Leadership Network is a community of multipliers who gather to collaborate, innovate, and pursue what God has next for his Church.
Healthy growth. 100X impact.
Our History
35+ years of helping leaders shape the future of the church.
In August of 2020, Leadership Network was acquired by Exponential and is now a registered supporting non-profit organization of Exponential. Exponential, with operating partner CDF Capital, has relaunched Leadership Network to build on its trusted brand and decades of impact to continue to serve leaders, local churches, and the Church for what is NEXT.
We will continue to carry the vision, culture, and DNA developed over the last 35+ years into this new season. Leadership Network’s solid reputation gives a foothold for future collaborative and convening initiatives. With its rich history and trusted relationship with church leaders, we are helping equip the next generation of change-makers who will guide and shape the church into the future.
Our Team
Carrie Williams
President and CEO
Having served the local church with humility and effectiveness, Carrie is a strategic, relational, and hardworking team builder. Carrie founded the national ministry The Truth Republic and served on the launch team and has been a key leader of The Church of Eleven 22.
Todd Wilson
Strategic Advisor
Todd is co-founder of Exponential and provides strategic guidance a portfolio of ministries. He is a Kingdom-entrepreneur who is naturally drawn to anything around the next corner.
Jon Wiest
Director of NEXT Ventures and Innovation NEXT
Jon is the Co-Founder of Mobilize the Church and Executive Director of Groundswell, a global ministry mobilizing a growing wave of disciple makers and pioneering leaders. He previously planted churches in Dallas, TX and Des Moines, IA.
Hal Mayer
NEXT Ventures
Hal has been in ministry for over 45 years. He has served the local church in roles such as student pastor, small groups pastor, executive pastor and lead/planting pastor. He spends his time coaching pastors, business leaders, and serving LN.
Dave Rhodes
Director of Church NEXT
Dave is the co-founder of Clarity House and the strategic director for the Grace Family of Churches headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. He has consulted with hundreds of local church leaders in creating disciple-making cultures for more than 15 years.
Rob Wegner
Director of Microchurch NEXT
Rob is one of the founding leaders and directors of the Kansas City Underground, a mission agency and network of microchurches and missional leaders. He is also co-author of Starfish and the Spirit: Unleashing the Leadership Potential of Churches and Organizations.
Brian Johnson
Director of Microchurch NEXT
Brian serves as a founder and director of the Kansas City Underground, connecting with training Hubs throughout the city. Brian and his wife Kristen live as missionaries with their five kids in their neighborhood, seeking to build an extended spiritual family there.
Mindy Caliguire
Director of Healthy Leaders NEXT
Mindy is the Founder and President of Soul Care, a spiritual formation ministry that exists to increase soul health in the Body of Christ. She speaks and writes on the topics of Soul Care and leads the growing team at soulcare.com.
Hannah Gronowski Barnett
Director of Generation NEXT
Hannah Gronowski is the founder and CEO of Generation Distinct. She is a sought after speaker at leadership conferences, churches, college campuses and youth events. She is the author of Generation Distinct: Discover the Wrong You Were Born to Make Right.
Aaron Barnett
Director of Generation NEXT
Aaron Barnett is the Director of Strategy & Partnerships at Generation Distinct. Aaron is also the Next Gen Catalyst for Exponential.
Barbara Martinez
Executive Assistant
Barbara has been working in ministry since 2016 in various positions such as the Assistant to the Campus Pastor and as a Connections Minister. She has dedicated herself to sharing her faith and discipling women within her church and community.
Bill Couchenour
Director of Learning Communities
Bill primarily serves network and denominational leaders. He also provides strategic and operational oversight of Exponential’s R&D and expanding educational opportunities.
Terri Saliba
HR and Finance Director
Terri has led conferencing and operations for Exponential for close to two decades along with her support of LN. She is the perfect mother hen but is really our goose laying the golden eggs.
MaryBeth King
Bookkeeper
Marybeth is able to juggle her bookkeeping responsibilities with being Exponential and Leadership Network's incredible customer service specialist. Her responsibility gene helps to make sure that everyone feels the LN love!
VISION
To see the Church flourish,
communities thrive, and the
whole land prosper.
MISSION
Championing healthy church
growth that is capable of
reproducing.
CORE ESSENCE
Distributing thought leadership.
DNA
Alongside
We come alongside strong leaders with big ideas to accelerate their results. Our fruit grows on other people’s trees.
Curation of Approaches
We seek to platform the aggregation of what God is up to rather than one model or approach.
Pursuing Next
We seek to look out the window and see what’s waiting to happen before others do.
Frugality and Stewardship
We seek to be faithful with little
so God will entrust us with more.
Diversity of Voices
We seek to be a diverse community of leaders who mobilize the latent capacity of the next generation
Convene
We bring churches that want to be influential, innovative, impactful, and involved together.
100X Impact
We help leaders get the clarity needed to move from good ideas and intentions to results and impact.
BELIEFS
God
God, the Creator of the world, is all powerful and all knowing. God’s ways are perfect and He despises sin.
Man
Man is separated from God due to sin. Without redemption from sin, man’s end is death. People matter to God. His love for man is so deep that God initiated action to cover man’s sin and to make a way for man to be reconciled to Him
Jesus
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Head of the church, is the only way to God and to eternal life. Jesus died for our sins, and rose from the dead so that man could be redeemed from his sinful nature and restored to a right relationship with God.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness of sins and eternal life are available to all who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Those accepting Jesus Christ should repent of sin, confess their faith, and be baptized into Him.
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit lives within and empowers every Christian.
Bible
The Bible is the inspired word of God, and our standard for living according to God’s ways.
Church
The Church is the body of Christ on earth, empowered by the Holy Spirit to evangelize the lost and to edify the believer.
