Our first church was planted in 2002 in New York City when our founder, Steve Stroope, saw the opportunity to support a high-capacity leader who felt called to one of the hardest to reach cities in our nation. The success of that first church plant to bring radical change to the people it impacted in NYC, sparked a vision for a continued strategy and garnered the support of like-minded partners who joined the mission.

In 2007, The Strategic Launch Network was formally established to better serve and connect both our church planters and our partners. For church planters, our goal was to provide encouragement, support, co-laborers, and opportunities for continuous learning. For partner churches, we wanted to create a more collaborative experience and a shared ownership in the work of church planting. 

Today, we’ve planted over 70 churches with a >95% success rate–SLN church plants and their pastors are equipped with mentorship from people who have walked this path before, friendship from fellow planters, and resources from our partners, such that the overwhelming majority thrive long-term.

As the network continues to grow and evolve, our initial vision continues to move us forward. Planted churches have now become planting, multiplying churches. Our story demonstrates how the missional vision of one pastor has become a legacy of Kingdom impact well beyond its own community, to the cities of North America.