Charting the Future
of Multisite Churches
A national research project to equip leading and emerging multisite churches to overcome obstacles, leverage opportunities, and multiply campuses and impact.
Be a part of this project, help us identify your church:
Survey is Now LIVE
- 12Stone Church
- Ada Bible Church
- Bayside Church
- Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale
- CedarCreek Church
- Central Church
- Christ Fellowship Church Miami
- CrossPoint Church
- The Church of Eleven22
- EastLake Church / Community Church Movement
- Family Church
- First Baptist Church of Orlando
- Flatirons Community Church
- Grace Family Church
- Lakepointe Church
- LCBC Church (Lives Changed By Christ)
- Manna Church
- Menlo Church
- New Life Community Church
- NewSpring Church
- North Point Ministries
- Sandals Church
- Seacoast Church
- Southeast Christian Church
- Traders Point Christian Church
- Vox Church
- Willow Creek Community Church
Our Vision
Practical Insights for Churches Ready to Multiply
Through shared oversight, data collection, benchmarking, and best-practice exchange, participating churches gain the tools they need to overcome obstacles, leverage opportunities, and multiply campuses and impact at an unprecedented scale.
The multisite strategy has become the proven model for church reproduction — with over 8,000 multisite churches across the United States. This research initiative brings together the leading minds in multisite ministry to deliver actionable, data-driven insights shaping the next decade of church growth.
The Multisite Landscape
Estimated Multisite Churches in the United States
0
+
Megachurches
Are Multisite
0
%
of 1K–2K Attendance Churches Now Multisiting
0
%
Books by Our
Research Team
0
+
How It Works
From Survey to Strategy in Three Phases
A clear, research-driven process designed to turn raw data into actionable intelligence for your church.
01
The Survey
Multisite churches complete a comprehensive survey covering growth patterns, campus strategies, staffing models, and multiplication approaches. All data is confidential and aggregated.
02
Research & Analysis
Led by Dr. Warren Bird and Jim Tomberlin — two of the most recognized names in multisite research — our team analyzes the data, identifies trends, benchmarks performance, and extracts best practices from the highest-impact churches in the United States. This is the most robust multisite dataset ever assembled.
May — July 2026
03
Insights Released
The full research report goes public. Participating churches receive exclusive benchmarking data and personalized insights tailored to their context.
October 1, 2026
Who Benefits
Built for Churches Pursuing Multiplication
Whether you manage multiple campuses or are exploring the multisite model, this research delivers value.
Multisite Leaders
Benchmark your strategy against peers. Uncover growth patterns and gain data-backed insight into what’s working across the multisite landscape.
Emerging Churches
Considering a second campus? Learn from churches that have navigated the journey — their wins, pitfalls, and proven frameworks.
Denominational Leaders
Access comprehensive data to guide strategic investments, support struggling congregations, and accelerate revitalization efforts.
Researchers
The most robust dataset on multisite church health and growth in the United States. Fuel your work with rigorous, current field data.
For Multisite Churches
Take the Multisite Survey
Your church is multisite and you want to participate in the research. Your data shapes the findings — and you’ll receive exclusive benchmarking insights in return.
For Everyone Else
Stay in the Loop
Not a multisite church but want to learn from the research? Sign up to receive the public report and key findings when they’re released October 1, 2026.
Our Sponsors
We Could Not Do This Without Them
Our hand-selected partners have stepped up financially to sponsor this important work. We encourage you to take a moment to get acquainted with each of them and the impact they’re making.
Visioneering Studios helps businesses, nonprofits, and churches design and build spaces with purpose, journeying with them from first dreams to the grand opening as trusted storytellers of their space.
Wesleyan Investment Foundation serves ministries through strategic, faith-based financing, empowering churches to purchase property, expand facilities, renovate spaces, or refinance existing debt.
Exponential serves church planters and the organizations they are affiliated with, accelerating multiplication of healthy, reproducing faith communities.
CapinCrouse provides professional solutions to organizations whose outcomes are measured in lives changed.
Portable Church Industries helps growing churches launch new locations fast and thrive in rented venues by delivering turnkey, volunteer‑friendly systems that transform any space into a complete worship environment.
The Church Lawyers provides comprehensive legal counsel tailored to churches and nonprofits.
Church Growth Starts with a Click. Helping churches navigate digital tools to reach new people in their community.
Digital Support Staff for Church Operations — So You Can Shepherd Souls.
Research Leadership
Led by the Best Minds in Multisite Ministry
Decades of combined experience in church research, multisite strategy, and pastoral leadership.
Sean Morgan
Founder, The Ascent Leader
Coach and speaker with a national reputation as a catalyst of fresh vision. Founded The Ascent Leader for relational leadership development. Hosts the Leaders In Living Rooms podcast.
Dr. Warren Bird
Researcher & Author
One of America’s leading church researchers. Author of 35+ books for church leaders. Former Senior VP of Research for ECFA and Leadership Network. Major 2026 project with The Ascent Leader.
