The Acts 2 Journey is teaching ABNWT pastors something much deeper and important than how to grow a church.
Five ABNWT churches have completed an Acts 2 Journey, and fifteen more churches began their Journey in the Autumn of 2026. The process crosses cultures and works even in a war zone, as I worked with 27 churches in Ukraine in 2025. The Acts 2 Journey is a team-based, Spirit-empowered process of discerning God’s vision for a local church.
At the heart of every Journey is one question:
“How does the Holy Spirit want to use our church to be the Good News to our community?”
And we are seeing some remarkable results. Every church that has completed its Acts 2 Journey and launched its team-based vision has seen more salvations, water baptisms, new volunteers, and giving. Cold Community Church, the first Acts 2 church in the ABNWT, went from being stuck at 150 Sunday attendance for 18 months to cresting 400 in two Sunday services, with plans to expand its facility footprint.
But the numbers are only part of the story. Here are some of the things we are learning.
1. Spiritual health precedes numerical growth
Churches grow sustainably when they pay attention to their spiritual life—not simply their attendance. Prayer, dependence on the Holy Spirit, biblical community, discipleship, worship, and mission create the environment for healthy growth.
Acts 2 churches aren’t simply growing bigger. They’re growing healthier. And that’s exciting!
2. Churches move from maintenance to mission
Alton Garrison, author of A Spirit-Empowered Church, advocates, “it’s critical that our churches become outward-focused.”
The Acts 2 process helps churches ask an important question: Are we primarily trying to preserve what we have, or are we intentionally reaching people who are not yet part of Jesus’ Church?
Acts 2 Journey at Emerge Church, Sylvan Lake, AB
Acts 2 churches look beyond themselves and find emerging, unexpected possibilities. Pastor Joe Bott at Emerge Church, Sylvan Lake, explains, “We are early in the Acts 2 Journey, but have already found it to be a vital step in our church’s health. It has helped us to identify our sobering current reality and empowered us to dream again for what God can do in and through our local church.”
3. Vision becomes the work of a team
New vision brings new life. One of the strongest lessons we’re learning is that vision cannot rest solely on the pastor.
Acts 2 Journey at Streams Church, Red Deer, AB
An Acts 2 Vision Team of 8–12 people, representing different ministry responsibilities, demographics, and perspectives within the church, creates ownership beyond the pastor. This begins to develop a culture where leaders collectively carry the church's future. Ask Judy Marchuk at Wainwright Pentecostal Assembly or Bill Meade at Streams Church in Red Deer about their team-based, new visions.
4. Churches become healthier when people move from consumers to contributors
The Acts 2 functions—Connect, Grow, Serve, Go, and Worship—help people see that following Jesus involves participation.
Acts 2 churches are creating pathways for people to move from attending to belonging, from belonging to growing, and from growing to serving and going.
5. Small changes can produce significant results
We are learning not to underestimate small beginnings.
A church doesn’t necessarily need a massive program or a large financial investment to begin changing its trajectory. New vision brings new serving opportunities, a renewed emphasis on evangelism, a new ministry pathway, or a handful of newly equipped leaders who become catalysts for kingdom change.
Ukrainian members of Parliament met with Alton Garrison in September and came away believing Acts 2 churches could become centres of healing for trauma-damaged communities. I’ll be teaching a modular course at Lviv Seminary in late November based on the Acts 2 Journey.
6. Church growth is often a leadership issue before it is a resource issue
The ABNWT churches taking Acts 2 Journeys didn’t lack buildings, money, or programs. What they lacked were leaders who could see a future, mobilize people, and develop other leaders.
And now they have whole teams of leaders!
7. Healthy churches reproduce
The ultimate question of the Acts 2 Journey isn’t simply, “How do we become a healthier church?” It is, “What does our health enable us to reproduce?”
Empowered disciples make disciples. Healthy leaders develop leaders. Engaged churches create new opportunities to serve. Acts 2 churches began to imagine additional services, new ministries, community engagement, and other ways of multiplying their impact.
And Acts 2 coaches are reproducing coaches. Pastors Patrick Hazelwood, Mark McMillan and Stephen Valcourt are being trained to facilitate Acts 2 Journeys.
8. The Holy Spirit and strategic thinking belong together
Perhaps one of the most important lessons is that Spirit-empowered ministry and strategic thinking go hand in hand. It’s not either/or. In Acts 2, the team prayed, listened, discerned, planned—and then acted. Churches need Spirit and strategy.
9. Change happens relationally
The Acts 2 Journey is teaching us that people don’t simply respond to what is changing. They respond to how change happens.
Transformation requires trust, listening, patience, communication, and relational leadership.
That’s one reason the Vision Launch Sunday at the end of the Journey is so significant. When the Vision Team stands together, and each member communicates a component of the vision and the plans, people throughout the congregation can see themselves in the vision. They have someone on the team they know and trust who can help them understand where the church is going and how they can participate.
10. The pastor’s role is increasingly to equip others for ministry
The Acts 2 Journey moves churches away from the pastor being the person who does the ministry toward the pastor being the person who develops people who do ministry.
That is a vital leader shift.
Acts 2 churches refuse to depend on one person doing more. They depend on more people being equipped, empowered, and released to do what God has called them to do. And that connects beautifully with the ABNWT vision: Calling up, developing, and resourcing catalytic, Spirit-empowered leaders who courageously embrace God’s limitless call.
Would your church be next? You can take an Acts 2 Journey in 2027.
We’ll provide the coaching, resources, and support to help you begin the process of discerning what God has for your church.
Reach out to Bob Jones and Jeremiah Raible at coach@abnwt.com.
Bob Jones is the founder of REVwords.com, an author, blogger, and coach with 39 years of pastoral experience. Bob is also an Advance Coach with the ABNWT Resource Centre. You can connect with Bob here.