Disciples Making Disciples
“This is a vital time in the history of our denomination for us to come together, be renewed in our gospel identity, be renewed around a vision to make disciples, to multiply leaders, to plant churches, to be renewed in our hope together,” said Tim Sheridan, director of church planting for Resonate Global Mission, in a video introducing the Multiply Conference on church planting in November.
Not only is “sharing the gospel, living it missionally, and planting new churches” one of four milestones of the CRCNA’s denomination-wide ministry plan (see crcna.og/OurJourney), but church planting is also a key emphasis identified by Synod 2025. After a robust discussion about the need to share and spread a vision for mission work in our church communities, synod asked CRCNA leaders to develop a 10-year plan for church planting.
To pick up on this momentum, Resonate collaborated with Classis Southeast U.S., where a passion for church planting and discipleship has led to tremendous growth in several churches, to host the Multiply Conference in Port St. Lucie, Fla., from Nov. 9-11.
The conference was attended by 187 people from 100 CRC congregations in 38 of the CRCNA’s 49 classes across North America. This included people already involved in church planting as well as pastors, elders, and classis leaders who wanted to learn more about what might be possible in their context.
Dr. Michael Goheen, director of theological education and professor of missionary theology at the Missional Training Center in Phoenix, Ariz., as well as professor of missional theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, gave the opening address. He rooted participants in the excitement of the gospel message, reminding them that “if any church is to survive in the powers that are at work in our culture, it will only be with a fresh encounter with the gospel.”
The conference then included a panel discussion and several short presentations from church planters and ministry leaders from across North America.
“One of the issues we have in modern Christianity is that the work of disciple-making is left to just a few,” said Rev. Scott VanderPloeg of Sunlight Community CRC in Port St. Lucie, president of the Multiply 222 Network and one of the hosts of the conference, as he introduced the panel discussion. He emphasized that “disciples become disciple-makers” and that the work of multiplication is the responsibility of everyone who is a mature follower of Christ.
The panelists answered questions and shared approaches they have tried in their local contexts. Later that day, additional presenters participated in a “9’s” session where each speaker had nine minutes to present about their missional, disciple-making, and church-planting work. Workshops following these presentations offered opportunities to learn more about the tools and resources that had helped the panelists and presenters.
“There is a narrative of decline in the CRC that has been prominent in the past few years,” said Resonate director Kevin DeRaaf, who gave the commissioning address at the conference. “The Multiply Conference demonstrated that the Spirit is doing the wonderful work of renewal. Nearly every classis was able to share some stories of what God is doing in their midst.”
Sheridan added that “one of the benefits of having Resonate be part of the planning of this event is that we are aware of the big picture of what is happening across the denomination. We were able to bring many of these people together, have them share their stories, and connect them with others who might be able to try something similar.”
Harold Winter, a member of Crosspoint CRC in Tillsonburg, Ont., agreed. He said it was “the most hospitable gathering of church leaders” he’d ever attended. “People were open and engaging, eager to share experiences and insights, and to encourage one another,” he said.
Recordings of Goheen’s keynote address, the panel discussion, the “9’s” presentations, and a session with Resonate and Thrive are all available online.
At the end of the conference, attendees participated in a time of prayer and were commissioned to take home what they had learned and to inspire creative ideas for gospel mission in their local contexts.
“We wanted to end with a time of hope,” said Sheridan, who said that all attendees have been encouraged to report back to their classes about what they have learned and to initiate a conversation about what their classis church-planting plan might look like.
Information from the event will also be used to flesh out a framework that was approved by the Council of Delegates at its October meeting for the CRCNA’s 10-year church-planting plan. The framework outlined six core elements of the plan:
- Multiplying disciples and leaders in every congregation.
- Growing support for diaspora and diverse leaders.
- Identifying clear roles and responsibilities to provide strong support and collaboration for church planters between denominational agencies, CRCNA classes, and churches.
- Engaging churches nearing the end of their life cycle.
- Deepening connections with the global church and international churches.
- Clarifying a sustainable financial plan to fund this work.
The goal is to report back to Synod 2026 with a “vision, plan, strategy, and financial proposal for church planting for the CRCNA for the next decade” (Acts of Synod 2025, p. 709).
