From the Editor's Chair by C.B. Smith - testimony Article, January 1946: Campbell Bannerman Smith (1900-1961) was born in Ontario in 1900. He attended the Canadian Pentecostal Bible College in Winnipeg where he met his wife, Beulah Argue. Following his ordination in 1928, his ministry appointments included pastoring in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan District Office, Ottawa, and principal of the Eastern Pentecostal Bible College. In 1944 he was elected General Superintendent of the PAOC and served in that position from 1945 until he resigned in 1952. He then pastored in Victoria until returning to Ontario in 1958 to fill the presidency of Eastern Pentecostal Bible College. Read
Missions by W. Ralph Hornby - testimony Article, January 1946 Rev. W. Ralph Hornby pastored four PAOC churches from 1933-1958: Ruthilda, SK, Dauphin, MB, Brandon, MB, and London, ON. He also a wrote a few articles for the Pentecostal Testimony during his ministry tenure. Read
Miracle in Metro by Rev. Roy E. Upton - testimony Article, January 1971 In 1956, Rev. Roy E. Upton began holding weekly drive-in Sunday services were held at a Dominion Store parking lot. In 1957, construction of Scarborough Gospel Temple began in a wheat field. In the early 2000s, the church continued to expand and even moved locations. Now known as Global Kingdom Ministries, it continues to stay true to its original mandate of missions and outreach. Read
'Take 5' with Randy Young In this 'Take 5', we talk with Randy about the Pentecostal World Conference happening in Calgary at the end of August. He outlines for us what to expect at this year's conference, the theme, and ways the conference will be blessing the city of Calgary. Read
Right Attitudes Toward Church Planting The following article was published in The Pentecostal Testimony (now testimony) in August 1985. The writer, Rev. G. Douglas Stiller, pioneered Spruce Grove Community Church in Alberta. He was involved in church planting at Christian Life Assembly in southwest Calgary and served as the Church Planting Co-ordinator of the PAOC from 1993-2002. Read
The Clarion Call to Advance In his 35 years of credentialed ministry with the PAOC, Rev. Willis G. McPherson pastored in several churches and ministries, starting in the summer of 1934, when he first applied for credentials. The following article, written by Rev. McPherson, was taken from The Pentecostal Testimony (now known as the testimony), Volume 27, Number 2, originally published January 15, 1946. Read
Interview with Louis Halbgewachs In this interview, Louis talks about how pastoring in rural Saskatchewan lead him to start an online church. He shares his thoughts on the role online campuses can play in church multiplication. Read
The 5 Biggest Online Churches Of course, you might be reading this article asking yourself, “Why would someone sit at home and attend a virtual church on their computer when they could go to church with their neighbors and be together in the same building?” Read
Take 5 with Ken McIntyre In this Take 5 interview we talk with Ken McIntyre, from Hope City Church in Edmonton, about their online presence as a church, how it is helping the church grow, and some of the things they are learning through this process. Read
Why Can't I Just Go To Church Online? Does a physical church even matter anymore? Read
Online churches don't hurt local church growth: study A new study, billed as the most extensive of its kind, is touting the benefits of doing church online — and no, it’s not to simply build a crowd. Read
Is Online Church Real Church? Online church is real church, but it’s not enough church. Read
Take 5 with Peter Ramsis from Father's Heart Church in Surrey, BC In this video we get an encouraging update with how this new Arabic speaking church plant is doing. We also hear how Pastor Peter and his family were called to Canada and about the many people in the community of Surrey coming to Jesus through this disciple-making community! Read
Take 5 (Part 1) with Kevin and Erin Machado In Part 1 of this video we chat with Kevin and Erin about how God led them to start missional communities in neighbourhoods and the heart behind what they are doing. Read
Take 5 (Part 2) with Kevin and Erin Machado In Part 2 of this video we chat with Kevin and Erin about the "how" and "what" of their missional communities. We hear some the highlights and challenges that come with leading this model of disciple-making community, as they continue to learn and grow. Read
Modes of Mission: A Missional Practice There is one more missional mode that is enacted when the Church embraces the totality of God’s mission—and that mode is “multiplication.” Multiplication is used by God to advance his mission throughout the world. Read
Missional or Attractional? The Value of Embracing a Both/And Mentality If missional churches are going to gather at all, shouldn’t they leverage the gathering for all its worth? If attractional churches are going to make disciples, don’t they need to teach them to be disciples who live on mission with Jesus? Read
Foggy Road Ahead: Leading Pioneer Planting Pioneer church planting is different from traditional church planting in that the goal is to not only form a new church; it is to also to explore new ways of being the church. Because the future remains foggy for the church in the West, we must care for these seeds of the future and nurture them as they develop. Read
Can Multisite be Missional? While the origin of multi-siting may have had missionary roots, it seems to have quickly shed them. As churches embraced the church-growth paradigm and its corresponding assumptions, they invariably found themselves in competition with other like-minded churches in the city. Read
