From the Evangelical Covenant Church website:
Kansas Congregation Plants New Church Instead of Expanding
OVERLAND PARK, KS (April 15, 2009) – Mark Seversen, pastor of Hillcrest Covenant Church Blue Valley (HCPV), says he couldn't be happier with the way the congregation's first multi-site campus has started.
Hillcrest Covenant Church Blue Valley (HCBV) began its first worship service February 1 and has been attracting 150-170 people each Sunday, Seversen says.
The new congregation meets at 9:30 a.m. at Lakewood Middle School in Overland Park. They have their own worship team, but use a video of the sermon Seversen preached during the 8 a.m. service at the original church. Following the conclusion of that service, someone drives the video 20 minutes to the new church location.
When the leadership of what previously was known simply as Hillcrest Covenant Church began to consider how the congregation could reach more people, they barely considered starting a satellite campus. The option was a distant third, behind expanding their own facility or constructing another building, Seversen says.
The leadership decided against expanding the original facility because they believed people would not drive more than 20 minutes to visit a new church. Hillcrest also came close to buying property on more than one occasion. "We thought we were hours away from signing," says Seversen.
Seversen began to more seriously consider starting a second site after reading "The Multi-site Church Revolution." The book offers several different models for starting a multi-site congregation.
A number of people attending the original church already live in the area and are helping support the new initiative, Seversen says. The site currently has a campus director who helps oversee its operation, but the plan is for the church to have its own pastor within a year.
Whether the church remains a satellite campus or spins off to become a separate entity remains to be seen, Seversen says.
Comments