Reading: A Handbook for Types of Meetings That Expand Your Church and Christianity

A Handbook for Types of Meetings That Expand Your Church and Christianity

A Handbook for Types of Meetings That Expand Your Church and Christianity

"The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest."
— Matthew 9:37–38 (WEB)

The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be static. From the moment of Pentecost, the Spirit has driven the church outward — multiplying disciples, leaders, congregations, and ministries. The book of Acts reminds us that the early church grew not through maintenance but through Spirit-filled gatherings where prayer, discernment, commissioning, and strategy intersected.

Today, the same calling remains. Churches are healthiest when their leaders do more than oversee; they expand. Elders and pastors together shape the life of the church through their meetings. And meetings, when led under Christ’s headship, can be more than administrative necessities. They can become engines of multiplication.

This handbook is written to help churches reimagine their meetings not as dreaded obligations, but as opportunities to:

• Clarify mission and align with the Great Commission.
• Build deeper relationships among leaders.
• Seek God’s wisdom through prayer and discernment.
• Multiply leaders through ordination and mentoring.
• Launch new ministries, Soul Centers, and church plants.
• Celebrate God’s faithfulness and inspire momentum for greater works.

In partnership with Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) for training and the Christian Leaders Alliance (CLA) for global recognition of ordination, local churches can hold meetings that are both rooted locally and connected globally.This ecuministry perspective ensures that every act of multiplication affirms the local congregation while strengthening the global body of Christ.

The following pages outline different types of meetings that expand your church and Christianity. From governance and prayer meetings to ordination, strategic gatherings, and multiplication councils, each meeting type offers a pathway to keep the church vibrant, mission-focused, and ever expanding.

May this handbook help you see meetings not as interruptions, but as sacred opportunities where God’s Spirit calls, equips, and sends new laborers into His harvest.

1. Governing & Oversight Meetings

Purpose

Governing and oversight meetings are where the shepherd-leaders of the church come together to ensure alignment with mission, healthy stewardship of resources, and spiritual accountability. These gatherings are not merely administrative functions — they are a form of spiritual governance under the headship of Christ. When elders and pastors discern together, they safeguard the church from drift, strengthen its witness, and position it for growth.

"Be shepherds of the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; not for dishonest gain, but eagerly; not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock."
— 1 Peter 5:2–3 (WEB)

Focus

• Reviewing Ministry Health: Regular evaluation of worship, discipleship, outreach, and pastoral care. Are ministries bearing fruit and aligned with the Great Commission?
• Setting Direction: Clarifying priorities for the months and years ahead. What new opportunities is God opening before us? What adjustments are needed?
• Approving Resources: Allocating finances, facilities, and people with wisdom and transparency. Stewardship decisions must reflect both faith and prudence.

Expansive Outcome

When oversight is clear, transparent, and mission-centered, the church is marked by clarity, trust, and order. This creates fertile soil for multiplication:

• Clarity keeps the congregation focused.
• Trust strengthens unity and credibility.
• Order ensures that resources are ready to fuel new ministries, leaders, and outreach efforts.

Without governance, expansion efforts falter. With healthy governance, the church becomes a launchpad for multiplication.

Pastor’s Role

The pastor plays a vision-casting and Word-framing role in oversight meetings:

• Grounds decisions in Scripture and prayer.
• Provides frontline perspective from preaching, teaching, and pastoral care.
• Helps ensure that governance is not reduced to numbers, but always anchored in the mission of Christ and the power of the Spirit.

Elders’ Role

Elders act as guardians of mission and stewards of accountability.

• Guard the church’s biblical mission, ensuring ministries don’t drift into busyness or distraction.
• Hold leaders, staff, and programs accountable with love and clarity.
• Anticipate future growth — asking not only “Are we healthy now?” but “Are we preparing for the next season of multiplication?”

Multiplication Connection

Governing meetings are often seen as maintenance-heavy, but they must also be multiplication-aware.

• Include a standing agenda item: “Where are we multiplying leaders, ministries, or outreach?”
• Evaluate whether current governance structures free or hinder multiplication.
• Celebrate new leaders beginning training (e.g., through Christian Leaders Institute) and affirm ordinations recognized globally through Christian Leaders Alliance.