Church Planting Reading List This is certainly not a comprehensive list, but when church planters ask me to suggest a few books to help them think differently about church planting, this is the list I share, categorized under three headings: Read
Seven Benefits to the Coming Opposition The church of Jesus Christ has always resembled her King best when she was in a place, not of dominance, but of yielded weakness. A quick glance through our history unmistakably reveals that when we become powerful, we behave in counter-kingdom ways. We baptize the world’s operating systems and use its muscle to advance our own comfort, security, and prominence with precious little thought given to the mission of our Founder. Read
Take 5 Interview with Dave Wells In this video we discuss the important role the Multiply Network plays in the PAOC family and how we are dreaming about the future beyond 2020. Read
Take 5 Interview with Daniel Yang In this episode we talk about what the SEND Institute is, the importance of church multiplication networks and why they need to continue to adapt and grow. Read
Take 5 Interview with Andy Moore In this interview with we chat with Andy about the GT Church multiplication story and some of the challenges along the way. He also shares some encouragement for senior leaders to consider when multiplying the churches they are leading. Read
Interview with James Clarence In this interview we ask James, who is leading Tehillah Young Adults at First Assembly Calgary, what has changed in young adult ministry in the last five years, what do we need to be doing in our preaching and how can we best engage this very important demographic of leaders. Read
Take 5 Interview with Jason Ballard In this short interview we ask Jason from Christian Life Assembly in Langley B.C. how we as churches and leaders can better reach and communicate with millennials. We get his take on what they need and are looking for. Read
Three Lessons from Year One of Church Planting Travis Jones, lead pastor of Motivation Church, shares three important lessons that he learned from his first year of church planting. Read
5 Things Millennials Are Looking For In a Church One of the questions almost every church leader I know is asking is “How do we reach Millennials?”—that demographic of young adults now in their mid-twenties to age 40. It’s a great question. Read
How to Effectively Reach and Retain Millennials We identified characteristics of churches that were engaging young adults by reaching and keeping them as part of the church. Here are three significant ways in which churches can effectively reach and retain Millennials. Read
7 Simple Ways to Engage Millennials and Church The church’s ability to capture the millennial generation is one of the biggest challenges we face. Here are 7 simple ways to engage Millennials and church. Read
Interview with Stephanie Borsato Stephanie Borsato is a bi-vocational church planter in rural Nova Scotia. When she is not working at the local community hospital as a medical doctor, she and husband Mario lead Église du Phare (Lighthouse Church), a faith community designed for the francophone Acadian population they live and work in. Read
Take 5 Interview with Emma Narayanan This month’s 'Take 5' episode features an interview with Emma Narayanan. While living in their native Australia, Emma and her husband Ben knew God was calling them to church plant in Canada. They now pastor Avant Life in North Vancouver, BC. Join us as Emma shares more about their story. Read
Interview with Janelle Keough Janelle Keough and her husband Steve were happily involved as volunteers in their church...until God started stirring something new within their hearts. It eventually led to a process which included quitting their jobs and moving clear across the country, from BC to Nova Scotia, to work as church planters. Read
We Need More Lydias in Church Planting One area where the church’s beauty is displayed is in God’s design for men and women to be partnered in ministry to advance the Gospel and plant new churches. The North American church, currently comprised of slightly more women than men, has an empowered regiment of gifted women to be catalyzed on mission. Read
The Great Opportunity Commissioned by a private foundation, “The Great Opportunity” is an independent report estimating that over 40 million young people who were raised in Christian homes could walk away from a life with Jesus by 2050. But, if the church can help them engage with Christ at rates from just two decades ago, over 20 million can know a life with Him. Read
13 Tips for Women Church Planters As a church planter, though, I know there are much more important considerations—especially for women church planters—that determine a church plant’s success. So I conducted telephone interviews with 14 other female church planters who range in age from 40 to 80. Read
Interview with Sam Farina Sam Farina lives in Dallas, TX and draws from years of experience in church leadership and public speaking. He holds a Doctorate of Ministry with an emphasis in professional coaching. After pioneering to create the Assemblies of God Coaching Network, he continues to train coaches for the network and serves on their coaching board and task force. In this interview, Sam shares about the benefits of coaching for church planters, and what we, as a PAOC fellowship, can do to become a multiplying movement once again. Read
