Hubology: When is a Hub Is Needed?
When is it time for hub team to be formalized? What if the best leadership strategy is waiting? What if structure is suffocating your sprouts?
Cory Ozbun, Brian Johnson, Rob Wegner
In movements, timing is everything. You can't just "build" a hub because it sounds like a good idea—it's like trying to create a wineskin before you’ve planted any grapes. In other words, we need to slow our roll. The key is waiting until the need arises.
In fact, we don’t even have to “build a hub team.”
Hub team’s emerge.
Let me explain. We get asked all the time in the Kansas City Underground, "How do you plant microchurches?" And we kindly reply, "We don’t." We plant disciple-makers—people who love well, live incarnationally, plant the Gospel, make disciples—and voilà, microchurches just emerge. It’s like planting seeds and letting the Spirit do the gardening.
As soon as we start talking about "building" or "planting" microchurches, we’re usually tiptoeing into the old wineskin of church planting—where it’s all about a meeting, a central leader, a program, and a place. Newsflash: Jesus said He would build the Church, not us.
In the same way, as one microchurch emerges, and from that one extended spiritual family, another one forms, just like with biological families, a family tree begins to form.
Before a hub can be launched, the groundwork must already be laid. The origin story starts with a committed team of disciple-makers—practitioners, not just participants—actively planting the Gospel, living on mission, and calling others to join. When the fruit begins to sprout, and microchurches multiply and grow, that's when the need for a hub to nurture and support the expanding movement becomes undeniable.
In other words, now we’ve got the vine and the wine.
A hub team isn’t “built” in a classroom; it grows organically, with the vine, sprouting from cracks in the sidewalk, in the streets, and on the move. You can’t force structure before the need is real—do that, and you’ll crush the very thing you’re trying to nurture. So let’s talk about when it’s time to formalize a hub—and what to do next when you feel that call.
Step 1: Recognize the Need 🚦
It starts with ordinary people living as disciple-makers, planting themselves in an unreached pocket of the world. They breathe in prayer, breathe out fasting, listen to their people and place, engage in countless conversations, embody the good news, and share it with others. Along the way, a new spiritual family begins to form—a microchurch. Then, from that microchurch, or one nearby, a fresh yet familiar story unfolds in another context, and another microchurch emerges. And again. And again. What started as one becomes a family of families—a collective of three to five microchurches.
In our experience, once you have 3-5 microchurches, a Hub team is already in there. If you look, you always find a Hub team in the mix. By then, a group of elder-level leaders has already emerged—leaders who have already been catalytic. They have already been informally coaching and equipping others. They’ve already been convening—inviting leaders to dinner, gathering around the fire pit to pray, and creating space for relationships to flourish.
If you haven’t seen at least three to five microchurches emerge, it’s probably not time for a Hub. But once you’ve hit that milestone, the need for a more formal, organized Hub team will become clear. Once you hit that three-to-five mark, you're beyond the threshold where things start to get messy in a good way, and the need for a hub becomes essential.
Please be careful: If you jump into developing a hub too soon—especially in a Western context—you risk importing old wineskin expectations. In the design world there’s a phrase, “snap back to grid.” In digital design software, a designer uses a grid system to create layouts. When a designer moves elements out of alignment, they can “snap” those elements back into place along a grid line by enabling a “snap to grid” feature.
There’s a deep, unconscious “snap to grid” in the Western church. If you launch a Hub team too soon, everyone in your network will likely snap back to the old model—assuming you’re the “church staff” and expecting you to play the same role as every other pastor in a traditional church. Trust me, I’ve had this conversation dozens of times with young leaders who wanted to launch in the new paradigm but got ahead of themselves, wrapping it in too much structure and "trellis" too soon. The result? Everyone snaps to grid on the old paradigm and can’t snap out of it.
A hub to soon will kill the possibility of movement rather than fuel it. Wait for the need to arise naturally, and trust that your faithful work will lead to greater fruit.
Step 2: Cultivate and Form a Diverse and Committed Team 🤝
Once you’ve discerned the need, it’s time to formalize a hub team. These are the people who’ve already seen a microchurch emerge and are already informally coaching and eldering others. Look around the network and seek out the FIVE-FOLD gifting of APEST (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers). A healthy hub will reflect both the diversity of these gifts and the diversity of your context. The more diverse your team, the more equipped you'll be to handle the varied challenges and opportunities of supporting a decentralized movement. Because let’s face it: a one-size-fits-all team? Not gonna cut it.