2. Fellowship & Relationship-Building Meetings

Purpose

The strength of an elder board or leadership council does not only rest on governance structures or policy decisions, but on relationships of trust, unity, and love. If elders only meet to manage church business, they risk becoming colleagues rather than brothers and sisters in Christ. Fellowship meetings create intentional space for leaders to connect relationally, share life together, and practice mutual care.

When leaders know, trust, and genuinely care for each other, they can:

• Navigate conflict with grace.
• Handle difficult conversations without division.
• Lead the church with courage and joy.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!"
— Psalm 133:1 (WEB)

Examples of Fellowship Meetings

• “Pie Nights” or Informal Dinners: Elders gather in a home for food and conversation, with no agenda other than fellowship.
• Family Nights: Elders’ families meet together, allowing spouses and children to feel connected to the life of leadership. This prevents leadership from being isolated to a few and spreads trust across households.
• Retreats: An occasional overnight or weekend retreat centered on prayer, meals, storytelling, testimonies, and worship.
• Prayer Walks or Service Projects Together: Fellowship does not always mean sitting; it can mean serving the community side by side.

👉 Key Principle: In these settings, the goal is not minutes and motions, but memories and mutual encouragement.

Expansive Outcome

• Trust Built: Leaders who laugh, cry, and pray together outside of formal settings are more resilient when disagreements arise.
• Unity Strengthened: Fellowship creates relational bonds that keep the team united in seasons of challenge or growth.
• Courage Released: Elders who know they are deeply supported by their peers can take bold steps of leadership.

👉 Strong relationships multiply stability, vision, and boldness. A fractured board will stall mission; a unified board can fuel expansion and sustain growth.

Pastor’s Role

• Model Vulnerability: Share not only successes but struggles, personal joys, and areas of growth. This invites authenticity from others.
• Be a Brother/Sister, Not Only a Leader: Allow yourself to be seen as a fellow disciple who also needs prayer, not just “the pastor with answers.”
• Encourage Prayer: Invite elders to pray over you and your family in these relational gatherings. This models humility and strengthens bonds.

Elders’ Role

• Strengthen Bonds: Listen well, share openly, and be willing to support one another beyond ministry decisions.
• Pray for Families: Make it a regular practice to ask about and pray for one another’s spouses, children, and grandchildren.
• Foster Joy: Create a culture of laughter, warmth, and encouragement. Hospitality is a form of leadership.

Multiplication Connection

Fellowship meetings may not directly launch new ministries or ordain leaders, but they are the relational glue that makes multiplication sustainable.

• A church cannot multiply if its leaders are divided.
• When elders model love and unity, the congregation imitates that culture.
• Strong relationships free leaders to focus energy not on internal survival but on external mission.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
— John 13:35 (WEB)

3. Prayer & Discernment Meetings

Purpose

Prayer & discernment meetings are where leaders pause from planning, problem-solving, and strategy to seek God’s will and Spirit’s direction. These gatherings remind the church that expansion is not primarily the result of clever methods, but of God’s presence and power at work through His people.

When elders and pastors pray together, they declare dependence on the Lord of the Church and invite the Spirit to guide decisions, reveal opportunities, and sustain the mission.

"Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain."
— Psalm 127:1 (WEB)

Practices

• Extended Prayer: Meetings set aside primarily for intercession — praying for the church’s health, mission, leaders, and community.
• Fasting: Times of fasting before or during meetings to sharpen discernment and dependence on God (Acts 13:2–3).
• Listening to Scripture: Reading passages aloud and waiting silently for the Spirit’s prompting.
• Intercession for the Flock: Praying by name for members, families, and emerging leaders.
• Prayer Walks: Elders walking through neighborhoods, praying for homes, schools, and workplaces.
• Anointing & Commissioning: Using these meetings to pray over new leaders or missionaries before they are sent out.

👉 Key Principle: Prayer meetings are not warm-up exercises before “real work.” They are the work. Discernment is as vital as decisions.

