Recent church research cited by disciple-making organizations reports: - Fewer than 5% of U.S. churches have a true reproducing disciple-making culture (where disciples make disciples consistently). If applied to the 370,000 estimate: 0.05 \times 370,000 = 18,500 That means approximately: - ~18,500 churches may be functioning as true disciple-making churches - ~351,500 churches may gather people but are not multiplying disciples in a measurable way The bigger issue: attendance ≠ discipleship A lot of churches are strong at: - gathering crowds - weekend services - events - programs But many struggle with: - personal mentoring - accountability - leadership multiplication - sending disciples to make disciples That’s why many ministry leaders describe the American church as having a discipleship gap—lots of churches, but relatively few intentionally building disciple-makers. A simple way to say it If you’re teaching or speaking on this, a concise statement would be: The United States has roughly 370,000 churches, but research suggests fewer than 5% are effectively making reproducing disciples—meaning only about 18,500 churches may be doing discipleship the way Jesus modeled it.