Take 5 with Luc Lombardi In this Take 5 interview we chat with Luc Lombardi who is a professional coach. We talk about the benefits and importance of coaching. We also talk about church planting assessment and what are the characteristics and behaviours needed in church planters. Read
Should I plant a church? Pastor Jeff Leake of the Reach Northeast Network answers the question "How do know if I'm supposed to plant a church?" Read
Future Shock – 12 Attitude Shifts Necessary for Thriving in What’s Next The Church that Jesus is building is serving in the midst of all this societal turbulence. We are called to be in the world but not of the world. Being in it means we must wisely navigate the mind-boggling twists and turns that the cultural whirlwind sends our way Read
Church Planting to Engage the Marketplace Entrepreneurial church planters, however, are creatively entering this mission field by engaging and gathering communities of faith in the marketplace. These missional entrepreneurs leverage the networking and value creation provided by businesses in order to form communities of Christ followers among unchurched people. Read
Future Leaders On the Horizon of Church Planting As we contemplate the future horizon of church planting in North America, it is imperative for us to consider one of the main ingredients for these efforts – the planter and core team members. Inevitably, we must ask the question, “Where will these discipled leaders come from?” Read
Interview with Jerry Berenguer In September 1992, Jerry went into full-time ministry and began what is now called Champion Life Centre. 26 years later, God is continuing to use him to advance His kingdom through church multiplication. Check out what Jerry has to say about leadership pipelines and development in this interview. Read
Take 5 Video with Paul Fraser In this Take 5 video Paul takes some time to outline some great things happening with the Multiply Network and gives us some encouragement for 2019. Read
What is a Leadership Pipeline? In this episode of 90 Second Leadership video, Todd Adkins, the Director of LifeWay Leadership, discusses how a leadership pipeline works. Read
Why Has It Become Harder To Stock the Church Planter Pipeline? For many church planting networks, stocking the church planter pipeline has become increasingly more difficult in these last few years than it has been over the last few decades. Read
Multiplying When You’re Not Mega: Leadership pipeline Soon it became obvious that not only should we be training another church planter, but we should be training people to serve in each ministry position a church plant needs. Read
5 Places to Find Your Next Church Planter A Church Planter Depot where you could find in one place the right people for a church planting project would be nice. But alas, there is no such place. And honestly, it is probably good that we have to search for such leaders. Read
Interview with John Ippolito John and Kathryn Ippolito reside in Laval, QC, where they have lead the congregation of Laval Christian Assembly since 1992. John also serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the Quebec District and is part of the Multiply Network Lead Team. Read
Take 5 Interview with Sam Sibley Sam Sibley is the Lead Pastor at Christian Life Centre in Ajax, Ontario. Check out Sam's experience with church multiplication and what he's learned along the way. Read
Interview with John Albiston John Albiston is an Effectiveness Coach in the Alberta and Northwest Territories district office. He works with leaders to see both church multiplication and revitalization move forward at a local church level to reach people far from God. Read
Balancing Church Planting Strategies and the Holy Spirit Take some time to check out this short video interview with Bill Hogg from C2C and Daniel Yang from Send institute. Making sure we have right priorities in these two key areas is critical to fulfilling the Great Commission. Read
The New Normal in Church Planting In its essence, church multiplication is the action of churches planting churches and often, subsequently, their own networks. This is becoming the new normal in church planting. Read
Reaching Religious Nones I was recently invited by a group of Canadian church planters to share five insights from my sociological research on religion, with an eye toward engaging “religious nones” – those who say they have no religion. I said the following: Read
Take 5 Interview with Len DenBraber In this interview, we chat with Pastor Len DenBraber from the British Columbia and Yukon District to talk about his district's church multiplication vision. Thankful for the insight and wisdom he brings to our Multiply Network Lead Team. Read
Take 5 interview with Jason Small In this interview we talk with Pastor Jason Small from the Western Ontario District about their church planting vision and strategy. We are grateful for the passion and experience he brings to our Multiply Network Lead Team. Read
Interview with Brian Egert In this interview with Brian, we ask him about Mission Canada, church multiplication and what we need to be thinking about in the future to reach Canadians. We are so grateful to have Brian on our Multiply Network Lead Team. Read
Who Should Fund a Church Plant? When it comes to paying for the new church plant, who should be the one paying the bill?Are national denominations needed to solicit and divide funds for all their church planters? What role should local and regional organizations play? Where do other churches come in? Read