Expansive Outcome

• Anchored in God’s Power: Keeps the church from relying on human strategies alone.
• Spirit-Led Multiplication: Expansion efforts (new ministries, church plants, outreach) are born out of prayer and discernment.
• Discerned Movements: Leaders learn to recognize when God is opening or closing doors.
• Unity in the Spirit: Shared prayer knits hearts together, even in disagreement, producing confidence that decisions reflect God’s will.

"They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer… The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
— Acts 2:42, 47 (WEB)

Pastor’s Role

• Lead in Prayer: Model passionate, faith-filled prayer that leans on God’s promises.
• Proclaim God’s Word: Ground discernment in Scripture rather than opinion.
• Guard the Focus: Ensure that prayer is not rushed or tacked on, but central.
• Encourage Expectancy: Remind leaders that God answers prayer and directs His church.

Elders’ Role

• Intercede for the Flock: Carry the congregation before God, not just as an organization but as a family of souls.
• Discern Together: Listen for the Spirit’s direction in silence, Scripture, and shared impressions.
• Encourage Faith: Speak words of encouragement that lift others into greater trust in God’s leading.
• Guard the Mission: Ensure decisions that follow are rooted in discernment, not convenience.

Multiplication Connection

Every great movement of Christianity has been birthed in prayer. Prayer & discernment meetings directly fuel multiplication:

• New leaders are identified through Spirit-led discernment and then trained (often with resources like Christian Leaders Institute).
• New ministries and church plants are conceived in prayer before they are launched.
• The global ecuministry perspective of the Christian Leaders Alliance is honored when elders join in prayer, affirming that leadership expansion is God’s work across traditions and nations.

In essence: Prayer meetings expand the church by tapping into God’s power, ensuring that multiplication is not built on human ambition but on Spirit-led mission.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
— 2 Chronicles 7:14 (WEB)

4. Ordination & Commissioning Meetings

(Hybrid Worship + Multiplication Meeting)

Purpose

Ordination and commissioning services are moments of holy significance. They set apart new leaders for ministry, affirming God’s call and the church’s recognition of that call. These gatherings are more than ceremonies — they are hybrid worship services where God is praised for raising up workers, and official multiplication meetings where new shepherds, chaplains, evangelists, and church planters are commissioned into service.

"Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders."
— 1 Timothy 4:14 (WEB)

Practices

• Testimonies: Candidates share their story of calling, training, and preparation. This encourages the church and inspires others to consider their own calling.
• Laying on of Hands: Elders and pastors surround the candidate in prayer, laying hands as a biblical sign of setting apart (Acts 13:2–3).
• Congregational Affirmation: The church family verbally affirms their support, promising to pray for and partner with the newly ordained.
• Scripture & Charge: The pastor preaches the Word, framing ordination as service, sacrifice, and multiplication.
• Worship & Celebration: Songs and prayers that remind all present that leadership belongs to Christ and exists for the mission of God.

👉 Key Principle: Ordination is not a graduation; it is a launching point into deeper service.

Expansive Outcome

• Multiplication of Leaders: Every ordination multiplies the number of those who can shepherd, disciple, and plant.
• Expansion of Ministry Reach: Newly ordained leaders can serve in chaplaincy, church planting, outreach ministries, or Soul Centers.
• Encouragement of the Body: The congregation sees tangible fruit from their prayers and investment in leadership development.
• Culture of Calling: Each ordination creates momentum, inspiring others to step forward for training and preparation.

Pastor’s Role

• Preach the Word: Deliver a biblical sermon that clarifies the weight and privilege of leadership.
• Issue the Charge: Speak directly to the newly ordained, exhorting them to remain faithful to Word and prayer, to shepherd with humility, and to multiply leaders themselves.
• Stand as Shepherd-Leader: Model the life of faithful service into which the new leader is being ordained.

Elders’ Role

• Examine & Affirm: Confirm the candidate’s readiness through prayer and discernment before the service.
• Lay on Hands: Surround the candidate physically and spiritually during ordination prayer.
• Commit to Mentoring: Promise ongoing accountability, encouragement, and guidance for the ordained leader.

