11 Best Church Leadership Communities To Join in 2026
Finding the right church leadership community gives you support, insight, and connection to leaders who understand your journey. I’ll share trusted communities where you can learn, find encouragement, and lead your ministry with confidence.
Best Church Leadership Communities Shortlist
Here's a shortlist of the best church leadership communities I think are worth joining:
- The Lead Pastor - For peer-to-peer insights and encouragement
- Global Leadership Network - Best for exclusive global leadership summits
- Exponential - Best for church multiplication resources
- The Art of Leadership Academy - Best for practical leadership coaching
- Church Fuel - Best for visitor growth systems
- The Unstuck Group - Best for churches facing growth plateaus
- Association of Related Churches (ARC) - Best for church planting support
- Acts 29 - Best for Reformed church planters
- The Malphurs Group - Best for church strategy coaching
- Church Answers - Best for practical ministry answers
The 11 Best Church Leadership Communities
Below are my summaries of the best church leadership communities that made it onto my shortlist, plus others worth mentioning. My reviews offer a look at each community's audience, size, cost, and more.
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1. The Lead Pastor - For peer-to-peer insights and encouragement
- Audience: Pastors and church leaders
- Cost: Free registration
- Platform: Online
The Lead Pastor (TLP) serves pastors leading from the front—preaching, teaching, and caring for their congregations—while also balancing the day-to-day realities of organizing teams, resources, and ministry.
If you’re seeking practical ways to lead faithfully, cultivate health, and build a church that grows with purpose and endurance, you’re one of us.
Why join? We’re not about shortcuts or borrowed business formulas. We’re about wisdom, practice, and tools that serve the mission we've been called to. Through shared insights, practical resources, and a trusted peer community, The Lead Pastor helps pastors navigate the challenges of leadership.
Together, we're building churches that build people, revive communities, restore hope, and transform the world for the Kingdom of God.
2. Global Leadership Network - Best for exclusive global leadership summits
- Audience: Church leaders, pastors, nonprofit and business leaders worldwide
- Platform: Website, in-person events, online streaming, partner sites
The Global Leadership Network is a global leadership development organization. It's best known for hosting the annual Global Leadership Summit, a two-day event that brings together world-class speakers and leaders from across ministry, business, and nonprofit sectors.
This community has been running for decades and draws 350,000+ attendees across 100+ countries each year.
Why join? If you want to expose yourself and your team to high-caliber leadership thinking beyond the church world, this is one of the best ways to do it. Many churches already host the Summit as a local partner site, making it easy to bring the experience to your congregation.
You'll also get access to past Summit talks through a video library, team-training modules, and a monthly leadership newsletter. The cross-sector perspective is genuinely valuable for pastors who want fresh ideas that translate well into ministry contexts.
3. Exponential - Best for church multiplication resources
- Audience: Church planters, multiplying pastors, and network leaders
- Membership Cost: Free
- Platform: Website, national conferences, learning communities, webinars, digital resources
Exponential is a nonprofit community led by co-founder Dave Ferguson, built specifically for church planters and leaders committed to multiplying healthy, reproducing churches. It serves 100+ networks and denominations and runs national and global conferences alongside cohort-based learning communities.
Why join? If church multiplication is part of your vision, Exponential is one of the few communities built entirely around that focus. Its resources, events, and learning communities all center on helping churches reproduce.
You'll get access to free starter kits, research, and articles, plus paid conference experiences like Exponential NEXT. It's especially worth it if you want to connect with a network of like-minded leaders across denominations who are actively planting and multiplying.
4. The Art of Leadership Academy - Best for practical leadership coaching
- Audience: Senior pastors and church leaders seeking practical leadership growth
- Size: 14,000+ members
- Membership Cost: Free; From $17 per month
- Platform: Website, private online community app, live coaching calls, on-demand courses
The Art of Leadership Academy is private online community for pastors and church leaders at every stage of ministry. Created by Carey Nieuwhof—a best-selling author, podcaster, and former church planter—personally engages in the community alongside contributors like Craig Groeschel and Chris Hodges.
Why join? The Academy pairs a deep course library with monthly live coaching calls and done-for-you staff training kits you can deploy with your team right away. The All-Access tier unlocks Christian leadership courses on preaching, church growth, pastoral succession, and conflict, with completions that can transfer toward a master's degree.
I'd especially recommend it if you want structured, practical development you can put to use immediately—not just inspiration.
5. Church Fuel - Best for visitor growth systems
- Audience: Senior pastors and church leaders focused on church growth
- Size: 2,000+ members
- Membership Cost: From $199/month
- Platform: Website member portal, live coaching calls, on-demand courses, private community
Church Fuel is a coaching and resources platform built specifically for pastors who want to grow their church's attendance and improve how they reach and welcome new visitors. It's run by a dedicated team of ministry coaches and grow specialists who combine peer community, live coaching, and done-for-you tools into one membership.
Why join? What sets Church Fuel apart is its focus on the practical mechanics of church growth—think Google Ad Grant management, visitor follow-up systems, and Facebook ad coaching, all included depending on your tier. You'll get weekly live Q&A calls, on-demand courses, and 1-on-1 coaching, plus tools that sync with Planning Center to keep your team coordinated.
I'd recommend it if your primary goal is getting more first-time visitors through the door and building systems to keep them coming back.
