How do CPMs measure multiplicative growth?

• A. Growth by planting one church repeatedly
• B. Growth only through expatriate leadership
• C. Growth through top-down mission strategies
• D. Growth through local ownership and leadership development that leads to many churches multiplying

Answer: (D)

Multiplicative growth in a Church Planting Movement is driven by local ownership and leadership development that leads to many churches multiplying. When local believers take ownership of starting and sustaining new churches, they train others to do the same, creating a self-reproducing cycle. Each new church becomes a potential seedbed for additional churches, so growth accelerates as more communities are reached through indigenous leadership rather than relying on outsiders or centralized, top-down strategies.

This contrasts with approaches that depend on planting the same church repeatedly (often by outsiders), or on expatriate-led or top-down mission plans. Those methods tend to add attendance or structures in only a few places and don’t create the local capacity to reproduce widely and quickly. The emphasis here is on empowering local leaders, enabling rapid replication, and building a network of self-sustaining churches that multiply across a people group.