Newfrontiers founder Terry Virgo on revival, letting go and building churches that last

From a rebellious teenager to the founder of a global family of 5,000 churches, Terry Virgo’s story is inspiring. He reflects on why he’s still praying for revival, his infamous interactions with Mark Driscoll and why, when it comes to church growth, numbers don’t always tell the whole story

When the founder of Newfrontiers – a network of 5,000 churches across 80 nations – tells me: “I’ve never known how you build a movement,” I believe him. As a new biography of Terry Virgo makes clear, there was never a grand strategy behind what became one of the most successful church planting movements of the modern era. But there was a lot of prayer. 

The 86-year-old is a gifted communicator with strong convictions. Those who’ve worked closely with Virgo often testify to his humility and gentleness. In some ways, he’s an unlikely leader – the son of a school caretaker whose first years of being a Christian were spent backsliding in dramatic fashion.