Multi-site Church Road Trip

Get it for free!

Our book, The Multi-site Church Revolution, is scheduled for release in early May, 2006. It captures the story of the widespread movement of churches that are expanding their ministries to include multiple formats, venues, and locations.  Those of you attending the Multi-site Coast to Coast Conference at Seacoast will receive a free copy provided by our publishing partner, Zondervan.  If you aren't able to join us in Charleston, we would still like to put a free copy of the book in your hands - at least 75 of you!   If you are a blogger and are willing to write a review of the book for your blog AND on Amazon.com, we will send a free copy to the first seventy-five bloggers who ask. Your review does not need to be favorable, just honest!  If you are interested click here to enter your contact information and our team mate, Stephanie will send you a copy!.

LifeChurch on Church Mergers

One of the many impulses fueling the multi-site church movement is the merger idea. For various reasons one church asks another church, "How could we join what you're doing? How could we become a church that follows your approach to ministry?" LifeChurch in Edmond, Oklahoma, has two experiences with this, and is actively exploring others. In this podcast Kevin Penry talks about the concept and the motivation point. People are willing to go through the inevitable pain associated with a transition when they want what's ahead more than they want to continue what they're experiencing now.

Saddleback Adds Second Campus

Saddleback Church in Orange County, California has been a multi-venue church for several years offering several worship styles in on-site worship spaces. On Easter they launched their first off site venue at a high school in San Clemente. Over 1800 people came to the first service and they had 42 people commit their lives to Christ. In recent months Saddleback has had to turn people away on the weekends, so it will be interesting to see how multiple campuses will help deal with their phenomenal growth.

Did you say 5 launches on one Sunday?

Following is a portion of an email I just received from the team at Living Hope in Vancouver, WA.  They launched 5 new locations on Easter Sunday! Exciting stuff!

"A note of encouragement:

Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington is still in awe over what happened only two days ago on Easter weekend.  We had topped out at 3301 in attendance at six services prior to our satellite church launch.  This weekend we had 7446 people attend church during one of our 14 services in six locations.  Incredibly, 299 people stood up to choose Christ and be baptized!  Our numbers are unbelievable and "Only God" as our Senior Pastor John Bishop states so often, could have orchestrated the incredible life change that happened here in Vancouver.  We have found each of you to have such influence in our lives at one point or another from either your example or your prayers and want to say "Thank You" with all sincerity because many people received Christ this weekend and this is something that we can all celebrate together for God. 

We are already looking at phase 2 for more satellite campuses and larger venues.  Each campus this weekend had to turn away guests because they were filled to capacity.  Please, please continue to pray for us as we continue the vision God has given us to reach this area for Christ.  We thank you for offering your help to us during the planning of this launch and we covet your prayers!"

Note: - In the midst of this great joy, also be in prayer for Pastor John Bishop who will have melanoma surgery later this week.

Cheaper by the Dozen?

Well maybe not by the dozen but The Chapel in Gray's Lake is Illinois is going to launch three new campuses late this summer on the same Sunday!

The Chapel was planted 12 years ago.  In recent years they moved into a new building and the move was accompanied by explosive growth and an almost immediate need for more space.  They started a video venue and discovered 3 things: 1) it was a cheaper alternative; 2) it was a way to achieve their desire of high impact ministry; and 3) it was a way to move closer to the people instead of building one very large church and expect everyone to come to them.

In recent days the growth has continued and opportunity for expansion through multiple campuses is abounding.  The team has a focused plan that will result in the launch of three new campuses in August.  Two of the new campuses are actually "adoptions" - existing churches that approached The Chapel about the opportunity to "join forces."  The third campus will open in an existing church building that The Chapel snatched off the real estate market.

The Chapel is a part of our (Leadership Network's) fifth group in the Multi-site Churches Leadership Community.  The Chapel's team includes Jim Tomberlin, who pioneered the regional ministry at Willow Creek Community Church.  During out last meeting he made the following statement - "If you are going to be committed to multi-site, you should launch with at least 2 campuses."  Jim believes that the systems and plans that have to be developed to launch one campus really have the capacity to launch at least two ... and when you launch more than one you make a commitment to not just an additional campus but rather a model of ministry.  This is at the heart of The Chapel's vision.

What about you?  How many have you launched?  How many at once?  What have you learned along the way?

Mono-site Mentality

A couple of weeks ago, we (Leadership Network) launched our fifth group of churches in the Multi-site Churches Leadership Community.  You can go to their web-sites via the links in the right hand column of this blog.

Over the next days and weeks, look for some unique ideas that surfaced during that meeting.

Here is the first - do you have a mono-site or a multi-site mentality?

Many of the churches in the room were in the process of going through the morph from mono to multi.  The basic idea is not dissimilar to the phrase that surfaced in the late 80's and early 90's when churches began to talk about moving from being a church WITH small groups to a church OF small groups.  The statement we are hearing more and more consistently goes like this - "we are moving from being a church WITH multiple campuses/venues to a church OF multiple campuses/venues." Sounds subtle but the when put into the practice the implications are huge.

When you make the move from "MONO" to "MULTI" ... from "WITH" to "OF" ... all the conversations change.  You can no longer make decisions about children's ministry without asking the broader question of, "How will this be implemented at each of our campuses?"  When it comes to capital campaigns, the question must be asked, "Will we have a total church target, a campus-by-campus goal or some combination in between?"  "Can the worship experience created on campus A be recreated on campus B and campus and campus C?"  You get the picture!

Are you "MONO" or "MULTI?"  Are you "WITH" or "OF?" What are the implications for this philosphical shift in your churches?