After some chitchat, I asked her if she was OK. She paused and said, “I’m not OK. I’ve been thinking about talking with you two for a couple of weeks. Would that be OK?” She then opened up about a 15-year story of pain that was devastating her life. She added, “I’m not sure why I’m sharing this with you, but I always feel a sense of peace when I talk to you.”
Three weeks later, she gave her life to Jesus at our kitchen table. She shared her story with another neighbor who was so depressed he was considering suicide. He gave his life to Jesus three weeks after that. This set off a gospel chain reaction in our neighborhood. Now, we have nine families following Jesus together, forming a new extended spiritual family that has transformed the culture of our neighborhood. We are baptizing two more neighbors in our pool this upcoming weekend.
I find this way of life to be the good life. I can’t go back. If a similar (but unique) story happened in every neighborhood of our city and every affinity group, it would indeed change the spiritual landscape of our city in the everyday stuff of life. As an apostolically motivated person, I want to see that kind of impact in my city. The predominant form of church planting and church growth, th