Big Goals in Multisite Central Support

Posted on 11/2/2012 by Tim Nations in the Learnings Blog

Over the past week I have posted the first two of three articles on the launch of our Multisite Central Support InnovationLab, a one-year journey with six churches looking to expand their multisite strategy through the development of healthy support systems and structures.  You can catch up on the first two articles here:

Big Challenges, Big Questions in Multisite Central Support
Big Ideas in Multisite Central Support

In this, the final post, we will look at a few of the ‘big goals’ for the next 6 months that our teams walked away with. 

Beulah Alliance – Clarity in Who They Are
One of the key takeaways for the Beulah team was the importance of organizational self-awareness.  Without a clear understanding of what makes you are remarkable at as a church, and what you are willing (and not willing) to do,  the path forward in multisite gets muddled.  As they prepare to establish their campus constants, IPODs, and metrics, their first step is a move toward greater clarity.  A resource they will use in their quest for clarity is Patrick Lencioni’s book The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, which they will combine with a carefully planned offsite with staff.

Cornerstone Fellowship – Make the Shift from “With”
The team from Cornerstone realized they have some steps to take in order to become a multisite church, not just a church with multiple sites.  While structure and strategy will obviously be a major part of this shift, a first step for them is to educate the church on what being a true multisite church really means.  That process begins around the table with the Executive Team.

Fellowship of the Parks – Site Strategy
An “Aha” moment early on in the Lab for Fellowship of the Parks was a fresh perspective on site strategy.  Jim Tomberlin talked about a new trend toward smaller churches going multisite.  While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, one mistake many of these churches make is to launch new campuses before they obtain critical mass at the sending campus, both in terms of attendance and giving.  Doing so can create significant sustainability issues.  The team from FOTP returned home with a focus on the healthy growth of existing sites and an upcoming new site launch before continued site expansion.

Lifepoint Church – Establishing IPODs
Lifepoint’s vision for multisite includes the launching of 3 new sites over the next 5 years.  One takeaway from the Lab that will influence how they launch future sites is the use of IPODs (not Apple’s digital music players).  IPODs provide a simple framework for multisite churches to ensure that site replication happens consistently and in a way that aligns with the vision and DNA of the church.  IPOD stands for:

• Initial – What are the things we must to have in place initially when we launch a site?
• Priority – Once a site is launched, what priority items do we focus on developing first?
• Optional – What are the things that may be done at some sites but are not required at all sites (often due to size, location, demographics, etc)?
• Don’t – What don’t we do at any of our sites…ever?

From Implementation to Impact
Over the next 6 months these teams will be working to implement these and other goals related to central support.  We will continue to “peek” over their shoulders to see how God uses these strategic steps to multiply their impact for the Kingdom.  If you have interest in one of our future Multisite Central Support InnovationLabs, fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch for an interview.