The Four Streams of Church Innovation

Launching Faith sits at the crossroad of several of these streams.

Attractional Innovation

What This Stream Is - This is the most common model. Churches innovate by enhancing the Sunday gathering experience.

Examples include:

  • better worship production

  • improved preaching

  • strong children’s programs

  • welcoming environments

Large churches in this stream often concentrate on making the church accessible to newcomers.

Strengths

  • scalable

  • organized leadership

  • strong teaching environments

Limitations - This model assumes people are still willing to attend church services, which is becoming less true in many areas.

Launching Faith Comparison - Launching Faith doesn't rely on Sunday services. It connects with people who probably won't attend a church service.

Missional Community Movement

What This Stream Is - This movement originates from missiology and church planting. Churches create small communities that live missionally together.

They often focus on:

  • neighborhoods

  • shared life

  • serving the community

Examples include numerous missional community networks.

Strengths

  • strong relational discipleship

  • neighborhood engagement

  • leadership development

Limitations - Many missional communities eventually revert to small-group programs within churches.

Launching Faith Comparison - Launching Faith shares similarities but shifts the community's location. Instead of forming around a neighborhood group, it forms in:

  • bars

  • coffee shops

  • restaurants

  • workplaces

The gathering takes place within everyday life environments.

Micro-church / Simple Church Movement

What This Stream Is - This movement emphasizes small, reproducible churches.

Examples include:

  • house churches

  • micro-church networks

  • disciple-making movements

The emphasis is on:

  • multiplication

  • simplicity

  • leadership development

Strengths

  • highly reproducible

  • decentralized leadership

  • strong disciple-making focus

Limitations - Many gatherings stay private and out of public view.

Launching Faith Comparison - Launching Faith shares the multiplication vision but differs in one key way: your gatherings are public.

They exist within:

  • social environments

  • community venues

  • everyday life spaces

This makes them visible and easy to access.

Incarnational / Contextual Church

What This Stream Is - This is the closest stream to Launching Faith. It features movements that develop contextual forms of church within specific environments.

Examples include:

  • café church

  • pub church

  • dinner church

  • workplace fellowships

This stream is strongly connected to movements like:

  • Fresh Expressions

  • Dinner Church Collective

Strengths

  • culturally accessible

  • relational

  • adaptable

Limitations - Many expressions remain small experiments rather than becoming scalable movements.

Where Launching Faith Fits

Launching Faith sits right at the center of three streams:

Stream

Launching Faith Connection

Missional Communities

Incarnational Church

Relational Discipleship

Micro-church

Multiplication and Simple Structure

Gatherings in Secular Spaces

This intersection is incredibly impactful. It means Launching Faith can merge:

• relational community
• simple reproduction
• public engagement

Why This Position Is Strategic

Many church innovations focus on a single stream. For example:

  • Attractional churches improve Sunday gatherings

  • Micro-church networks focus on multiplication

  • Dinner church focuses on shared meals

Launching Faith combines multiple streams into a unified framework.

The Unique Contribution of Launching Faith

If we had to put it simply, your ministry emphasizes: Faith Communities Emerging in Everyday Spaces

This includes:

  • bars

  • breweries

  • coffee shops

  • restaurants

  • workplaces

  • community venues

Instead of bringing people into the church, the church arises where life is already happening. This aligns well with:

  • Jesus’ table ministry

  • Wesley’s field preaching

  • early house church patterns

A Simple Visual Way to Describe Launching Faith

Traditional Church - Church building → Invite people in

Missional Church - Church community → Go serve people

Launching Faith - Faith communities → Form where people already gather

One Final Insight

At Launching Faith, our work also relates to a major trend today: Many people are spiritually curious but allergic to institutions.

They want:

  • honest conversation

  • authentic community

  • spiritual exploration

But not necessarily church structures; Launching Faith is perfectly designed for that cultural moment.