At the March Church Plant/New Mission Start Cohort, the Rev. Dr. Yared Halche shared The Level 5 Church concept created by Exponential, a community of leaders dedicated to the multiplication of churches.
This tool, used in the context of church planting and growth, refers to a framework for understanding and achieving a church’s potential for sustainable growth and influence, moving beyond mere numerical growth to focus on multiplication and movement-making.
Quoting Pastor Halche: “This tool is used to help us think about where we are at. Are we at level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5? The desire is for 4 and 5, and God is the one who can get us there.”
Pastor Halche went on to say, “Level 1 and 2 are more of scarcity-thinking. The please-stay mindset. You almost beg your members to stay because you are struggling. There is a lot of pruning there.
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“The other one [level 3] would be more of a growth thinking; please come. Adding some members which is more fruit. And then there is the other one [levels 4 and 5], the ‘much fruit’; the multiplication- and movement-thinking. It’s not really ‘please stay’ or ‘please come.’ It’s more ‘please go’ [plant other churches]. It’s a come-to-go-type church.”