Learning to Multiply

As a young church planter, I hadn’t considered ordinary people qualified to start new churches. We understood discipleship but not locally-trained pastors—it seemed that worked only overseas. When we launched our first daughter church, we faced resistance from other pastors who viewed it as rebellion or some hippy thing.

A “Branch of Hope”

Richard Agozino transformed our view of New Testament methods. Richard, a former merchant seaman had jumped ship and traveled across Mexico in an open rail coal car. Eventually investing his savings into gold stocks on a tip from a friend he netted enough to buy a house. He approached life with full force, and when he met Jesus, he didn’t hold back. He placed a massive sign on his van reading, “I’m a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?”

Richard led a Navigator group looking for a church home. They had outgrown several houses and, finding a nearby church unfriendly, explored ours as a refuge. He interviewed me thoroughly, asking countless questions about our beliefs. When he was satisfied, he moved his group in, and we were off to the races.

Seeds of A New Thing

Planning to move to New Zealand, Richard began leading Sunday night services in Torrance, when young families in our congregation struggled with long drives. Still preparing for New Zealand, we met Don MacGregor, a missionary who spoke of church multiplication in the Philippines, where freelance pastors led a movement drawing 55,000 annual converts. This inspired us to keep Richard local; New Zealand was out, and South Torrance was in. By December 1973, “Branch of Hope,” led by Richard, held its first Sunday service.

Twenty-five of our 125 members left to start this congregation, yet 50 showed up. Our “125 minus 25” miraculously equaled 175, confirming God’s view of church planting. The new church met in a home, then a park, later renting a nightclub, then a recreation center and finally settling into a Seventh-Day Adventist church building for three years.

Church Planting Lessons

Branch of Hope grew to over 400, built a boy’s ranch, and planted four more congregations within five years. Richard launched a movement of church multiplication, setting the stage for churches that planted other churches. What began as a “small garden” grew into a farm.

I would later focus on planting multi-generational churches, but for a few years, we celebrated “first-generation” congregations. Today, five decades on, Branch of Hope thrives—a testament to what God builds. Richard Agozino’s actions helped spark a lasting movement.