Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers

by Ed Stetzer, Warren Bird, Rick Warren (Foreword)

This groundbreaking guide reveals successful strategies for multiplying the impact of new church congregations.

Based on a national, cross-denominational study commissioned by Leadership Network, Viral Churches explores the best practices in church multiplication movements, as well as the common threads among them. A hands-on resource, Viral Churches offers the fresh vision and critical perspectives essential as a catalyst for today's church planting leaders.

Authors Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird draw from their own experiences as well as the insights of numerous church planting leaders. Filled with illustrative success stories, this important book reveals how to plant churches that multiply into a movement. Each chapter highlights a different point on such issues as keeping the focus on evangelism; recruiting, assessing, and deploying planters; increasing the survivability of new churches; using a multisite strategy effectively; funding; overcoming obstacles; facing challenges ahead; and many more.

Genres: Church, Christianity, Leadership, Theology, Nonfiction

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2010

About the author

Ed Stetzer, PhD, holds the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair for Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and is the dean of the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College. He also serves as the executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton. Stetzer is a prolific author and a well-known conference speaker. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; holds two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and has written or cowritten more than a dozen books and hundreds of articles.

Stetzer is a contributing editor for Christianity Today and a columnist for Outreach magazine. He is frequently interviewed for or cited in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. He is also the executive editor of The Gospel Project, a bible study curriculum used by more than one million people each week.

Stetzer cohosts BreakPoint This Week, a radio broadcast that airs on more than four hundred media outlets. He serves as the interim teaching pastor at The Moody Church in Chicago. Stetzer lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife, Donna, and their three daughters.



You can also connect with Ed on Facebook and Instagram.

Reviews

[Sean-david · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stetzer and Bird have written a wonderful gift to the church and an important plea, a call to something far better than simply planting churches, but planting churches that multiply. A lot of important thoughts to chew on in here.

[David LaLone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book because of the subtitle. I was looking for a resource on church planting. It is that and I enjoyed it but... it's also one of those books that feels defeating. The authors are pushing for a multiplication church movement when the church is struggling with addition. The reality is that churches are seeing subtraction happening. I believe in church planting and the reproduction model that gives multiplication but, there are a lot of obstacles in place. The book gives a chapter to discuss those barriers but, I think more could be unpacked in this area.

[Tung · Rating 3 out of 5]

If all you wanted to read was books about how the modern American church should reform itself, you would never run out of books to read. As you pore through most of these, you begin to see common recommendations – one of which is church planting in some form. In this book, Stetzer and Bird lay out the need and importance for churches to branch out. Even more, Stetzer and Bird make the case that church planting efforts should be more aggressive and aim for multiplication rather than the typical 1-per-year church planting model. Throughout, the authors point to examples of churches and organizations throughout the world that are showing success in aggressive church multiplication. My one big criticism is that I approached the book thinking Stetzer and Bird would not only make the case for church multiplication, but also that they would lay out clear and detailed blueprints for doing so. They did not do so. For example, they would discuss how successful church plants go through training and mention places that provide such training; but they did not describe what that training consisted of. People interested in church planting will be very encouraged by this book. Those looking to plant a church within the near future will need to go elsewhere for the explicit guidance on how to successfully do so.

[Joaquin Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book spoke my language and dared me to dream big for God's glory and Christ's kingdom. Don't read this book if you are not ready to be stretched and encourage to be a strategic part of God's global movement. I know I will read it again several time and probably give it to several people.

[Erick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just a presentation of the current climate of church planting in North America, but also a challenge for church leaders to return to the Gospels' emphasis on multiplication rather than mere addition.

[Ryan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a tremendous book with just the right blend of statistics and application. The vision for multiplication comes to life throughout the pages. It's the type of book that when you are finished reading, you want to go out and make a difference.

[Legacy Dad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book and statistics on church planting. My biggest take away from this book was that churches that make multiplication a strategic focus, a reaching more people and growing faster than those who worry about internal growth.

[Aaron Carlberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

After explaining what the book is about a few times they actually get to some very useful information. Now if they would simply release a book on HOW to train leaders I would be all set.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for those not yet convinced that we need to start a church planting multiplication movement! It's about expanding His kingdom, not building your own little empire!

[Jonny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ed Stezter offers a pretty good synposis of what it takes to plant churches that multiply themselves. Lots of great things here; affirming of what Circle of Hope already does, I think.

[Shamshadeen Mayers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only for true church planting geeks!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. But it was mostly a vision for multiplying churches and bit as much about practical howto guide.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

It really made me think about the church and multiplication.