Jim Tomberlin
Multisite Strategist
Coach and speaker with a national reputation as a catalyst of fresh vision. Founded The Ascent Leader for relational leadership development. Hosts the Leaders In Living Rooms podcast.
Sean Morgan
Founder, The Ascent Leader
Hover to learn more
Sean Morgan
Founder, The Ascent Leader
Sean Morgan is the founder of The Ascent Leader, a pioneering organization dedicated to relational leadership development for local church pastors. He hosts the Leaders In Living Rooms podcast and serves as project executive sponsor for the Futures Coalition Multisite Church Research Initiative.
His favorite titles are “Stacy’s husband” and “Kaylee and Ayden’s dad.
Dr. Warren Bird
Researcher & Author
Hover to learn more Dr. Warren Bird
Researcher & Author
Warren Bird, Ph.D., has co-authored 35 books for church leaders, all drawn from his study of innovative and growing churches, and each designed to help leaders expand their evangelistic and disciple-making impact. He is widely recognized as a leading researcher on church plants, megachurches, multisite churches, merger churches, and lead pastor succession.
Earlier in his career, Warren served with the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth, researching and profiling many of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the United States . He later contributed to leadership initiatives with Willow Creek Canada’s International Leadership Centre and the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary.
For 13 years, Warren served as Research Director for Leadership Network, helping entrepreneurial church leaders move from ideas to implementation and increased ministry impact. He later served 7 years as Senior Vice President of Research and Equipping at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
In addition to writing or co-authored 35 books, Warren has published some 200 magazine articles and more than 30 major research reports on church leadership and congregational trends.
An ordained minister in The Christian and Missionary Alliance, Warren has served in pastoral ministry for more than a decade, both church planting and on senior staff of a large church.
Warren and his college sweetheart, Michelle, have two grown children. They live in a suburb of New York City.
Jim Tomberlin
Multisite Strategist
Hover to learn more Jim Tomberlin
Multisite Strategist
Over four decades of diverse ministry experience, Jim has pastored a church in Germany, grown a megachurch in Colorado, pioneered the multisite strategy at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and served as Chief of Staff at Christ Fellowship in Miami.
In 2005, Jim founded MultiSite Solutions, a church consulting company that has helped hundreds of churches multiply their impact through intensive consulting in multisite strategy, church mergers, and leadership succession.
From 2019–2024, Jim partnered with Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group to expand their capacity to assist more churches.
Known as @MultiSiteGuy, Jim continues to track developments in multisite ministry and is widely recognized as a national expert in the field. He is also known as @MergerGuru, having co-authored the leading book on church mergers and assisted numerous churches through the merger process.
Jim is the author of 125 Tips for MultiSite Churches, Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work—Expanded and Updated, and Church Locality: New Rules for Church Buildings in a Multisite, Church Planting, and Giga-Church World.
Jim resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Georgia State University in Atlanta and a Master of Theology (Th.M.) from Dallas Theological Seminary. Jim and his wife, Deryl, have three grown children and eleven grandchildren.
Sean Morgan
Founder, The Ascent Leader
Hover to learn more
Sean Morgan
Founder, The Ascent Leader
Sean Morgan is the founder of The Ascent Leader, a pioneering organization dedicated to relational leadership development for local church pastors. He hosts the Leaders In Living Rooms podcast and serves as project executive sponsor for the Futures Coalition Multisite Church Research Initiative.
His favorite titles are “Stacy’s husband” and “Kaylee and Ayden’s dad.
Dr. Warren Bird
Researcher & Author
Hover to learn more
Dr. Warren Bird
Researcher & Author
Warren Bird, Ph.D., researches cutting-edge churches and works with their leaders to multiply their evangelistic and disciplemaking impact. He is widely recognized as among the nation’s leading students, researchers and writers about megachurches. As @lensweet tweeted, “No one knows more about megachurches than @warrenbird.”
He has authored or co-authored over 35 books, receiving several awards along the way. For example, he received the prestigious Gold Medallion Award, the top honor given by the international trade association for Christian publishers. He has also contributed collaborative chapters or sections to 7 other books. He has published almost 200 magazine articles and more than 30 major research reports. He has served on advisory boards for several magazines and several other book projects.
An ordained minister, he served on staff for 11 years at Princeton (N.J.) Alliance Church, an innovative church with a worship attendance approaching 2,000. Other pastoral experience includes leading a C&MA church-planting team for four years. He has also served as a long-time regularly contributing faculty member at Alliance Theological Seminary, teaching in the D. Min Program.
Warren Bird’s Ph.D. is from Fordham University in sociology of religion. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and Wheaton Graduate School, Wheaton, Ill. (B.A., M.A.) and Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack, N.Y. (M.Div.). He is licensed under The Christian and Missionary Alliance Metropolitan District.
In his early years of ministry , Warren Bird served on Carl George’s senior management team of the Pasadena-based Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth. His responsibilities included visiting, interviewing, researching, and profiling many of the largest, fastest-growing, or newest churches in North America. In subsequent years, he did similar research and development for the Canadian-based International Leadership Centre – Willow Creek Canada and for the Asbury Theological Seminary-based Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership.
