Santa Clarita, CA | The Micro-Church Incubator
Novo staff Brandon has been making new disciples and mentoring believers for many years, and he has a vision to see thousands of micro-churches multiply across Southern California, igniting a gospel movement that impacts the world. A micro-church is a spiritual family, led by ordinary people, that owns the mission of God for their network of relationships. Micro-churches usually emerge from Discovery Bible Studies with those who do not yet know Jesus. They are catalysts for seeing new disciples become disciple-makers, resulting in generations of disciples making disciples.
Brandon’s team encouraged the believers they were training and coaching to start these simple church expressions, but realized many of them never had a simple church modeled for them. How were they supposed to live into a vision they had never experienced themselves? So, their local missions team decided to develop and launch the “Micro-Church Incubator,” a 9-month immersive experience for ordinary followers of Jesus to discover micro-church and see that multiply in their contexts. And 16 people said yes!
About two-thirds of them had been through Novo’s Disciple-Making Cohort, and all of them were hungry to live on mission and wanted to be better equipped to do that. There were families with young kids, a young adult looking to do missions with YWAM, a single dad and his kid, a physical therapist, a doctor, and two teachers. All different ages and backgrounds but ready to run with Jesus.
A micro-church is a spiritual family, led by ordinary people, that owns the mission of God for their network of relationships.
The group gathered in Brandon’s living room to explore and experience what it really means to be the church together by studying the beginning of the book of Acts. The micro-church is a place where they are devoting themselves to prayer, the Word, fellowship, and sharing a meal together (Acts 2:42), all while encouraging one another in living on mission. They all make disciples in the places they live, work, learn, and play, but rather than inviting those new disciples to join this micro-church, they will multiply and start their own.
So far, one person is working on starting a Discovery Bible Study in Korean with his unbelieving parents. A woman is praying for five lost friends and seeing God open doors. A runner has begun having spiritual conversations with his friends and can envision a “Runner’s Church” taking shape. The doctor has found new courage to share his faith at the hospital. And it’s just the beginning!
