When Doug Vagle accepted the role of Director of MN Church
Multiplication, he did it knowing he was still called to be the
pastor of The Waters in Sartell. Doug is passionate about church
multiplication and didn’t want being part-time to negatively affect
the District’s church multiplication efforts. He dreamed with
Pastor Mark about forming a team to share the responsibilities of
encouraging, equipping, and coaching church planters.
Last summer Doug approached four ministers who have
church planting experience and asked them to focus on church
multiplication in specific areas of MN. Jarvis Glanzer planted
Watermark in Stillwater, and focuses on suburban church
planting. Mike Stevens planted Bigfork AG and Good Hope
Church in Cloquet, and recently parented Good Hope Church
– Morgan Park in Duluth. Mike focuses on northern MN, while
Jeff Wendt focuses on southern MN. Jeff planted Canvas Church
in Northfield and parented Canvas Church in Mankato. Scott
Woller planted Corner Church in Minneapolis, which has three
locations and parented Bridge Church in Jordan. Scott works
with urban church planting. Doug oversees central and western
MN. Together these five men are instrumental in connecting with
pastors who planted a church in the last three years as well as
coaching potential church planters.
Doug firmly believes that healthy things grow. He has created five
steps to plant a church in MN: healthy leader, healthy connection,
healthy development, healthy birth, and healthy growth. The
Lead Team has the opportunity to walk future church planters
through this process to plant healthy churches. Doug’s goal is
that 20 healthy churches be started by 2020 and for 125 healthy
churches to be started in the next decade. This can only happen
if we work together.
Any church of any size can be part of church multiplication.
Restoration Church in Glenwood is in a town of approximately 2,500
people. They might be a small church in a small community, but in
2017 they opened a campus in Sunburg, about 26 miles away. Place
of Hope in St. Cloud reaches people who struggle with addiction,
abuse, and homelessness. Tithes and offerings are minimal from
people in these circumstances, yet they saw a need to do more in St.
Cloud and opened a second location across town in 2017.
Often pastors believe their churches must be a certain size with
multiple staff pastors and a specific amount of income before they
can consider church multiplication. However, if people wait for
perfect conditions before having children, few babies would ever
be born. What if pastors could let go of the notion of perfect
conditions and dream about planting or parenting a church?
If God has laid church planting on your heart, let’s have a
conversation. Email Amber Woller at or call
612-332-2400.
