Multi-site Church Road Trip

5 Reasons Why I Love Multi-Site

2010-09-29T07:56:23-05:00

We launched our sixth location at Potomac Yard. Can't wait to make the drive from our Capitol Hill location, across the 14th Street bridge, down Jeff Davis Highway and make a left turn into Potomac Yard. We're dreamed of this for quite some time!

I love multi-site for so many reasons. Here are five of them:

1) I think it helps us reach new people and new communities--especially in an urban context like DC.
2) I think it's healthy for our church--six locations means six times as many ministry opportunities.
3) I think it helps us with economies of scale and best practices.
4) I think it reduces dependence on and significance of one leader--it's a team effort. And last but not least...
5) Lord willing, I want to pastor one church for life. But I have an entrepreneurial itch that needs to be scratched. Multi-site does that. You never stand still. It never gets boring. And I think it keeps you focused on what's next.

Adapted from Mark Batterson's weblog at markbatterson.com.
Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church (www.theaterchurch.com) in Washington, D.C. One church with nine services in five locations, NCC is focused on reaching emerging generations. Mark is the author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase . Mark and his wife Lora live on Capitol Hill with their three children.”

Latest News About Multisite Churches

2010-09-09T15:51:19-05:00

Last week Leadership Network released an illustrated, highly practical report on the latest trends in multisite, based on a recent survey we conducted. Covers everything from finances to growth rates. Here’s a direct link to the full report, which is a free download: http://tiny.cc/multisite_report

Here’s a summary that Christian Post did of the report: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100903/survey-examines-phenomenon-of-multisite-churches/

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director for Leadership Network and a frequent contributor to this blog, a books blog and the learnings@leadershipnetwork.

Tozer and the Multisite Church

2010-08-18T15:07:21-05:00

I recently finished a biography of A.W. Tozer, and some of its ideas got me thinking about the various roles in multisite churches.

When A.W. Tozer preached in your church, the crowds were certain to grow. Many people today know this Christian & Missionary Alliance pastor primarily for his popular books like The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. They’ve reached millions and continue to sell, long after Tozer’s 1963 death.

Tozer’s official title for many years was that of “pastor,” but in actuality he focused his pastoral work very narrowly on preaching and teaching. He didn’t enjoy – and wasn’t particularly good – at pastoral acts like visiting the sick or training his elders. In fact, when he candidated at one church he said, “I’ll go anywhere to preach, but it needs to be clear that I am not interested in being pastor.” Indeed the church employed him at that very level: his sole responsibility was to speak at the Sunday morning and evening services. The church hired a second person to do everything else. That young man “will handle everything. You won’t have to attend board meetings, visit the sick, lay any cornerstones, attend any picnics, cut any ribbons or anything else. Just preach twice a Sunday, that’s it,” the church’s leaders had promised.

How is that dual-person role any different from today’s multisite approach of one person as teaching pastor and the other as campus pastor? I think Tozer (and many others like him) set quite a precedent that led in some ways to the splitting of roles in many multisite churches today.

What do you think?

posted by Warren Bird, Ph.D., co-author with Geoff Surratt and Greg Ligon of Multi-Site Church Revolution and Multi-Site Church Roadtrip. Warren also blogs on Leadership Network’s Learnings and Books.

a church with multi-sites becoming a multi-site church

2010-05-17T11:29:00-05:00

Tim Stevens is Executive Pastor at Granger Community Church and recently wrote out some of his thoughts about becoming a multi-site church, which he adeptly describes as being notably different than a church with multiple locations. Here's an excerpt ::

Recently I was asked the question: “Is Granger a multi-site church?”
I answered, “No, we are a church with a multi-site... on our way to becoming a multi-site church.”
I think there is a very distinct difference between a church that has more than one site–and a church whose very DNA is embedded with multiplication through additional campuses. ...
... we are together trying to figure out how to become a multi-site church.
I think we will truly be a multi-site church when…

…we begin to think multi-site as naturally as we breath. Right now, some times we remember a bit too late that we have more than one site.

…we begin to budget as though we have multiple sites.

Read the entire blog post from Tim Stevens >>

Having worked with multi-site churches in a Leadership Community during the past 2 years, I can attest to a difference in mind-set, structure, and DNA, for a church that is multi-site at its core. Yes, it is hard work, as any kind of change is; being able to serve more people with a campus location closer to where they live can also be very rewarding.

-- DJ CHUANG

How Widespread Are Video Sermons?

2010-05-11T12:20:52-05:00

I saw a write-up about video sermons in yesterday’s newspaper. With the title “Growing Churches Opt for Tele-Communication,” writer Yonat Shimron describes the rapid rise in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina of recording a pastor's message and then streaming live or hand-delivering it on a DVD to an ancillary site where it's played for a different audience. As she explains: “Though there are varying methods to the satellite concept, they share many of the same characteristics. Each satellite has a live praise and worship band and a local ‘campus pastor’ who makes announcements, leads in prayer and tends to the needs of the congregants throughout the week.”

So what’s new about that?

1. It’s becoming widely practiced, and I agree. “Over the past five years, nearly every megachurch” in the Raleigh-Durham triangle has gone to this teaching model, according to the article. So have many other churches.

2. It’s not limited to megachurches. The article tells of a recently launched church without a preaching pastor. Living Word Family Church, a non-denominational church in Wake Forest, is a congregation with about 1,000 people attending each Sunday. It opted to grow by duplication. When an older pastor in nearby Garner with strong ties to Living Word decided to retire, he turned over his congregation to the Wake Forest church. It became the Living Word South Campus. "I definitely think if Jesus was walking the earth today, he'd be using all this technology," said Steve Caronna, pastor of Living Word Family Church. "Jesus was the master storyteller and taught everything by illustration."

If you’re a multisite church, is that what your church is experiencing? Whether yes or no, please tell us by participating in our multisite survey now at http://tiny.cc/multisite2010 (and definitely before the survey closes on day’s end May 21). Thanks!