The original church that has sent out an apostolic team is signified by the blue pentagon. In this example, the first church has sent an apostle who has started a new church.
Once the new church reaches maturity, new elders are appointed and the apostolic team moves out again to start another church. The apostle replicates his church replicates his ministry and then moves on to repeat the process. The arrowheads represent new churches.
The first church has also trained up some new elders and sent out another apostolic team. (The most experienced will be sent out).
Several years later the original apostle has started a third church. The first church he planted has sent out another apostolic team. The original church has now sent out three apostolic teams
A few years later, 6 new churches have been started as apostles have been commissioned and sent out. In each case, it is the best people who are sent out.
Multiplication
A few years later there are twenty-five churches. Multiplication is a very powerful principal as it produced exponential growth.
The Cutting Edge
The apostles represented by the purple dots have all started three new churches. The first apostle (red dot) has planted four. The important thing to note is that the best people are at the cutting edge. However, I am not just talking about seven people. Each dot represents and apostolic team, so there are at least 20 top people at the cutting edge. Moreover, there is a range of different ministries between them. This provides real protection and strength for the church as a whole. The strongest are on the battlefront with the world, where the going is the toughest. That is why the apostles are referred to as pillars of the church (Galatians 2:9). They are on the edge of the church holding it up.
Return to Apostle.
