The Stewardship Question

Your church is already
funding discipleship.
Do you know what it's producing?

The average church invests $85,000–$165,000 annually in formation-adjacent programming. Most of it is working against itself — not because the intent is wrong, but because the infrastructure is missing.

What you're already spending

Your discipleship budget already exists.
You just can't see it as one number.

These are not new line items. They are already in your budget — spread across six categories, funded by the tithes and offerings your congregation faithfully gives. Together they represent your church's formation investment.

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation
Curriculum, materials, small group resources
Christian Education
Sunday school, VBS, Bible study resources
Evangelism & Outreach
Campaigns, events, visitor materials
Youth & Children's Ministry
Programming, staffing, resources
Missions & Benevolence
Local and global engagement, benevolence
New Member Follow-Up
Assimilation, onboarding, welcome systems

These are not new expenses. You are already paying for discipleship outcomes. The question this page answers is whether you can see what they're producing.

The Disciple Drift Calculator

Enter your church. See your number.

Four inputs. A diagnosis and a side-by-side recovery plan. This changes how you read your budget and care for your flock.

Annual Budget Total church budget
$
Weekly Average Attendance
Annual New Visitors First-time guests per year
Members in Formation Pathway Small group, class, etc.
45%
0%National median: 45%100%
Your Disciple Drift Report

Here's the short version: your church already spends about — a year trying to help people grow. About — of that isn't reaching its full potential — and roughly — are falling through the cracks right now.

What You're Already Spending
—
What your church already spends each year trying to help people grow in their faith.
Money Slipping Through the Cracks
—
Roughly what's lost each year when people don't have a clear next step. Not money you're wasting — money that isn't doing what it could.
People Without a Next Step
—
Of everyone currently in your church, how many aren't in a small group, class, or any other clear next step.
Two Ways to Close the Gap

Each plan below recovers part of the money slipping through the cracks you just saw above. Subtract what the plan costs, and what's left is the value you keep.

Starter
Best for: getting every sermon working as hard as it can, every week.
$900/mo · $10,800/yr
What this plan covers 35% — weekly sermon experience
Money recovered —
Annual plan cost −$10,800
What you keep —
For every $1 you spend, you get back about — — like planting a seed that comes back bigger than what you put in.
Most churches choose this
Growth
Best for: covering the sermon and raising up the next layer of leaders.
$1,500/mo · $18,000/yr
What this plan covers 55% — + Leadership Layer
Money recovered —
Annual plan cost −$18,000
What you keep —
For every $1 you spend, you get back about — — like planting a seed that comes back bigger than what you put in.
Growth costs about — more per year than Starter. But it covers more ground — including raising up leaders, not just delivering sermons — which is why it's estimated to bring back about — more, for a net advantage of about — over Starter in year one.
At your numbers, Starter gives you the strongest return in year one. Growth becomes the better financial choice as your church grows — and it includes help raising up leaders from day one.
At your numbers, neither plan fully pays for itself within the first year — and we'd rather tell you that plainly than hide it behind a label. The drift you saw above is still real. It just means a church this size needs a smaller first step before the dollars catch up to it. That's not a verdict on your church. It's information you didn't have before today.
How we got this number
We start with about 28% of your total budget — roughly what national research shows churches spend on things connected to discipleship: classes, small groups, outreach, youth ministry, follow-up. Then we look at how many of your people don't have a clear next step — the bigger that gap, the more of that spending isn't reaching its full potential. We also factor in your new visitors, using national research on what a person is worth to a congregation over time. This isn't a hard accounting number — it's a credible estimate to help you ask the right questions about your budget, not a replacement for your own financial review.
Where this research comes from
  • The forgetting curve (Ebbinghaus) — One of the most tested findings in psychology: people forget most of what they hear within days unless someone reinforces it. That's the foundation of the "slipping through the cracks" math.
  • Hartford Institute for Religion Research — Runs Faith Communities Today, the largest ongoing survey of U.S. congregations across denominations.
  • Lake Institute on Faith & Giving — Their 2024 Giving in Faith report ties congregational generosity to how connected people feel to where they give.
  • Vanco Payments — A decade of real giving-pattern data across thousands of congregations, used to ground the dollar estimates.

"You are not adding a new cost. You are recovering return on what you already steward."

These are estimates meant to guide a conversation about stewardship, not an audit. Individual results vary.

Not sure if Multiply is the right fit?
The one

The numbers tell you what's happening.
This shows you who.