What I Have Learned in Year One It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since I started as the National Church Multiplication Coordinator. With the first year under my belt, I thought I would take some time to talk about some of the things I’ve learned about our amazing PAOC family this past year! Read
Will the multisite model stand the test of time? Remember when Matt Chandler announced that The Village Church would be transitioning from several campuses to individual autonomous churches? People were shocked. What would cause a growing and successful mega church to end its era of multisite? Read
How to Share Your Faith Critically and Contextually Today In every time period and historical context during which it has been shared, the gospel has confronted culture in one way or another. Read
Can’t Multiply Without This… We can congregate, but God captivates. We can stimulate, but God saturates. We can populate, but only God can penetrate. We need greater hunger in our hearts again for the moving of God’s Spirit in our churches. Read
Today’s Teens Twice as Likely as Adults to Say They’re Atheists New research from Barna Group reveals that U.S. teens are more than twice as likely as adults to identify as atheists. Read
Interview with Eric Lafleur Eric, and his wife, Nicole, are church planters in Laval.  In this interview, Eric shares a little about the unique challenges to church planting in Quebec and how their church, Église Generation, is reaching out to their community.  Read
 'TAKE 5' Video Series: Patti Miller We continue our 'Take 5' video series with a conversation with Patti Miller of Evangel Pentecostal in Montreal, Quebec. You'll enjoy hearing Patti share about ministry in a post-Christian context and what they are doing to find success in making an impact in their city. Read
Interview with Joseph Friedland After serving for nearly 26 years in the largest english evangelical church in Montreal, Joe and his wife Janet, along with their daughter, transitioned in September 2016 to plant a church in Brossard, a city of 85,000 people, just 15 minutes south of Montreal. Quebec has been called the greatest mission field in the Western world and, like many cities in the province, Brossard has a very small number of protestant evangelical churches. As a family, the Friedlands are privileged to be unlikely people in an overlooked place, doing extraordinary things to ”reach the one”. Read
What if Everyone Leaves Your Church…to Plant More Churches? “Now, wait a second. If we send people out, won’t our church decline?” Statistically, the most likely scenario is that it won’t. Read
The Magic Number is 25 In the next two years, all we need is 25% of our existing churches to start one new disciple-making community in order to reach our 2020 goals! Read
How Cultural Attachments of Yesterday Diminish Our Effectiveness Today Ask any veteran of the international missionary world and they’ll likely be happy to tell you what one needs to do to see success. Among the many skills they’ll mention, one theme will bubble to the surface over and over again: you must to be a humble learner. Read
Interview with Jason Eliason Pastor Jason, his wife Kelsey and their three children are launching a new church in Surrey, British Columbia called Citizens Church on September 16th! Take some time to read their story and journey towards church planting in this interview! Read
Take 5 Video with Lorne Young This month we start our Take 5 video series with Lorne Young from Discovery Church in Edmonton. Discovery Church is less than a year old and Lorne has some great updates to share that we know will encourage you!! Read
Interview with Rob Good Pastor Rob Good, his wife Valerie and their two children are launching a new church in Bradford, Ontario called Promise Church on September 16th! Check out their journey to this point and hear their heart for church multiplication in this interview! Read
Interview with Jonathan Lambert Jonathan and Natasha are passionate about the local church. They have a heart to see people discover the love of Jesus, and the fullness of life that He came to offer everyone. That passion has led to great faith steps over the years, the greatest of which compelled them to relocate their family to Calgary, AB in the winter of 2012. Thus began the Experience Church journey. From the beginning the goal was to gather people around God’s vision to transform the city, nation and beyond. In this interview, Jonathan talks about church planting in Calgary and being part of the ARC Network. Read
Interview with Tim Keller: Church Planting - Networks, Denominations, and Broader Ministry In this video, Pastor J.D. Greear from The Summit Church interviews Tim Keller about church planting networks, denominations, and broader ministry topics. Read
5.5 Questions with Greg Laing Greg Laing is a Western Canada leader for the C2C church planting network under the umbrella of Mennonite Brethren missions. He works on behalf of C2C to help our PAOC planters and churches see church multiplication efforts come to fruition through C2C processes and partnerships. We are grateful he also finds the time to sit on the Multiply Network lead team! Read
Three Things Successfully Multiplying Churches Do Churches that multiplied within their first five years did a few things at a far higher percentage than those that didn’t. Read
5 Things We Can Learn from Church Planting Networks The popularity of Church Planting Networks (CPNs) is certainly growing in Canada, specifically with our younger pastors and leaders. Why are some leaders gravitating more towards networks than denominations when it comes to church multiplication? Read