CLA/CLI Role

• Training through Christian Leaders Institute (CLI): Candidates are equipped with free, biblically grounded courses in theology, leadership, pastoral care, preaching, and more.
• Recognition & Global Accountability through Christian Leaders Alliance (CLA):
• Affirms that ordination is both local (commissioned in the candidate’s home church) and global (recognized across the worldwide body of Christ).
• Provides a structure of ecuministry accountability, ensuring leaders are not isolated but connected to a network.
• Creates credibility for ordained leaders across denominations, cultures, and mission contexts.

Multiplication Connection

Ordination services visibly embody the Great Commission. They remind the church that leadership is meant to be multiplied and sent outward.

• Each ordained leader represents new capacity for discipleship, church planting, evangelism, chaplaincy, and outreach.
• CLI and CLA ensure that ordination is scalable — any faithful believer, trained and affirmed locally, can be raised up for Kingdom service and recognized globally.
• The act of ordination itself models expansion: the church does not hoard leaders, but raises and releases them.

"They, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, sent them away."
— Acts 13:3 (WEB)

Sample Ordination & Commissioning Service Agenda

(Hybrid Worship + Official Multiplication Meeting)

1. Call to Worship & Opening Prayer (Pastor)

• Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:18 — “He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (WEB)
• Opening prayer acknowledging Christ as Head of the Church and thanking God for raising up leaders.

2. Statement of Purpose (Elder Chair or Pastor)

• Explain that ordination is both:
• Local Commissioning by the home church.
• Global Recognition through Christian Leaders Alliance (CLA).
• Emphasize multiplication: ordination is not a graduation, but the sending out of laborers into the harvest.

3. Testimonies of the Candidate(s) (Candidates, introduced by Pastor)

• Candidate shares their journey of calling, training (mention CLI studies), and ministry preparation.
• Option: include spouse/family member sharing briefly to highlight family support.

4. Congregational Scripture Readings (Selected Elders & Congregation)

• 1 Timothy 3:1–7 — Qualifications of overseers.
• 2 Timothy 2:2 — “Commit the same to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
• Matthew 28:18–20 — The Great Commission.

5. Sermon or Exhortation (Pastor)

• Short message (10–15 minutes).
• Theme: The Call to Faithful Service — emphasizing humility, dependence on Christ, and multiplication of disciples.

6. Ordination Vows (Pastor leads; Candidate responds)

To the Candidate:

• “Do you affirm Jesus Christ as Lord and Head of the Church?”
• “Do you commit to shepherd God’s people with humility, integrity, and faithfulness to the Word?”
• “Do you commit to raising up other leaders for the work of ministry?”
  Candidate Response: “I do, with God’s help.”

To the Congregation:

• “Do you affirm this leader as one called by God?”
• “Will you pray for, support, and partner with them in gospel service?”
  Congregation Response: “We do, with God’s help.”

7. Laying on of Hands & Prayer of Ordination (Pastor + Elders)

• Elders and pastor gather around candidate(s).
• One elder prays for spiritual strength.
• Another prays for fruitfulness in ministry.
• Pastor closes with a charge prayer:

“Lord, set apart [Name] for your holy work. Fill them with your Spirit. Guard their heart and doctrine. Make them faithful shepherds and bold witnesses for Christ.”

8. Recognition of Ordination (CLA Connection) (Elder Chair or Pastor)

• Present ordination certificate.
• Explain that this ordination is affirmed locally and recognized globally through Christian Leaders Alliance.
• Affirm that the newly ordained are connected to an ecuministry network of accountability and encouragement.

9. Charge to the Newly Ordained (Pastor)

• A personal word of encouragement:
• Stay rooted in prayer and Scripture.
• Lead as a servant, not a ruler.
• Multiply leaders and ministries.
• Scripture to use: 1 Peter 5:2–3.

