ABOUT
MULTIPLY GLR
Starting new churches is an adventure that is reaching people far from God with the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. The Great Lakes Region (GLR) of The Wesleyan Church is committed to discovering, developing, and deploying church planters, so the adventure is far less lonely, and the mission becomes more effective together.
MULTIPLY GLR
We are a network of networks, focused on not just building relationships, but on the kind of relationships that are creative and collaborative, so you can be connected with those of similar philosophy and approach to starting a church, that can help you start new churches over and over again. There’s more than one way to start a church. Because of this, we are committed to connecting you to the resources and people that are starting churches in the way you find yourself drawn to. Not every church fits every community, nor does every new church resource fit every church planter, so we help you find what fits you.
We are generous with our friends and we invest in family. We want to give away as much as we can to anyone who wants to see new churches start. For this reason, almost everything we offer is free of charge. When it comes time to invest dollars into new church starts, of course, we want to prioritize those who are a part of our family of churches, called The Wesleyan Church. We invite you to partner with us as a friend, and if you’re interested in finding family, we’d invite you to start that journey with us as well.
What We Do:
We help leaders discern their call to church planting.
We help church planters find the right training, coaching, and startup resources.
We help church planters find funding to fuel their mission.
We connect church planters to church planting networks.
We equip churches to send out new churches and fresh expressions of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We help all kinds of churches find ways to participate in the multiplication movement.
Affiliation:
MultiplyGLR is an initiative of The Great Lakes Region (GLR) of The Wesleyan Church. We seek to be generous with our friends and invest in family. Find out more about the GLR family of multipliers.
Multiplication Lead Team
Andy Merritt
Andy is the planter and Lead Pastor of Rivertree Church in Jackson, MI. In addition, he serves as the Executive Producer for church planter assessments for The Wesleyan Church. In this role, he oversees the assessment process for the United States. He holds an M.Div from Wesley Seminary and is currently working in a D.Min through Asbury Seminary in the area of Church Multiplication.
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Steve McVey
Steve McVey is the Executive Director of Dirt Roads Network. He served as the Lead Pastor of Lamont Wesleyan Church from 2000 to 2020. To accommodate a growing need, LWC started a satellite location that transformed into a church plant and subsequently planted two other churches. During this time, Steve was led to start Dirt Roads Network in 2018. The vision of DRN is to transform rural America by planting and revitalizing life-giving, Bible-believing, community-transforming churches in small towns and communities. Steve regularly speaks at conferences at the district and national levels, teaches cooperatives with rural pastors across the United States, and actively shares his heart for the rural pastor. Steve married his lovely wife Samantha in 1989. They have two amazing children and are proud grandparents of a granddaughter and grandson.
Nathan Neihof
Nathan Neihof lives just outside of the city of Port Huron, MI, and serves as the lead pastor of Hillside Wesleyan Church where he has been on staff since 2012. Nate sensed a call to vocational ministry on his life but never would have imagined that call would take him north of the Ohio River, let alone so far north to Michigan. But he and his wife Melissa have found that the center of God's will is the greatest location to live in and there is such fulfillment in it. What makes Nate's heart skip and whistle is inviting people into the Kingdom community and helping them live out their Kingdom purpose by loving God, loving people, and living sent.
Troy Evans
Troy enjoys hanging with his wife, 5 children, and his army of grandchildren. Troy has been the Lead Pastor of 4 urban church plants including “The EDGE URBAN CHURCH”. He served as Church Planting Catalyst for the Wesleyan Church. Then spent two years in England starting an Urban Church Planting Network. Troy has been featured on several national/international media outlets including 700 Club, The Harvest Show, Focus on the Family, NPR, and TEDx. He currently serves as Co-Owner of Hustle Pray Eat, Nitrogen Urban Network & President of Operations / Life Coach for Restored Counseling Group. Troy’s book “The EDGE of Redemption” has been used by universities and ministries to equip and challenge individuals to reach the "hard to reach" in the urban context in the US and England.
