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?
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