10. Closing Worship & Benediction (Pastor)

• Suggested Songs: Here I Am, Lord / Build Your Kingdom Here / The Church’s One Foundation.
• Benediction: Ephesians 3:20–21 — “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Ordination Vows

(For Candidates, Congregation, and Leaders)

Candidate’s Vows

Pastor or Elder Chair (to Candidate):

• Do you affirm Jesus Christ as Lord and Head of the Church?
• Do you affirm the doctrines taught in the Bible and agreed to in this church as sound and true?
• Do you believe that God has called you into ministry and gifted you for service?
• Do you commit to shepherd God’s people with humility, integrity, and faithfulness to the Word?
• Do you commit to raise up other leaders for the work of ministry and to serve in partnership with the church?

Candidate Response:
“I do, with God’s help.”

Congregation’s Vows

Pastor or Elder Chair (to Congregation):

• Do you affirm this brother/sister as one called by God to serve in ministry?
• Do you promise to pray for, encourage, and support them as they live out their calling?
• Do you commit to partner with them in the mission of Christ, recognizing that leadership is shared and ministry is multiplied?
• Do you affirm this ordination as both a local commissioning with local accountability and a recognition of global accountability through the Christian Leaders Alliance?

Congregation Response:
“We do, with God’s help.”

Signatures (to be completed after the service):

Candidate: ___________________________

Elder Chair/Pastor: ___________________________

Elders Present: ___________________________

Congregational Representative: ___________________________

Date: ___________________________

5. Strategic Vision Meetings

Purpose

Strategic Vision Meetings are set aside to look beyond the daily rhythms of ministry and discern the long-term direction for church growth and Kingdom impact. Unlike governing meetings, which focus on oversight and problem-solving, vision meetings ask: Where is God calling us to go next?

These gatherings remind the church that it is not called merely to survive, but to expand, disciple, and multiply. They prevent drift into maintenance-mode and keep the congregation aligned with the Great Commission.

"Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but he who keeps the law is blessed."
— Proverbs 29:18 (WEB)

Practices

• Vision-Casting: Pastor and elders articulate and refine a Spirit-led picture of the future. What will faithfulness look like in 3, 5, or 10 years?
• SWOT Analysis: Prayerfully review Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This blends discernment with practical wisdom.
• Ministry Evaluations: Assess current ministries in light of the mission. Which ones advance the vision? Which ones need renewal, release, or replacement?
• Prayer for Direction: Extended prayer and Scripture reading ensure that vision is rooted in God’s will, not just human ideas.
• Congregational Involvement: Invite feedback from members through forums or surveys so the vision is owned, not imposed.

👉 Key Principle: Vision must emerge from prayer and discernment, not just from charts or business strategies.

Expansive Outcome

• Forward-Looking Leadership: Keeps the church from being stuck in yesterday’s successes or today’s problems.
• Mission-Driven Culture: Helps the congregation rally around shared goals tied to the Great Commission.
• Multiplication Pathways: Vision meetings should always identify how leaders, ministries, and churches will be multiplied.
• Kingdom Impact: Ensures the church is not just serving itself, but expanding Christianity locally and globally.

"Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, and make disciples of all nations…’"
— Matthew 28:18–19 (WEB)

Pastor’s Role

• Frame the Strategy in Light of Scripture: Anchor vision in biblical truth, not organizational ambition.
• Proclaim the Great Commission: Keep global mission central. The church’s future is always tied to disciple-making and sending.
• Model Faith-Filled Courage: Encourage boldness to pursue new ventures even when resources seem small.

Elders’ Role

• Test the Vision: Ask hard but faith-filled questions: Does this align with God’s Word? Does it serve the mission of Christ?
• Affirm or Refine Strategy: Bring wisdom, accountability, and prayerful discernment to keep the vision realistic and Spirit-led.
• Guard Against Drift: Ensure that strategies stay tied to mission rather than personal agendas or cultural trends.
• Multiply Leaders: Use vision meetings to identify which future initiatives require new leaders, and begin training pathways (e.g., Christian Leaders Institute).

Multiplication Connection

Strategic vision meetings expand the church by:

• Birthing New Ministries: Outreach to unreached groups, digital discipleship, or Soul Centers.
• Planting Churches: Identifying communities ready for new congregations.
• Multiplying Leaders: Raising up and training shepherds to carry the vision forward.
• Global Connection: Partnering with Christian Leaders Alliance ensures that ordained leaders are recognized locally and globally as part of the broader ecuministry movement.

