Updates from Pastor David
Our Future Together: Understanding Mission Multiplication
Welcome to Mission Multiplication!
We’re so glad you’re part of the Alpharetta Methodist community of believers! This document shares an exciting and foundational part of our church’s future—an intentional forward movement we call Mission Multiplication. It’s a journey we’re all taking together, and it begins with our core identity.
Our vision is simple yet profound:
We are a community of faith, hope, and love helping our neighbors, the next generation, and the nations take their next steps with Jesus.
This vision is the heartbeat of everything we do. It launches us into a future built upon the strong and healthy foundation that God has graciously given us.
A Strong Foundation to Build On
By God’s grace, our church is in a season of health and strength. By most traditional measures, we are categorized by what’s known as an adding church—a vibrant, growing community you can see and feel in several ways:
- Steady Growth: We are consistently welcoming new people into our church family, creating new relationships and opportunities to connect.
- Strong, Consistent Giving: Our congregation is generous, enabling our ministries to operate with excellence and stability.
- Robust Discipleship: We have clear, effective pathways for people to grow in their faith, learn God’s Word, and become more like Jesus.
- Quality Programming: From weekend worship to our kids’ and student ministries, we strive to create excellent and impactful experiences for everyone.
Our heart for Mission Multiplication isn’t about changing what’s working—it’s about faithfully stewarding the foundation God has blessed us with and boldly asking, “What world-changing work is next?”
Our Strategy: From an “Adding” Church to a “Multiplying” One
Our aspiration is to build on our strong foundation and become what’s known as a multiplying church. The difference between an adding church and a multiplying church is more than numbers—it’s a shift in mindset from focusing primarily on our own growth to pursuing Kingdom growth.
Let’s look at the difference between “Adding” and “Multiplying” Mindsets
Adding Mindset
- Focuses on addition of people to our church
- Ministry happens AT the church
- Growth happens in one place
Multiplying Mindset
- Focuses on exponential Kingdom impact
- Mission happens THROUGH the church (church = all believers!)
- Impact happens everywhere
This isn’t a new idea—it’s rooted in the mission Jesus gave His church.
Our Biblical Calling: The Great Commission
This movement for multiplication flows directly from Jesus’ final command to His followers—our core purpose as a church:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
— Matthew 28:18–20
We fulfill this calling by equipping and empowering disciples to make disciples wherever they go. The Apostle Paul describes this model of multiplication in his letter to Timothy:
“…and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”
— 2 Timothy 2:2
This is the practical pattern for Mission Multiplication—entrusting what we’ve learned to others who can, in turn, teach and disciple others. That’s how faith multiplies.
How We’re Getting There: Next Steps on the Journey
A big vision can feel overwhelming, so we’re breaking it down into clear, intentional steps that align our church for the future.
Spiritual Momentum
In the fall of 2025, we launched a church-wide small group study, Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer. This wasn’t just another study—it was a strategic first step to align our entire church around whole-life discipleship, bring clarity to our vision, and build spiritual momentum for what comes next.
Strategic Alignment
Our church’s transition out of the United Methodist Church gives us a unique opportunity to strengthen our Wesleyan identity and align our story and space with our mission. To help us do that, we partnered with an organization experienced in helping churches tell their stories with creativity and clarity.
The focus has been:
- Name & Story Evaluation: In November 2025, staff and lay leaders gathered for a Personality Profile and Naming workshop. During that time, we agreed there’s no compelling reason to change our church name. However, the process brought fresh clarity to who we are, what makes us unique in our community, and the mission God has entrusted to Alpharetta Methodist Church. In June 2026, a new church logo was introduced and will be rolled out in phases. This new logo honors our rich heritage while pointing toward the future God is calling us to embrace.
- Enhancing Our Ministry Environments: Developing a master plan for updating and modernizing our physical campus facilities, creating spaces where nursery, children, students, and adults can safely connect and grow deep in their faith.
- Expanding Our Missional Reach: Giving equal energy and focus toward local and global outreach, developing plans to ensure that our impact continues to ripple far into the community to make disciples.