In terms of characteristics, each team member will be imperfect, but over the course of time consistently demonstrates:
Devotion to Jesus: Their hearts beat with a relentless passion for Jesus and His Kingdom, above all else.
Dependency on the Spirit: They rely on the Holy Spirit, knowing that apart from Him, they can do nothing.
Diversity in gifting: Their team is a tapestry of unique gifts, each contributing to the flourishing of the whole.
Dedication to the Mission: They live with a singular focus—advancing the mission of Jesus in every neighborhood and network.
Interdependence on others: They understand that true strength comes from mutual submission, where every member honors the other
These teams become like coals at the center of the fire for their collective, and the help curate and keep the culture and DNA.
In the Kansas City Underground, we have formed a four month Hub Development Cohort, by which we onboard new hub teams. You can take a look at the outline below. The Huddle is a reverse classroom, where seasoned Hub Leaders meet weekly with the new Hub Team to facilitate discovery-based, obedience-faith learning in a relational environment. Facilitators create space for the new Hub Leaders to listen to the Spirit, share insights, and take practical, Spirit-led next steps. Rooted in high-support, high-challenge dynamics, the training prioritizes helping new Hub Teams form Action Learning Plans to carrying them into their first 6-12 months.
Step 3: Establish Rhythms of Extraordinary Prayer and Fasting 🙏🏽🍞
Before diving into strategy, establish a rhythm of extraordinary prayer and fasting. This isn’t a one-time “kickoff” exercise; it’s a continual posture of radical dependence on Jesus. We don’t move ahead of Him or work apart from His presence. Before human plans, we seek the will of the Father. The most effective hubs aren’t birthed from ambition but from listening and joining Jesus where He’s already at work. This dependency becomes your team’s culture—it’s woven into your DNA. There are Five Coals to a Culture of Extraordinary Prayer and Fasting we seek to cultivate. You can dive into those here:
Step 4: Develop Pathways for Equipping, Coaching, and Convening 📚💬🤝
Now, design the pathways that will guide your hub. These must align with the three core functions: equipping, coaching, and convening. Each hub will contextualize these, but every pathway should be clear, actionable, and focused on supporting leaders. Here’s how:
Equipping: Provide the tools, training, and resources leaders need to thrive.
Coaching: Offer continual encouragement, accountability, and personal guidance.
Convening: Create spaces for leaders to collaborate, learn, and realign with the mission.
These pathways are the heartbeat of the hub, reflecting the unique needs of the leaders you serve. While they may vary from hub to hub, they must always be anchored in the three non-negotiable core functions essential for a thriving decentralized movement.
Is It Time for You to Build a Hub Team? ⏳
Here are the key questions to ask as you consider whether it’s time to develop a Hub Team:
Do you have three to five microchurches consistently emerging in your network? 🏡
Do you have a diverse team of leaders, ready to commit to the work and embody the mDNA and the Five Characteristics? 👥
Are you ready to establish rhythms of Extraordinary prayer and fasting to ground your Hub in radical dependency on Jesus? 🙏🏽
If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then you’re ready for the HUB DEVELOPMENT Cohort—a 16-week journey that will guide you in establishing the minimal systems and structures to support a decentralized network of disciple-makers and microchurches. We will be launching another cohort this fall. Our primary purpose is to train our hub teams in Kansas City, but we always keep a few slots open for teams from other cities. If you’d like to apply, let us know. It’s free. Send us a note here.
We are also offering a KC UNDERGROUND INTENSIVE on June 22-23. The Intensive is a two-day experience designed to help you embody movement principles and build a core team that can live them out together. Guided by local Hub leaders, you’ll explore how ordinary people are joining Jesus in everyday spaces—and begin discerning how to cultivate a decentralized, disciple-making network in your own context. Learn more and register here.
This has been helpful and clarifying for gaining awareness regarding where I (and others) are at on the journey and how to better respond to what the Spirit is doing in my context. Appreciate y'all!