What is required for churches, their leaders and movements to be vital and sustainable?
Over 300 Global Church Movement (GCM) leaders gathered for the Motus Dei 2026 conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from March 17–21, 2026, to explore that question. At this year’s Motus Dei — a phrase meaning “Movements of God” — leaders from 93 countries were challenged not only to start multiplying church movements but also to ensure that the fruits of those movements are lasting and healthy.
Bringing together leaders from many national ministries was challenging. The outbreak of the current Middle East crisis caused numerous flight cancellations and high rebooking costs. Unfortunately, 80 leaders from 40 countries could not attend.
The conference’s twin focus on vitality and sustainability aimed to ensure that GCM continues to develop healthy, enduring leaders, churches, and movements. We stressed the importance of cultivating vitality in our spiritual and professional lives by intentionally and strongly abiding in Christ (John 15). By staying connected to His provision, we can build sustainable, healthy church-planting movements. This is achieved as workers are raised from the harvest to plant the next generation: disciples making disciples, churches planting churches, and movements giving rise to new movements.
A major new feature of this year’s conference was organizing participants into “house church” groups. These small groups of seven people from different geographic and ministry backgrounds allowed attendees to reflect on what was shared on stage and hear how those around their tables plan to apply it in their own ministry context. Participants said that this led to particularly lively discussions among peer leaders as they gained different perspectives on common ministry challenges and learned new ways God has worked through GCM around the world.
The powerful worship and spiritual input were also highlights of Motus Dei 26. Participants said they were leaving Addis Ababa with renewed passion and commitment, armed with clear application points to help plant and multiply vital and sustainable churches and movements, all flowing from a deep personal and spiritual connection with the Lord.