6. Multiplying Ministries Meetings

Purpose

Multiplying Ministries Meetings are where elders and pastors gather to discern, plan, and launch new works of ministry that extend the church’s reach. These meetings ask, “Where is God opening new doors for the Gospel?” and then move from prayerful discernment to practical commissioning.

Without intentional multiplication, churches plateau and eventually decline. With a rhythm of multiplying ministries, the church stays vibrant, creative, and responsive to the Spirit.

"As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away."
— Acts 13:2–3 (WEB)

Examples of Multiplying Ministries

• New Church Planting: Sending leaders to start new congregations in unreached neighborhoods, towns, or cities.
• New Soul Centers: Establishing discipleship hubs in homes, workplaces, or digital communities where people can grow in the Word and prayer.
• New Outreach Ministries: Launching fresh initiatives for youth, digital evangelism, neighborhood care, or cultural communities (immigrant fellowships, language-based ministries, etc.).
• New Missional Partnerships: Collaborating with other churches, ministries, or networks to expand Kingdom impact.

👉 Key Principle: Multiplication is not about cloning existing programs but about creating new expressions of Christianity in fresh contexts.

Expansive Outcome

• Breaks Plateau: Prevents the church from stagnating by always moving outward.
• Expands Reach: Touches new neighborhoods, demographics, and generations.
• Inspires the Congregation: Members see that the church is alive, innovative, and missional.
• Models Reproduction: Creates a culture where disciples and ministries naturally reproduce.

A multiplying church becomes a sending church, releasing leaders into the harvest rather than holding them back.

Pastor’s Role

• Mentor and Release: Identify, train, and encourage planters or ministry leaders.
• Champion Vision: Inspire the congregation with stories of what God is doing and could do.
• Model Sending Culture: Demonstrate that releasing leaders is not a loss, but Kingdom gain.

Elders’ Role

• Confirm Calling: Discern whether candidates have the character, competence, and calling for new ministry initiatives.
• Allocate Resources: Provide financial, relational, and prayer support to ensure sustainability.
• Provide Covering: Serve as a spiritual shield, praying for and walking alongside leaders as they launch.
• Maintain Accountability: Keep multiplication aligned with mission and doctrine.

Multiplication Connection

Multiplying Ministries Meetings are where the church actively decides to birth something new.

• Through CLI (Christian Leaders Institute): Train new leaders in theology, discipleship, and practical ministry before they are sent.
• Through CLA (Christian Leaders Alliance): Ordain new leaders locally and affirm them globally, ensuring their work is both accountable and recognized.
• Through the Ecuministry Vision: Partner with the broader body of Christ, across traditions, to plant ministries in diverse contexts.

"The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."
— 2 Timothy 2:2 (WEB)

7. Multiplying Leaders Meetings

Purpose

Multiplying Leaders Meetings are designed to identify, equip, and mentor emerging leaders so that the church never runs out of shepherds, teachers, evangelists, and missionaries. A church that fails to intentionally multiply leaders risks bottlenecking growth and exhausting existing leadership. A church that prioritizes leader multiplication, however, can expand ministries, plant new congregations, and sustain growth from generation to generation.

"The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."
— 2 Timothy 2:2 (WEB)

Practices

• Review Names of Faithful Volunteers: Regularly bring forward the names of those who serve consistently with humility, passion, and faithfulness. These individuals often carry the seeds of leadership.
• Discern Leadership Potential: Evaluate not only gifting, but also character, teachability, and relational maturity.
• Match Elders with Mentees: Assign elders to walk alongside emerging leaders in one-on-one or small group mentoring relationships.
• Encourage CLI Training Enrollment: Direct emerging leaders to Christian Leaders Institute for accessible, free, high-quality training. This ensures scalable equipping across various ministry tracks.
• Pray Over Names: Cover potential leaders in intercession, asking the Spirit to confirm and empower their calling.
• Create Step-Up Opportunities: Allow mentees to lead devotions, organize small projects, or co-lead ministries with elder oversight.

👉 Key Principle: Leadership development is not passive or accidental — it is intentional, relational, and Spirit-led.