6. The Unstuck Group - Best for churches facing growth plateaus
- Audience: Senior pastors and church staff seeking growth strategies
- Membership Cost: From $49/month
- Platform: Website member dashboard, online courses, live coaching calls, community chat
Founded in 2009 by Tony Morgan, The Unstuck Group is a church consulting firm that also runs the Unstuck Resource Hub—an online membership community for pastors and church staff navigating plateaus, structural changes, and ministry growth.
The team has worked with 800+ churches and brings that hands-on consulting experience directly into the membership.
Why join? What I find most valuable about The Unstuck Group is its data-driven edge. Members get access to the quarterly Unstuck Church Report, which benchmarks real data from hundreds of churches, plus ministry health assessments paired with actual coaching calls to help you interpret results.
The Resource Hub also includes masterclass archives, courses on staffing, multisite strategy, and vision alignment, and a community dashboard where you can connect with other church leaders. If your church feels stuck and you want more than inspiration—you want a diagnosis and a path forward—this is worth a serious look.
7. Association of Related Churches (ARC) - Best for church planting support
- Audience: Church planters and lead pastors in the U.S. and globally
- Size: 1,200+ churches
- Platform: Website, All Access app, in-person conferences and events
Founded in 2000 by Greg Surratt and Billy Hornsby, ARC (Association of Related Churches) is a global network of independent churches united around church planting, led today by Dino and DeLynn Rizzo alongside a lead team of prominent pastors including Chris Hodges and Rick Bezet.
With 1,200+ churches planted across the U.S. and internationally, it's one of the most established church planting networks available to pastors today.
Why join? What sets ARC apart from other leadership networks is that it actually invests financially in new church plants. When you join, you get access to structured coaching, a member resource app, and a peer network of church leaders at every stage of ministry.
The annual ARC Conference also gives you a chance to connect in person with planters and lead pastors from across the globe.
8. Acts 29 - Best for Reformed church planters
- Audience: Reformed church planters and lead pastors worldwide
- Size: 700+ members
- Platform: Website, in-person assessment conferences, regional and national events, online cohorts
Acts 29 is a global network of Reformed, gospel-centered churches united around church planting, with over 700 member churches across regions spanning North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia Pacific.
The network operates through a structured assessment process that vets theological alignment and planting readiness before you're brought in.
Why join? What makes Acts 29 genuinely valuable is how seriously it takes both theological clarity and relational accountability. It places you in a cohort with other planters at similar stages, which means ongoing peer support rather than a one-time conference experience.
The assessment process (covering 11 planting competencies and Acts 29's theological distinctives) is rigorous, but that's exactly what makes the network cohesive and trustworthy once you're in. Acts 29 is explicitly complementarian and Reformed, so if that's not your theological home, a network like ARC is likely a better fit.
9. The Malphurs Group - Best for church strategy coaching
- Audience: Lead pastors and church leadership teams worldwide
- Membership Cost: Free for churches outside the U.S. & Canada; paid subscription in North America at $99/month
- Platform: Website, Healthy Churches Toolkit, live virtual workshops, in-person consulting
Founded by Aubrey Malphurs, The Malphurs Group is a nonprofit church consulting organization built to help pastors lead healthier, more strategically aligned churches. Their Healthy Churches Toolkit is the main platform where that work actually happens.
Why join? Unlike peer networks focused on community and connection, The Malphurs Group is built around structured strategic frameworks—think Leadership Pipeline models, ministry audits, and Strategic Envisioning tools that you can actually apply to your church. Paid plans give you access to live monthly workshops, 100+ downloadable templates, and one-on-one coaching with a Certified Guide.
I'd especially recommend this if you're leading a small-to-mid-size church and need practical planning infrastructure without the cost of a full consulting engagement.
10. Church Answers - Best for practical ministry answers
- Audience: Pastors and church leaders seeking practical ministry support
- Size: 1,800+ members
- Membership Cost: From $9.97 per month
- Platform: Website, private forum, webinars, virtual office hours
Church Answers is a private online community for pastors and church leaders, built around Church Answers Central—a moderated forum where you can post real ministry questions and get responses, typically within 30–45 minutes.
It's led by Thom Rainer, former president of LifeWay Christian Resources, alongside Sam Rainer and Chuck Lawless.
Why join? What sets Church Answers apart is the speed and depth of its Q&A model. With 85,000+ posts across 40+ ministry categories, you're tapping into a mature, active library of peer knowledge alongside direct access to well-known church leadership voices.
I'd especially recommend it if you're a solo pastor or leading a smaller church where you don't have a team to think through challenges with.
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11. Christian Leadership Alliance - Best for executive church leadership
- Audience: Executive pastors and Christian nonprofit leaders
- Membership Cost: From $149/year
- Platform: Website member portal, online courses, in-person conferences, virtual events
Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) has been equipping Christian ministry and church leaders since 1976—originally founded as the Christian Management Association—and today serves executive pastors, church administrators, and ministry directors who need operational and organizational leadership skills.
It's a membership community focused on the business side of running a church or ministry well.
Why join? If you're an executive pastor or church administrator looking to grow in areas like finance, HR, board governance, or fundraising, CLA offers something few church communities do: a recognized professional credential (the CCNL), facilitated cohort learning through Outcomes Academy Online, and access to the annual Outcomes Conference.
I'd be clear that this isn't a community built around pastoral care or preaching—it's squarely aimed at leaders managing the operational complexity of a growing church or ministry. That focus is exactly what makes it worth considering if that's the role you're in.
Practical Advice Worth Checking Out
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- How to choose church management software you (and your team) will love
- How to start a church (story of New Life Fellowship)
- How to build a great church directory
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