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The story of Multiply 2025
Multiply 2025, the annual church planting conference of CCX, saw 1,000 people gather together in Leeds, Birmingham and London to explore how the Church can multiply missionary disciples.
‘To be a disciple is very simple. It is to learn from Jesus the art of joy.’
So began Bishop Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn, whose opening talk laid a clear foundation for Multiply 2025, rooted in this year’s theme: multiplying missionary disciples.
‘We are a strange people. We live God’s future today. God’s future is joy. So we seek to live joyful lives now, because in our lives we are anticipating God’s kingdom. Our calling is joy — and we find that joy in one place: relationship with Christ. That is what being a disciple is all about.’
Bishop Philip began a programme that explored disciple-making tools, resources and local stories at gatherings and space for reflection. Delegates in Leeds, Birmingham and London were invited to pause and reflect on their own discipleship journey, asking what God might be calling them into. Guided practices such as the Examen and Lectio Divina helped participants listen attentively to the Spirit’s leading.
In his keynote, Gerald Griffin, pastor at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, offered a challenging yet hopeful perspective:
‘My thesis is that the crisis of discipleship in the modern Church isn’t a bug — it’s a feature. As the business maxim goes, “Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you’re getting”.’
Gerald invited delegates to examine the underlying ‘rule of life’ in their own church settings — systems that Gerald believed were likely established to help run a local church, getting members into small groups, service rotas and annual giving, rather than growing in spiritual maturity. Drawing on his experience in Portland, he unpacked how Bridgetown Church reshaped its culture to prioritise relational, practice-based apprenticeship to Jesus. This work now underpins Practicing the Way — a resource helping churches reimagine discipleship for today.
A range of seminars provided deeper contextual engagement with the day’s theme. A panel discussion with Libby Talbot (St Stephen’s Twickenham), Bishop Philip North, and John McGinley (Executive Director of Myriad) explored the relationship between being with Jesus and being sent by Him.
Elsewhere, Dave and Anna Lloyd and Matti St John shared stories from Garden Church, a network of house churches in Norfolk formed around small, rooted communities. Tom Clark (Church of England’s Vision and Strategy team) joined Chris Curtis and Jemimah Allen from Youthscape to consider what the wider Church might learn from how children and young people engage with discipleship.
The afternoon programme celebrated local stories from each city, sharing what God is doing through ordinary churches and faithful communities across the UK. The day concluded with a biblical reflection from Grace Bally-Balogun, CCX Church Plant Enabler and Lecturer at St Mellitus College, who called for courageous change:
‘Like Paul, addressing the Galatians, we need to ask the right questions to understand the culture we’re in, so we can lead the change we long to see. As you leave today, don’t return to ‘business as usual’. Do away with the same-sized cake tin — and begin to explore different options.’
Thank you — let’s keep the conversation going.
To everyone who attended, served, and shared at Multiply 2025 — thank you. Your presence, stories, questions and prayers made each gathering a space of encouragement and joy.
As we reflect on what we’ve seen and heard, we’d love to hear from you. How can CCX support you as you seek to multiply missionary disciples in your context? What connections or resources would encourage you? What further research would be helpful?
Please take a moment to complete our short feedback survey.
Together, let’s continue to learn from Jesus the art of joy, multiplying disciples who do the same.
