Mission Catalyst is a church planting movement. The movement comprises leaders and churches with a passion to see God’s kingdom grow everywhere. They are convinced that God works most effectively through synergistic relationships. Look up in the sky on a fall afternoon, and consider a lesson from nature.

Geese rarely fly alone. If their destination is distant, they etch a “V” in the sky. (They tried an “S” once, but it wasn’t quite the same.) As each goose flaps its wings, it creates a wave of turbulence for the birds that follow, creating a 71% greater flying range than if each flew alone. Even as individual Christians are intended to be part of a local church, individual churches make a greater impact when moving forward together. They encourage one another, they provide lift, and they never feel alone. Their aerodynamic “V” moves them quickly toward their goal because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Our staff has assisted in the planting of over a hundred churches. God has taught us some incredible ministry lessons and handed us some leadership tools that we would love to pass on to you. We’ve studied the books, soaked up the seminars, and sorted through the fads. We've identified the Pivotal Design, the breakthrough discovery that explains why some churches prevail and others don't. We’re not afraid to try something new, we embrace creativity, and we’re passionate about applying everything we’ve learned to building God’s kingdom.

Here is a short list of reasons why more and more pastors and churches are joining the Mission Catalyst V-formation – and why God might be calling you to do the same.

1.  You are part of a larger movement that is changing the world.

Most churches never contribute to the planting of even one church. Mission Catalyst churches are fired up about facilitating the planting of dozens, even hundreds, of churches in cities all over the world. The primary impact of your church will be in your city, but as you pay forward a percentage of your church’s giving to the network support office, you have the joy of knowing that you are fueling a powerful movement. Hundreds of cities in the United States alone need multiple new churches, and thousands of cities around the world are begging for Jesus to be proclaimed.

2.  You belong to something you can be proud of.

It’s an honor to be part of an organization that is passionately mission focused. You know that every dollar is prioritized with one objective in mind: to help the local church become a powerful force for Christ in its own community and beyond. Organizational overhead is minimal and functional toward that single purpose.

3.  You are the leader of your church.

A pastor who is not allowed to make decisions about finances and staffing is not really the leader. Chaplain? Sure. Saturday-before-dinner speaker? Yes. But not the leader. Healthy church systems free up the pastor and his staff to make decisions that truly shape the future. 

4.  We offer Planting Team Assessment to identify pastors with high leadership potential.

Planting Team Assessment is an indispensable means of helping a person know if God has wired him up to successfully start a prevailing church. Additionally, when a group of people is searching for a leader, the assessment program might be able to recommend someone who is gifted and ready to lead the church toward significance.

5.  We partner with Ministry Advantage, the most effective coaching process for established churches. 

After a church's first year, we urge founding pastors to enroll in Ministry Advantage. Mission Catalyst is proud to be an official partner organization with Ministry Advantage, which provides for a discount for Mission Catalyst pastors.

6.  You qualify for discounts.

Members of Mission Catalyst churches receive a 25% discount on resources sold through Mission Catalyst.

7.  We offer out-on-the-edge training and inspiration.

Mission Catalyst offers annual events to connect church leaders for inspiration, ideas, training, sharing, and prayer; and communicates other training opportunities to the churches.

8.  We connect local churches with mission opportunities.

Each local church participates in spreading God’s love by participating in a mission project at least 100 miles from its own community. The network support office makes the churches aware of a variety of mission opportunities, and keeps them in touch with one another’s mission plans so they can synergize and collaborate.

9.  We have money to burn to help you get started.

Not really, but those recommended by Planting Team Assessment might be eligible to receive launch funds. If you choose not to attend assessment, the support office will give you all the help they can with the exception of launch funds.

Mission Synergy

When considering aligning with Mission Catalyst, some churches and pastors start with a calculator. Let’s see, they wonder. Suppose we send a percentage of our giving to MC. Will the benefits we receive be equal to what we pay forward?

Great question! Here is one pastor’s answer as he spoke to his leaders and encouraged them to join:

“The more I learn about the Mission Catalyst team, the more I have come to realize that they have a lot of experience; we can benefit enormously from being affiliated with them. They will challenge us, expand our vision, connect us with other successful church plants, and offer a host of great resources like leadership conferences, DVDs, books, etc.

“Having said all of that, I don’t want you to look only at what we can get out of Mission Catalyst. We have something to contribute, too. Others can learn from us. They will be inspired by our success and have their vision broadened. And as we send a percentage of our regular giving to MC, we have the joy of knowing that we are directly enabling other churches to spring up in cities all over the place.

“If we add up the dollars we send to MC and calculate what we get in return, we don’t get everything back. But that’s precisely the point. We’re not supposed to get it all back or we wouldn’t be helping other churches get started. Look at affiliation with MC as a mission project. Our church might start another church ourselves someday, but whether or not we do it ourselves, we know it’s happening because we are enabling it! We can’t be selfish and think only about our town.”

“Remember that Mission Catalyst gives launch funds to every recommended church planter to help him or her get started. Where does that money come from? You guessed it: The churches that previously joined and are paying forward a percentage of their giving. As we share some of the resources God has given us, the next church planter receives support to get started.

“That’s part of what Jesus had in mind when He told us to spread the word ‘in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world’ (Acts 1:8). Jerusalem and Judea represent your larger community, Samaria can be your mission project at least 100 miles from your town, and ‘the uttermost parts of the world’ is doing our part to see that churches are planted in North America, Europe, Africa and who knows where.”