The Drift Calculator showed you a number. Behind every number is a person. Choose someone who may have already left your church. Read their story. Then ask the one question that makes the status quo impossible.

Their story
Be the church that reaches back
Pass It Along
Your message is ready.
Two clicks to send — choose your channel.
Your message

No forms. No funnels. Just a real conversation between two pastors.

30 Days. Your Church. See What Moves.

Start free. No card. Full access.

Tell us where you are. We'll set everything up and walk through it with you personally. After 30 days, Starter continues at $900/month.

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Fully Managed · Covenant Pricing

The message doesn't end on Sunday.
Neither should your infrastructure.Built for you. Running for your people. Every week.

Every plan is built and run for you. No team required. No tools to learn. Just your church, your message, and a system that keeps working all week.

30 Days Free
Starter
Churches finding their weekly rhythm
$10,800 /year
or $900/month — first 30 days at no cost

"The message I preached Sunday is still working on Wednesday."

  • ✓Every sermon, every week — without your team
  • ✓Your church's own sermon home
  • ✓Ministry Fit — your people matched to where they belong
  • ✓Monthly analytics digest
  • ✓Quarterly strategy session with Leslie
Weekly Sermon Experience Activity Guide produced from your message every week — Learn, Connect, Live It Out — branded to your church, sent to your people. No extra work on your end.
Sermon Library A dedicated home at go.yourchurch.org — every experience accessible directly. No accounts, no app, no friction.
Ministry Fit Assessment Gifts-based matching to real ministry roles. Members discover where they belong. You see who's ready. No more weekend volunteer scramble.
Monthly Analytics Digest Who engaged, who moved, what connected. Not a dashboard to manage — a report that tells you something true.
Quarterly Strategy Session A focused 45-minute call with Leslie four times a year — reviewing what's working, what's next, and where Multiply can go deeper for your congregation.
Every sermon, still working all week long.
30 days. Your church. See what moves. · Talk first →
Most Churches Choose This
Growth
Churches building momentum and carrying others
$18,000 /year
or $1,500/month

"Our people are doing things between Sundays we've never seen before."

Everything in Starter, plus
  • ✓The Leadership Layer — group experience built every week
  • ✓Testimony Library — member stories, captured and working
  • ✓New Member Journey — a front door open all week
  • ✓One network nomination included
  • ✓Monthly impact report + priority support
The Leadership Layer Every week your sermon becomes three pieces: Activity Guide, Member Handout, and Facilitator Guide. The group experience is built. You just lead it.
Testimony Library Your members' stories — collected, curated, and shareable as pastoral care. The body bearing witness to itself.
New Member Journey A guided experience for first-time visitors and new members, tied to your sermon, running without your team. Your front door never closes.
Network Nomination One nomination included. Activate Testimony Library and New Member Journey for a smaller church in your network at $75/month. Additional sponsorships at $1,800/yr each.
Monthly Impact Report + Priority Support Full engagement picture every month. Your questions answered first.
The full system. Stories surface. People move. You see it.
Book a Strategy Call
Impact
Networks, seminaries & multi-site
$30,000+ /year
Annual partnership · custom scope

"The same rhythm, across every campus and context we serve."

Everything in Growth, plus
  • ✓Dream Chaser Kids — the next generation, discipled
  • ✓One rhythm across every campus
  • ✓Seminary alumni dividend model
  • ✓Cross-network leadership visibility
  • ✓White-glove setup + dedicated account manager
Dream Chaser Kids Youth-focused discipleship built in partnership with dreamchaserkids.com — the next generation in the rhythm.
Multi-Site Coordination The same discipleship infrastructure across every location — branded per campus, managed from one place.
Seminary Alumni Dividend Your alumni churches generate passive monthly revenue back to your advancement office. No campaigns. No asks.
Network Analytics Discipleship health, engagement patterns, and leadership pipeline data across every church in your network — one view.
Built for the network. Scales without the overhead.
Talk to Us
Built for
Seminaries Networks & Church Groups Denominations & Districts Conferences & Events
Not sure if your church is ready? Take the Readiness Pathway →
Want to see what drift is costing you first? Run the Disciple Drift Calculator →
Before you say yes
Multiply is a partnership, not a subscription.
Read our four shared commitments — they define what working together actually looks like.
Read the Partner Circle
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Three choices. One message. Written for the pastor you have in mind — not a template, not a blast.
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No forms. No funnels. Just a real conversation between two pastors. multiplymission.org