Church Multiplication Associates (CMA) began in 1990 by a few pastors in the Southern California/Arizona District of Grace Brethren Fellowship of Churches. The initial meeting focused on their mutual desire to see new churches started in the So. California and Arizona region. The first attempt at forming a board to develop this work stalled and Neil Cole, then the pastor of Grace Brethren Church in Alta Loma, CA was asked to step in and take leadership of this new work. Within a few months a charter was written, vision was initiated and the foundation in place to begin this new work. While we have learned much in the course of 10 years, one need that has remained constant from the beginning and one we have continually worked to address, is the need of workers for the harvest.

In 1991, the church planting board had its first meeting to brainstorm what our vision should be for the next ten years. We concluded that if God blessed and our church plants multiplied, we should be able to plant 50 churches by the year 2000. We began our first new Church Incubator and started work on the Pastor Factory, which would eventually be called a Leadership Farm System and would be published in a work called Raising Leaders for the Harvest (Logan and Cole, 1995).

1995 was a pivotal year in CMA's history. It was to be the beginning of a two year drought for church plants in our district. It was also to be some of the most fruitful changes and advances in strategic development which would bear much fruit in the years to come. The Profile Assessment System was begun and has continued to provide us with top of the line church planter assessments. Today this system has been reproduced in places around the country and even into parts of Canada. This was also the year we introduced the Leadership Farm Systems and published Raising Leaders for the Harvest and Life Transformation Groups cards. Within a single year of the LTG cards being published, word had spread and LTGs were found on nearly every continent of the globe.

The following year we had to reevaluate our original goal of 50 churches by the end of 2000. That goal changed to "start a minimum of three churches every year and to see the momentum of multiplication increase each year." This new goal allowed us to focus on the task of reproducing disciples, leaders and churches in a more organic fashion. These changes would lay the foundation for CMA's breakthrough year in 1998.

Neil and a small team began Awakening Chapels in Long Beach, CA by reaching out relationally to lost urban postmorderns in a local coffeehouse. Within months many were coming to Christ and so a second church was commissioned under the leadership of Rob Ferris. Doug Lee came on board with a call to start a cell-celebration church in Fontana, CA. We were not only seeing fruit and reproduction, but also learning key concepts for establishing a church multiplication movement.

By the end of 1999, there were 9 Awakening Chapel churches started. Ed Waken, who had planted our first cell-celebration church in Peoria, Arizona called Valley Life Grace Brethren in 1994; had become a part of the CMA leadership, as well as an apostolic leader with a call to reach all of Arizona with church planting. There were two new church plants initiated this year: Big Fish in Mesa, AZ under Dezi Baker's leadership and Beacon of Hope in Cottonwood, AZ under the leadership of Lee Gilreath. Before we knew it we were actually on target to reach our original goal of 50 churches by 2000. CMA had also designed and implemented in 1999 a new system for training emerging leaders in systematic theology called Incarnational Theology Learning System (ITLS). CMA Resources was born due to the first publication of Neil's book Cultivating a Life for God published in April of 1999 and the first printing was sold out before the year was up.

In 2000 spontaneous multiplication began to occur at a rapid pace. Students from Dezi Baker's Big Fish chapel in Mesa, Arizona, started their own Big Fish chapel at the University of Tucson. Bryce Barnes, a leader with Dezi, felt called to replicate this ministry and moved to a suburb of Houston Texas and started Bug Fish there. Doug Lee's efforts in Fontana were paying off and a new chapel began in Alta Loma, CA. Rich Rossi, an experienced church planter, started Eternal Grace this year in Long Beach, CA. Jeff Knowles came on board in 2000 and started planting churches in the La Mirada/Whittier area known as Contagious Christian Fellowship; he would have three house churches by the end of the year. Awakening Chapels has continued to mutliply across the globe due to interns from around the world spreading this movement. David and Marcia Lantow had interned with Awakening to start a new work in San Francisco, CA. While John Laurain, who helped start three Awakening Chapels in Long Beach, was called by God to move to So. Oregon to start another Awakening Chapel. Shain Logeais, at the time, an associate pastor at Bridges, felt a calling to spontaneous church multiplication and connected with CMA birthed two Awakening Chapels in Long Beach. Heather Cole, Neil's 14 yr. old daughter, and all her friends started an Awakening Chapel of youth in Huntington Beach.

By January 1st of 2001, CMA had seen 53 churches begun under her watch. God had established our plans in spite of a two-year drought of planting. More importantly, God continued to increase our momentum of multiplication. By June of this year we would already see the initiation of 33 church plants, twice as many than last year! Most of these churches being birthed out of previous church plants. We have realized God's intent for CMA is much broader than originally thought and we now have missionaries reaching out in five states and four countries.

For the first time we have witnessed the birth of a movement from one of our previous movements! Awakening Student Initiatives began this year under the leadership of Shain Logeais. In its first semester four churches were started on two campuses here in the Long Beach area. We are also beginning a Worship Leaders Farm System with such gifted leaders as Doug Lee, Rich Rossi, and Eric Herron. Brian Ollman a church planter in Pomona and Dezi Baker are also creating innovative nonmusical worship experiences as well.

Today CMA is unlike any other ministry in the fellowship of churches. We began as an all-volunteer mission board and have become so much more. God has blessed us with resources, good strategic thinkers, an incredible network of friends and gifted people connected with us to plant churches. We now publish new materials, develop strategies, and our works can no longer be contained by one geographic region. Our influence has spread well beyond just Grace Brethren alone and So. CA. We have always maintained a small and visionary board of men committed to the Great Commission. Three of the four current board members have all planted a church for CMA in the past.

If you feel called to support our ministry, please visit our Resources page.

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