Speaker Janie McCaffey shared her personal experience and insights on building successful church teams that nurture discipleship and church multiplication at the 2024 Exponential Global Conference themed "Oneighty: The Return to Disciple Making." McCaffey highlighted the importance of creating a leadership pipeline focused on multiplicative leadership, being open-handed rather than individualistic, prioritizing people over perfection, and fostering multiplication when building church teams. Drawing from her church planting experience in Miami, McCaffey underscored the effectiveness of committing to raise leaders for the next generations, similar to the biblical model of Paul and Timothy. Emphasizing a missional approach, McCaffey cautioned against the internal focus that can occur even in nascent churches and stressed the need for leaders to continuously engage with non-believers and avoid self-centered ministry that can threaten church growth and reproduction. The talk also included practical aspects such as establishing clear expectations, celebrating team achievements, the balance of fun and serious commitment, and the necessity of difficult conversations for effective team development. Application points for pastors include strategically recruiting team members who embody a heart for the mission, implementing structures that empower and measure team performance, and ensuring their leadership consistently reflects modeling discipleship.

Title: 2024 Exponential Global Conference: Oneighty - The Return to Disciple Making

Subtitle 1: Building Teams for Thriving Church Plants

• Janie McCaffey speaks on the importance of building teams to start and multiply churches.
  • Emphasizes learning from past failures and the incremental growth of teams and individuals.
  • Stadia's vision: “Every child to have a church” – to accomplish this, the focus is on equipping church leaders to plant effectively.
  • Personal narrative: planting a church in Miami without cultural understanding highlights the need for contextual awareness and preparation.

Subtitle 2: Key Traits of Leaders Who Thrive and Multiply

• Focus on developing a leadership pipeline of multiplying leaders.
  • Paul-Timothy model as an example: “The idea wasn't that Paul was just going to stop with Timothy.”
  • Multiplying leaders are open-handed and invested in growing others, as opposed to individualistic leadership.
  • Realization: Success is about long-term investment and growth, valuing people over perfection.

Subtitle 3: Redirecting the Mission to Multiplication

• Stress on constantly raising new leaders and not viewing leadership development as a one-time event.
  • Leadership development seen as a series of difficult conversations involving high expectations and regular recalibration.
  • Measurement and celebration of progress is crucial to replicate success and maintain focus.
  • Potential threats to church growth:
    • Internal focus and influence from members with preconceived church notions.
    • Leaders ceasing personal community involvement with non-believers.

Subtitle 4: Practical Application and Storytelling

• Panelist introductions.
• Importance in transitioning from initial setup to a more mature church team.
  • Mention of challenges in determining when to shift from volunteers to paid staff.
  • Sharing personal experiences in making such transitions.

Subtitle 5: Sustained Focus on Discipleship and Multiplication

• Establishing core values and expectations for team members from the start.
  • Encouragement to be welcoming and integrated into the community.
    • “Be on the lookout for our new best friend.”
  • Recognition and mobilization of individual potential and gifting.
  • Emphasis on keeping joy and fun within the mission for sustainable growth.

Application Points for Pastors:

• Empower church planting teams through contextual training and a focus on long-term growth strategies.
• Develop a leadership pipeline that nurtures traits of open-handedness and a multiplication mindset.
• Create measurable systems for establishing expectations and celebrating team triumphs to ensure alignment and focus.
• Recognize that new believers' assimilation into service roles can accelerate their spiritual growth and purpose.
• Address threats to church multiplication proactively, ensuring that leaders maintain an outward, missional focus.
• Transition core teams effectively by emphasizing church mission alignment and community engagement throughout growth stages.

• Stadia (Organization focused on church planting) - https://stadiachurchplanting.org/
• 2 Timothy 2:2 (Bible verse mentioning leadership and teaching)
• Ephesians 2:10 (Bible verse about being created for good works)

• Question 1: In what ways can we adopt an open-handed approach in leadership to foster a culture of multiplication within our teams?
  • Context: Consider discussing the balance between guiding and controlling, and how to empower others to lead.
• Question 2: How can we as pastors shift our focus from simply starting new initiatives to nurturing long-term growth and development in our disciples?
  • Context: Brainstorm methods to ensure our leadership pipeline prioritizes continual investment over immediate success.
• Question 3: What measures can we put in place to prevent our churches from becoming internally focused and losing sight of the mission to reach the unreached?
  • Context: Evaluate current practices that may inadvertently prioritize established church members over outreach.
• Question 4: In what ways can we align our team around a common set of expectations without creating barriers to participation, especially for new and potential leaders?
  • Context: Discuss the importance of clear communication and consider ways to make expectations inspiring and inclusive.
• Question 5: How can we effectively measure and celebrate the right aspects of our ministry to replicate the desired culture of disciple-making?
  • Context: Reflect on what currently gets measured and celebrated in our ministry contexts and how it aligns with disciple-making goals.