What Is a Church?
When you hear “church planting,” what image pops into your mind? Maybe it’s a launch team unloading chairs and sound equipment into a rented auditorium. Or a handful of people gathered in a living room, sharing a meal and opening Scripture. Or a missionary quietly building relationships in a neighborhood until a faith community forms.
At its core, a church is not a building, a program, or a music style. A biblical church is a spiritual family of believers who make disciples, live on mission together, gather regularly to worship God and hear His Word taught, practice baptism and communion, all under biblical leadership. When those essentials are present, the form can adapt to fit the culture and context.
This flexibility matters because healthy churches reproduce. Just as living things reproduce in nature, churches are meant to multiply spiritually. And the simpler the church model, the easier it is to reproduce. Across the world, some of the fastest-growing movements are made up of churches meeting in homes, under trees, or in borrowed spaces. They’re lean, simple, and laser-focused on the mission.
If the Church in the US locks itself into just one model—such as a large, program-heavy weekly gathering—we risk slowing or limiting multiplication. That model can still be effective, and it’s not the only one God uses. By embracing a variety of models—house churches, missional communities, microchurch networks, or launch-large approaches—the Church can create more opportunities for the gospel to take root in more places.
This month, we’re exploring different church planting models to help you imagine what’s possible. We’ll revisit what makes a church a church, highlight why reproduction is vital, and show how simplicity fuels multiplication. Plus, we’ll point you to practical tools—like our Church Multiplication Strategy Template—to help your church reproduce and multiply.
God’s mission is for every tribe, tongue, and neighborhood to hear and respond to the gospel. Let’s be open to every biblical model available to make that vision a reality. Enjoy this month’s newsletter!
-Patrick Bradley, Director of Operations
September 2025 – Content
- Simple and Solid Ecclesiology
- Leading Great House Churches
- Church Multiplication Strategy Template
- Church Planter Boot Camp
Simple and Solid Ecclesiology
Defining the church isn’t just theory—it shapes how you plant one. The Bible describes the church as a gathered community of believers devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42). In the New Testament, we see churches practicing baptism, sharing communion, making disciples, living on mission together, and installing biblical leadership.
When these core elements are present, you have a church—whether meeting in a cathedral, a living room, or under a tree. This clarity frees planters from feeling tied to one format or tradition. Instead, you can plant biblical churches that fit your culture and context.
A simple tool to help determine if a spiritual community has become a church is the Church Circle exercise. It clarifies whether the biblical essentials are in place. This understanding helps avoid two extremes: calling something a church that lacks those essentials, or adding extra requirements that make planting harder. Staying focused on the core keeps your church healthy, reproducible, and on mission.
Leading Great House Churches
The video Leading Great House Churches is an invaluable resource for church planters exploring simple, reproducible models of church. In the video Jason Shepperd from Church Project in Woodland, TX, outlines their expectations for thriving house church gatherings and demonstrates how strategically networked small communities can powerfully shape followers of Jesus.
Why watch? First, it clearly illustrates how house churches serve as entry points for intentional spiritual growth—far more than casual small groups, these gatherings foster holistic discipleship that nurtures leaders, encourages intimacy, and equips members for mission.
Second, the video underscores the role of house churches in forming disciple-making pipelines: they build spiritual maturity, multiply leaders, and stay responsive to the Spirit in ways traditional models often struggle to replicate.
For planters, this teaching offers practical vision. Whether you’re starting a church in a new context or leading established gatherings, this video will help you think differently—not just about growing a church, but about nurturing a multiplying movement of healthy, connected faith communities.
Church Multiplication Strategy Template
Planning for multiplication requires intentionality. That’s why Passion for Planting created the Church Multiplication Strategy Template—a free resource to help you design a plan for reproducing churches.
This tool guides you through questions like:
- What’s our multiplication vision?
- What church planting models fit our context?
- How will we identify, train, and send new planters?
- What systems and supports will make multiplication sustainable?
By working through the template, you’ll clarify your multiplication strategy and create an actionable plan. It’s not about forcing one model, but about finding approaches that align with your theology, context, and resources.
You can download the template here: Church Multiplication Strategy Template, or try our beta interactive GPT. Use it with your leadership team, board, or launch team to dream about reproducing not just once, but over and over again.
Church Planter Boot Camp
Feeling called to plant a church? The Passion for Planting Boot Camp will help you move from vision to a clear, actionable launch plan.
This hybrid training begins with six self-paced online lessons to help you craft essential strategy documents. Then join us November 6–8, 2025, at the nZone in Chantilly, VA for hands-on coaching, peer feedback, and focused workshops.
You’ll walk away with strategies for community profiling, disciple making, fundraising, leadership multiplication, launch team development, and more. Whether you’re preparing to plant soon or simply exploring, you’ll gain practical tools and clarity to guide your next steps.
Don’t just dream about planting—get equipped to launch a healthy, reproducing church.
Learn more & register here.