Dan Grider, the founding architect of Ignite, began his work of church multiplication in the late 80′s. In 1990 he planted a vibrant church in southern California called Daybreak. Daybreak grew to over 1500 in attendance and launched nine church plants and campuses in 17 years. The next five years were spent repositioning Beach Church in Myrtle Beach, SC to be a reproducing discipleship-making environment. Out of the work in Myrtle Beach several churches have been planted.

Dan relocated to Knoxville, TN, a central location, where he could launch the Ignite Church Network for church multiplication in the southeastern United States. Through a mentoring and discipleship-making model, he has created a strong and vibrant network of churches that reproduce leaders who are leading transformational communities.