More recently, he served as Research Director for 13 years at Leadership Network, North America’s leading organization to help entrepreneurial church leaders in growing churches move from ideas to implementation to increased influence and impact.
Next, he served for 7 years as Senior Vice President of Research and Equipping at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit accrediting agency designed to enhance trust and certify integrity in Christ-centered churches and ministries.
Today he is a fulltime writer and researcher, engaging in new studies of growing churches and developing new books from those interviews and insights.
Warren and his college sweetheart Michelle have two grown children and they live in a suburb of New York City.
Jim Tomberlin
Multisite Strategist
Hover to learn more
Jim Tomberlin
Multisite Strategist
Over four decades of diverse ministry experience, Jim has pastored a church in Germany, grown a megachurch in Colorado, pioneered the multisite strategy at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and served as Chief of Staff at Christ Fellowship in Miami.
In 2005, Jim founded MultiSite Solutions, a church consulting company that has helped hundreds of churches multiply their impact through intensive consulting in multisite strategy, church mergers, and leadership succession.
From 2019–2024, Jim partnered with Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group to expand their capacity to assist more churches.
Known as @MultiSiteGuy, Jim continues to track developments in multisite ministry and is widely recognized as a national expert in the field. He is also known as @MergerGuru, having co-authored the leading book on church mergers and assisted numerous churches through the merger process.
Jim is the author of 125 Tips for MultiSite Churches, Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work—Expanded and Updated, and Church Locality: New Rules for Church Buildings in a Multisite, Church Planting, and Giga-Church World.
Jim resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Georgia State University in Atlanta and a Master of Theology (Th.M.) from Dallas Theological Seminary. Jim and his wife, Deryl, have three grown children and eleven grandchildren.
Social Media
What’s Next for You?
You’re Already Investing in the Future of MultiSite.
Why Not Invest in Yours?
The Ascent Leader is launching two exclusive cohorts in 2027 built specifically for multisite leaders. Learn alongside 6-9 peers who face the same complex challenges you do. Spots are limited. Apply today.
Multisite Lead Pastor Cohort
For those carrying the mantle of leadership for churches with multiple campuses.
Multisite Executive Leaders Cohort
For those overseeing ministry, strategy, and operations across multiple campuses.
I have been involved in a lot of cohorts and been invited to many others, but there is nothing out there like the Ascent. The excuse is that no one in leadership really has time for something like this, but the reality is that no one should be taking on the responsibilities of leadership without being in a group like this.
— Chris Brown, Senior Pastor, North Coast Church 
Instrumental to my ministry leadership! Everything exceeded my expectations. The best cohort gathering I’ve been a part of.
— Josh Surratt, Seacoast
FAQ
Everything You Need to Know
Who can take the multisite survey?
The survey is designed for churches currently operating multiple campuses or locations. Regardless of size, denomination, or number of campuses — if you’re multisite, you’re invited to participate.
Is individual church data kept confidential?
Absolutely. All individual church data is strictly confidential. Published research presents only aggregated, anonymized findings. No individual church is identifiable without express permission.
What topics does the research cover?
Campus multiplication strategies, growth patterns, financial models, staffing approaches, technology adoption, community engagement, and the core challenges multisite churches face. It’s the most comprehensive study of its kind.
What if we're not a multisite church?
You’re still welcome! Sign up to receive the public research report when it releases August 1, 2026. The findings will be valuable for any leader interested in church growth and multiplication strategies.
When will the full research be available?
The survey opens April 21, 2026. Analysis runs through the summer, and the full public report releases this fall. Participating churches will receive preliminary insights as soon as they become available.
How can my organization become a sponsor?
Sponsor opportunities are full at this time. If you’d like to sponsor a future initiative, please contact us.
Who can take the multisite survey?
The survey is designed for churches currently operating multiple campuses or locations. Regardless of size, denomination, or number of campuses — if you’re multisite, you’re invited to participate.
What if we're not a multisite church?
You’re still welcome! Sign up to receive the public research report when it releases August 1, 2026. The findings will be valuable for any leader interested in church growth and multiplication strategies.
Is individual church data kept confidential?
Absolutely. All individual church data is strictly confidential. Published research presents only aggregated, anonymized findings. No individual church is identifiable without express permission.
When will the full research be available?
The survey opens April 21, 2026. Analysis runs through the summer, and the full public report releases August 1, 2026. Participating churches may receive preliminary insights earlier.
What topics does the research cover?
Campus multiplication strategies, growth patterns, financial models, staffing approaches, technology adoption, community engagement, and the core challenges multisite churches face. It’s the most comprehensive study of its kind.
How can my organization become a sponsor?
We welcome sponsorship inquiries from organizations aligned with our mission. Reach out through the contact form below to discuss partnership opportunities and sponsorship tiers.
Be Part of the Research That Shapes the Future of Multisite
On behalf of Sean Morgan, Dr. Warren Bird, and Jim Tomberlin — we can’t wait to jump in and watch what God will do through this important work.