Are Church Planting Networks Focusing on Multiplying Churches? In this report, we will share best practices in church planting systems as well as the organizational shifts necessary to see denominations and networks move beyond addition into multiplication. Read
Interview with Phil Kniesel Phil Kniesel is the Lead Pastor at Hope City Church (formerly Mill Woods Assembly) in Edmonton, Alberta. He and his team have a God-inspired vision to reach 1% of Edmonton, and in order to reach that goal, they are starting their first multisite in southwest Edmonton this fall! In this interview, Pastor Phil shares a bit about their journey and some of the lessons being learned in their pre-launch season. This is a great story growing, and a win for the City of Edmonton! Read
Rob Ketterling video on his new book "Front Row Leadership" Take a look at this video with Rob Ketterling talking about his new book, Front Row Leadership, created by Church Multiplication Network, (Assemblies of God U.S.). Read
5.5 Questions on Church Multiplication with Rick Boyes Rick Boyes is the Lead Pastor at Gateway Church in London, Ontario. You may remember last month’s interview with Rachael Ernst and Charles Karugu regarding the new church site at Western University - Rick leads the sending church that got it all started! The main campus church has also started another multisite in Komoka, Ontario. Pastor Rick has some great things to say in this interview regarding multisites, the next generation, Canadian culture, and building the Kingdom of God! Read
6 Dirty Secrets about Multisite Churches That (Almost) No-one is Talking About As an unabashed fan of this approach to reaching more people, I do have a confession to make. There are aspects of being a multisite church that aren’t as great on the inside as they look on the outside. Read
Multisites Need to Multiply The Multisite Model of church multiplication is growing and doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. I am encouraged that leaders and churches all over North America are expanding the Kingdom of God through multisites. Read
5 Network and Denominational Shifts Necessary for a Planting Movement in North America There’s a certain desperation in the air. Not necessarily the kind that’s derived from a sense of hopelessness, as if the dispiriting upshot is inescapable. It’s a desperation that’s motivated by reality—the kind that takes a long, hard look at the facts and resolves that risk, experimentation, and change are no longer a nicety but a necessity. Read
Interview with Rachael Ernst & Charles Karugu Gateway Western Campus is a multi-site of Gateway Church in London, Ontario. This new disciple-making community started in September 2017 with co-pastors Charles Karugu and Rachael Ernst on the Gateway University Campus. They are both working bi-vocationally as they lead this new church. Read about their journey in this short interview and celebrate with them the great things God has started in this new church! Read
Church Multiplication Video from General Conference Our team put together this great video on Church Multiplication at our General Conference in May. Take a few minutes to check it out by clicking on the link. Read
5.5 Questions for Jeremy Keys Pastor Jeremy Keys and his wife, Mathilda, planted a multicultural church called City Mosaic Church six years ago in northeast Calgary. Pastor Jeremy has worked bi-vocationally from the very beginning and has some great thoughts on church planting with this model. We asked Jeremy questions about bi-vocational ministry and the story of City Mosaic. Read
Breathe in the Busyness There’s this app on my watch that reminds me to breathe. I’m not quite sure how to turn the setting off, but a few times a day, I hear this annoyingly soothing little jingle that reminds me it’s time to breathe. Read
3 Biggest Needs for Church Multiplication It’s now been 21 years since my last formal education experience. When I graduated from Northwest Bible College (now Vanguard College) and started my first ministry assignment, I remember thinking that my learning was now complete. That thought could not have been further from the truth! Read
Rethinking the Missionary Nature of the Church If we are to understand what it means to be “missional church,” we must consider the importance of understanding the church as a sent, missionary body. Read
Interview with Wendy Payne We sometimes think and hear that rural church planting doesn’t work and that church multiplication is reserved for urban areas. That is simply not true. Read
Church Multiplication (Andy Moore) Andy Moore is the lead pastor at Glad Tidings Church in Victoria. In this video Andy gives great encouragement and insight into the importance of church multiplication. Check it out! Read
SEVEN QUESTIONS FOR: PAUL FRASER: It’s about kingdom work Paul brings a wealth of experience to this challenge. Here is a glimpse into his story and his heart. Read
Dreaming Bigger and Taking Risks: Awakening a Pioneering Heart I have come to the conclusion that the more I try to guess what God has for me next, the more it simply eliminates that idea as a possibility. Read
Revitalization or Multiplication? Or Both? With many denominations in Canada in plateau or decline, there is an interesting discussion growing among leaders on where our greatest focus should be placed to reverse these troubling trends. Read
Guardrails for a Disciple Making Culture 2 Timothy 2:2 is one of the most quoted verses in regard to discipleship. And yes, Paul does talk about discipleship here. Sometimes in zeroing in on this verse, we miss the broader context of this Pastoral Epistle. Read

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