Expansive Outcome

• Leadership Sustainability: Ensures the church always has new leaders prepared for growth.
• Missional Flexibility: Expands the church’s ability to launch new ministries, Soul Centers, and church plants.
• Global Impact: Multiplied leaders become missionaries, chaplains, church planters, and disciple-makers beyond the local context.
• Healthy Culture: Creates a community where every believer knows that leadership potential is nurtured, not ignored.

In short: Multiplying Leaders Meetings turn the church into a leadership greenhouse — constantly growing, equipping, and releasing.

Pastor’s Role

• Spot Talent from the Pulpit and Classrooms: Recommend candidates observed during preaching, teaching, and small group leadership.
• Encourage Publicly: Affirm leadership gifts openly to inspire confidence in emerging leaders.
• Frame in Scripture: Keep leader multiplication tied to Christ’s model of discipleship, not corporate talent scouting.

Elders’ Role

• Mentor Faithfully: Invest relationally in emerging leaders through prayer, encouragement, and practical teaching.
• Affirm and Train: Recognize gifts early and help leaders grow with accountability and grace.
• Model Leadership: Show mentees what servant leadership looks like by example.
• Create Pathways: Ensure there is a clear progression from volunteer → mentor → ministry leader → elder/planter/missionary.

CLI Role

• Provide Free, Scalable Training: Offer accessible pathways for leaders to receive biblical, theological, and ministry training without financial barriers.
• Support Ordination Pathways: Candidates mentored locally can be ordained locally and recognized globally through Christian Leaders Alliance.
• Enable Global Connection: Training through CLI links emerging leaders to a worldwide ecuministry network, ensuring local multiplication contributes to the global church.

Multiplication Connection

Multiplying Leaders Meetings ensure that every other kind of meeting — oversight, strategy, or multiplication of ministries — has the necessary people-power to succeed. Without a steady stream of trained leaders, visions die. With intentional leader multiplication, the church becomes an unstoppable movement of disciples making disciples and leaders raising leaders.

"He said to them, ‘The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest.’"
— Matthew 9:37–38 (WEB)

8. Evaluation & Celebration Meetings

Purpose

Evaluation & Celebration Meetings are the rhythm of looking back in gratitude and looking forward in faith. They allow the church’s leadership to pause, measure outcomes, reflect honestly, and then give glory to God for what He has done. These gatherings remind leaders and the congregation that ministry fruit is not produced by human strength alone but by God’s Spirit at work through His people.

"This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes."
— Psalm 118:23 (WEB)

Practices

• Review Key Metrics: Examine numbers that reflect ministry health and multiplication, such as:
• Worship attendance (in-person + online).
• Baptisms and professions of faith.
• Number of students trained through Christian Leaders Institute (CLI).
• New church plants, Soul Centers, or outreach ministries.
• Financial giving trends and mission contributions.
• Highlight Stories & Testimonies: Share personal stories that bring the data to life — a baptism testimony, a new leader emerging from CLI training, or a family transformed by outreach.
• Celebrate Short-Term Wins: Affirm both small and large victories to create momentum (e.g., a new small group launched, a prayer team formed, a first community event held).
• Give Thanks in Worship: Integrate prayer, Scripture, and song so evaluation is framed as thanksgiving, not just accounting.

👉 Key Principle: Metrics provide context, but testimonies and worship provide meaning.

Expansive Outcome

• Builds Trust: Transparency about both challenges and victories fosters credibility with the congregation.
• Inspires Gratitude: Shifts the culture from focusing on what is lacking to praising God for what is happening.
• Creates Momentum: When the church celebrates multiplication wins (new leaders, plants, or ministries), it stirs faith for even greater works.
• Nurtures Vision: Keeps leaders focused on Kingdom impact, not only internal maintenance.

Pastor’s Role

• Lead in Celebration: Use worship, story-telling, and Scripture to connect outcomes back to God’s mission.
• Frame with Hope: Even when metrics reveal challenges, remind the church that God is still at work.
• Share Testimonies Publicly: Highlight individuals or families transformed through the ministry, connecting stories with the bigger vision.