Your Part in Our Story
You are here at a pivotal and exciting time in our church’s story. Every person has a vital role to play in Mission Multiplication. Here’s how you can join in:
- Pray and Align to the Mission: Pray for wisdom. Participate in small group discipleship like Practicing the Way. It’s the best way to grow spiritually and align your heart with our shared mission.
- Invest in the Mission: This isn’t about buildings or budgets—it’s about investing your heart, prayers, and resources in a strategy for long-term Kingdom impact.
- Live on Mission: See your involvement not just as receiving but as preparing. God has placed you in your neighborhood, workplace, and relationships for a purpose—to carry His love and hope wherever you go.
Welcome to the mission!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
We are called to build on our foundation as a strong, healthy, and growing congregation to have an even greater Kingdom impact. The purpose of Mission Multiplication is to live out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20) by shifting our focus toward exponential Kingdom growth. This means carrying out ministry through and beyond our church walls. Our core mission is to make disciples who are fully equipped to go out and make disciples wherever they live, work, and play.
The initial phase evaluated potential barriers that make it harder for people to connect with God through our church, while identifying ways to improve what we already do well. As a direct result of this phase, we introduced our new church logo in June 2026. Moving forward, the focus is on optimizing our campus facilities to better equip our congregation, evaluating our overall missions and outreach footprint, and maximizing our Global discipleship reach.
An external consulting firm brings an objective perspective and invaluable experience gained from working with healthy churches across the country. They provide specialized insight that goes beyond what an internal team can typically achieve alone. Our staff and lay leadership are working hand-in-hand with our consultants through every step of this process.
No. Our foundational vision, mission, theology, and governance remain completely unchanged. This initiative is strictly designed to maximize our current mission by removing barriers to entry, communicating who we are more effectively, and optimizing our existing ministries.
Continuous improvement is essential to living out our vision of being a community of faith, hope, and love helping our neighbors, the next generation, and the nations take their next steps with Jesus. While we have experienced encouraging growth in attendance and giving since transitioning out of the United Methodist Church, we sense God calling us not to become complacent, but to make an even greater Kingdom impact in Alpharetta and beyond.
Yes, our church has engaged in long-range planning efforts in previous years. It is a healthy spiritual practice to periodically evaluate how we can better reach unreached people and equip our active members. While past planning efforts focused primarily on solving immediate, isolated facility needs, Mission Multiplication is broader in scope. It holistically evaluates our name, story, space, and ministry structures to ensure we are actively prioritizing outward-focused missions and local community impact rather than just internal operations, thereby maximizing our disciple-making effectiveness.
Funding for this consulting engagement came entirely from a designated reserve fund intended to support the church’s long-term capital and strategic needs, not from our day-to-day operational budget. The initial master planning engagement with PlainJoe Studios cost $100,000.
A dedicated task force composed of laity (church members) and lead staff was assembled to guide, review, and oversee these efforts. This team collaborates closely with our external partners to ensure our church’s values and identity drive every decision.
Our decision-making process balances clear operational accountability with an absolute commitment to transparency. Our governance is defined in our bylaws and retains the committee structures our congregation knows, specific responsibilities are clearly defined as follows:
- Day-to-Day Operations: Our staff and lay leaders are responsible for daily directional decisions, tactical planning, and hands-on execution.
- Buildings & Facilities: The Board of Trustees oversees all decisions involving our physical buildings, campus operations, and property logistics.
- Churchwide Governance: The Church Council reviews, discusses, and votes on all major churchwide policy and strategic matters.
- Capital Decisions: Decisions regarding buying, selling, or substantially renovating church property with costs exceeding available financial reserves are brought to the entire church body for a congregational vote.
- Spring 2026: Master Planning & Visioning – Our team worked alongside third-party experts to evaluate our name, logo, and physical footprint, dreaming about what the next generation of ministry looks like at Alpharetta Methodist.
- Summer & Fall 2026: Discernment & Engagement – Following the completion of our master planning, we are entering a season of active prayer, alignment, and preparation. This upcoming season will invite our entire church family to engage, pray, and collectively discern how we will invest in the future of our campus and our community outreach.