October 1, 2026
ROSWELL, Ga. — More than 100 pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders gathered at Northside Church on April 23 for Send Network One Day, an event centered on helping churches embrace a culture of multiplication through disciple-making and church planting.
Hosted by Send Network Georgia, the one-day gathering featured worship, keynote teaching, breakout sessions, and fellowship designed to encourage leaders to think beyond attendance growth and toward reproducing disciples, leaders, and churches.
Patrick Fielder, church planting catalyst for Send Network Georgia, opened the event by encouraging attendees to take advantage of the training and collaboration opportunities throughout the day. Breakout sessions addressed topics including leading in multiethnic ministry, the role of women in multiplication, developing leaders in Spanish-speaking congregations, and leading churches to multiply.
Ryan McCammack, Send Network director for Georgia and pastor of Gospel Hope Church, delivered the opening keynote, calling church leaders to embrace multiplication as a biblical responsibility rather than settling for simple addition. Drawing from 2 Timothy 2 and his own experiences in church planting, McCammack emphasized that healthy churches are not merely gathering crowds but intentionally developing disciples who will disciple others.
He challenged attendees to view multiplication as more than a strategy or ministry trend, describing it instead as the natural outcome of faithful disciple-making. “Church planting is not the ultimate goal,” McCammack said. “God being glorified through the multiplication of disciples is the goal.”
McCammack acknowledged that ministry and church planting often come with hardship, but warned leaders not to mistake difficulty for failure. “If it’s hard, it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong,” he said. “If it’s hard, it might mean you’re doing it right.”
He urged pastors and church leaders not to retreat from the task of making disciples, but instead to trust God’s provision and strength. “When God calls, He also enables,” McCammack said. “When God sends, He also supplies.”
McCammack also highlighted the importance of partnership within Send Network and among Georgia Baptists, reminding leaders that church planting is not meant to happen in isolation.
After lunch, Bryan Loritts, teaching pastor at The Summit Church in North Carolina and vice president of regions for Send Network, continued the multiplication theme, also preaching from 2 Timothy. He urged leaders to build lasting ministry legacies through discipleship.
“If you want to leave a legacy, give your life to multiplication,” Loritts said.
Loritts pointed to Paul’s investment in Timothy as a model for disciple-making ministry. He said many churches have become focused on addition rather than true multiplication.
“In mathematical terms, discipleship is not addition, it is multiplication,” he said. “We are wonderful with addition, not so well with multiplication.”
Loritts stressed that discipleship is fundamentally relational and cannot happen from a distance. “You’ve got to do it up close and personal,” he said.
Drawing from his own life, Loritts described how mentors and ministry leaders personally invested in him through consistent example, encouragement, and accountability.“What made me,” he said, “was life-on-life discipleship.”
He concluded by calling churches to develop reproducing followers of Christ who will continue investing in others long after current leaders are gone. “God, give us a hunger for multiplication,” Loritts prayed. “Give us a hunger to produce reproducing followers of Jesus.”
For many attendees, the event provided both practical tools and renewed urgency for disciple-making.
Jin Kim, part of the Acts2 Network’s Rooted church plant in the Duluth-Lawrenceville area, said the emphasis on multiplication strongly resonated with him as his congregation approaches its first anniversary.
“I feel like it’s very clear to me the priority is multiplication,” Kim said. “What I’m planning to leave here with is not just multiplication on a general level, but to really be more intentional in investing in a few people and really pouring into them.”
Kim said partnerships with Send Network Georgia have already helped his church navigate ministry opportunities around Emory University and begin conversations about future college ministry efforts.
Paul Laso, lead pastor of North Georgia Fellowship in Fort Oglethorpe, said events like Send Network One Day provide valuable opportunities for continued growth and learning.
“You never stop learning,” Laso said. “There’s always things that I’m constantly trying my best to figure out — how can I improve, how can I help my team become better stewards of what we’ve been blessed to have.”
Laso planted North Georgia Fellowship in 2018 and said leading a growing church requires constant adaptation and intentional leadership development.
Danny Abell, a resident church planter preparing to launch Reliant West in Temple, said one of the greatest encouragements from the event was the reminder that church planters are not alone.
“There are so many other church planters out there,” Abell said. “You’ve got to remember there’s people that you can lock arms with. When you feel like you’re the only person, there’s a lot of other people you can lean on.”
Ultimately, the end goal is to raise disciples to reach the lost, said Steve Browning, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Alpharetta. “What will it take to reach every person in Georgia with the gospel? Multiplication. Multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches. That’s what Send Network One Day was all about: moving to a multiplication mindset for ministry.”
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