Elders’ Role

• Communicate Transparently: Share results with honesty, avoiding spin. This strengthens credibility.
• Highlight Multiplication Wins: Draw attention to outcomes that reflect growth and reproduction — more leaders trained, more groups started, more ministries multiplied.
• Encourage Next Steps: Connect celebration with fresh vision, asking: “What does God want us to trust Him for next?”

Multiplication Connection

Evaluation & Celebration Meetings expand the church by:

• Making Success Visible: Members see fruit from their prayers, giving, and service.
• Encouraging Leader Pathways: Celebrate when someone completes CLI training, becomes ordained through CLA, or steps into new ministry leadership.
• Inspiring Participation: Celebration draws new people into service and leadership by showing the joy of mission.
• Fueling Reproduction: A culture of evaluation and thanksgiving ensures the church doesn’t plateau but keeps multiplying disciples, leaders, and ministries.

"Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, Rejoice!"
— Philippians 4:4 (WEB)

An Ecosystem of Expansion

The church of Jesus Christ was never intended to remain static. From the book of Acts onward, the pattern has been clear: disciples gather, pray, discern, appoint leaders, celebrate God’s work, and then multiply. When done faithfully, meetings are not a burden but an engine of mission.

This handbook has explored eight types of meetings that, when practiced with faith, wisdom, and love, create an ecosystem that expands the church and Christianity:

1. Governing & Oversight Meetings — Provide clarity, accountability, and stewardship so the mission has a strong foundation.
2. Fellowship & Relationship-Building Meetings — Knit leaders together in trust, unity, and love, enabling them to lead with courage.
3. Prayer & Discernment Meetings — Anchor leadership in God’s power, ensuring expansion is Spirit-led, not strategy-driven.
4. Ordination & Commissioning Meetings — Multiply shepherds, chaplains, planters, and missionaries; affirm local calling and global recognition through Christian Leaders Alliance.
5. Strategic Vision Meetings — Keep the church forward-looking, mission-driven, and bold in pursuing the Great Commission.
6. Multiplying Ministries Meetings — Launch new churches, Soul Centers, and outreach works that extend the reach of the Gospel.
7. Multiplying Leaders Meetings — Identify, equip, and mentor new leaders with pathways of training through Christian Leaders Institute.
8. Evaluation & Celebration Meetings — Reflect on outcomes, give thanks to God, and build momentum for greater works.

How They Work Together

Each meeting type strengthens the others:

• Fellowship and prayer fuel trust and discernment for strategy.
• Oversight ensures resources and accountability for new ministries.
• Vision meetings inspire ministries; ministries require leaders; leaders require training; ordinations affirm them locally and globally.
• Evaluation and celebration close the loop, turning outcomes into gratitude and fresh faith for the next season.

This is not a linear checklist but a cycle of expansion — governance, fellowship, prayer, commissioning, strategy, multiplication, training, and celebration. Together, they create a rhythm where the church is constantly reproducing itself.

The Pastor–Elder Partnership

At every stage, the partnership between the pastor and elders is vital:

• Pastors cast vision from the Word and mentor leaders.
• Elders guard mission, provide accountability, and cover new works in prayer.
  Together, they function as a spiritual council under Christ’s headship, ensuring that decisions are faithful to Scripture and fruitful for mission.

The CLI & CLA Connection

This expansion ecosystem is strengthened by the partnership of Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) and Christian Leaders Alliance (CLA):

• CLI provides free, scalable training for emerging leaders.
• CLA ensures ordination is local and globally recognized — affirming an ecuministry vision that transcends denominational walls while rooting leaders in their local church.

This means every meeting is not only about local impact, but also about participating in the global expansion of Christianity.

Final Word

Meetings are often dreaded, but when led prayerfully and missionally, they can become multiplication gatherings — places where God’s Spirit calls new leaders, inspires fresh vision, launches ministries, and celebrates Kingdom fruit.

Elders and pastors who embrace this model will not only maintain the church but expand it. And through them, God will multiply disciples, leaders, and ministries to the ends of the earth.

"Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
— Ephesians 3:20–21 (WEB)