Marv LaLone
Marv, his wife Robyn, and their three kids moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in 2011 on a Coast Guard assignment, settled in Kinross in 2012, and quickly fell in love with the community and the people. After a 4-year stint in Detroit, Marv retired from a 20-year career in the Coast Guard and was hired as the Community Life Pastor at Sault Wesleyan Church. While exploring church multiplication as a staff, Marv and his family felt called to step out and plant Good News
Church in Kincheloe, Michigan which they did in June 2021 with a small but amazing group of devoted disciples of Jesus. Good News Church officially launched in May 2022. Marv loves to spend time with his family and friends and hunt upland birds with his English Setters, Skipper, and Ida Mae. In the Spring you’ll find him (and sometimes the whole family) out making maple syrup!
France Blandon
"I was born in Colombia into a Christian home. At the age of 13, I decided to accept God's calling to serve in his kingdom. I went to the Biblical Seminary of Colombia and started doing mission trips to indigenous communities located in my country. When I got married, my husband and I went to live in an indigenous village and started our first church. Our last church planting was in Wakesha WI where we lived for seven years. We have 3 children and two granddaughters and currently live in Milwaukee. As of now, we are involved in forming teams of multipliers and discipleship in our region".
Jim Gulish
Jim Gulish currently lives in Cadillac, MI. He felt a call from God on his life to go into full-time pastoral ministry and has been serving for 25 years. Jim holds a bachelor's Degree from Indiana Wesleyan University in Christian Ministries and his Masters's Degree from Wesley Seminary. Jim is married to his wife Rachel for 25 years and has 4 children. They have planted two churches and continue to be a part of multiplication efforts in ministry. Jim is currently the Lead Pastor at Dighton Church, with a vision to equip and send people into the surrounding communities to reach the lost and forgotten. Jim loves being outdoors, whether it’s riding his Harley Davidson or sitting in a tree stand deer hunting.
Curtis A. Thompson
Dr. Curtis A. Thompson was ordained as a licensed minister in July 2005. He obtained his M.Div. from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Thompson completed the doctorate program at Wesley Seminary for Transformational Leadership in May 2020. In August 2022, Dr. Thompson became a Faculty Advisor for the Black Leadership in Ministry Doctoral Program at Nazarene Theological Seminary. As the Associate Executive Pastor of Engagement at Kentwood Community Church, he manages the missional objectives of the church to “Know Him” and to “Make Him Known”. Dr. Thompson provides oversight for connection opportunities in adult ministries. Dr. Thompson has a passion for his family and the people of God. He is dedicated to transforming lives by teaching and preaching that an intimate holistic relationship with God is the most important relationship in our lives.
Josef Bullocks
Dr. Josef Bullocks was born and raised in Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 2004 he was ordained as a deacon. In 2009 he was ordained as Elder and youth pastor in the church, serving and building in the community. In 2005 Josef started his own construction company called; Joe’s Construction LLC. In 2018 he and his family started a family takeout restaurant that will help those in the church and community be able to have experience in food service. In 2020 he started a new lawn care company that also serves as a social enterprise for hands-on training. He also has taken on the roll as lead pastor at Purpose Church Ministries. Pastor Josef Bullocks is a dedicated husband, father and leader in the community and is looking forward to continuing servicing in any capacity in this great city and abroad.
CHURCH
MULTIPLICATION
What We Believe:
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Church planting is the most effective evangelistic methodology to reach those missing from Christ and the Church.
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Every man, woman, and child should have ready access to a church that is biblically based, doctrinally sound, and contextually appropriate.
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It will take all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
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Every Christ-follower is a disciple-maker with a holy calling and vocation.
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Prayer and obedience to the Holy Spirit is the bedrock of God’s mission on earth.
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There are many ways to start a church, so we celebrate innovative and even atypical expressions of church.
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Multiplication movements require local churches to take responsibility for raising up and parenting future church planting teams.
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The healthiest church planting will happen in the context of relational networks.
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Women and men leading in mission, from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, are a demonstration of the power of the gospel.
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The command of Jesus to make disciples of all people is intended for the church today as much as it was intended for the church in the first century.