Posted on 9/26/2012 by Greg Ligon in the Learnings Blog Multi-Site Blog
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This week in our new series "Frequently Asked Questions about Multisite Churches," we start digging a little deeper into what a multisite church looks like and what the advantages/disadvantages are for this type of church. One thing is for certain, it is not a "one size fits all" concept. Multisite churches come in all shapes and sizes that are tailored for their particular ministry.
What kind of church uses the multisite approach?
The multisite approach works best for already growing churches but is used by all types of churches. The majority of multisite churches are suburban, but many can be found in urban contexts and some in rural contexts. Multisites are found among old churches and new, mainline and nondenominational, and in all regions of the country. Smaller churches (930-200 people) tend to do multisite as a niche outreach or as a regional-campus approach. Medium-size churches (200-800 people) that go multisite tend to have only two or three campuses. Larger churches (800-2,000 people) and megachurches (2,000 people and up) are the most likely to be multisite and to do it in a way that develops a large network of campuses.
Why become multisite?
The purpose of becoming a multisite church is to make more and better disciples by bringing the church closer to where people are. The motivation is to do a better job of loving people, including different types of people, with an outcome of making significant advances in obeying Jesus’ Great Commandment (Matt. 22:37-40) and Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Churches report that conversion growth is greater on their extension campuses than at the original campus.
What are the advantages of a multisite church?
- Assists in reaching friends and family unwilling to travel a great distance to church
- Brings together the best aspects of larger churches and smaller churches
- Increases the total number of available seats during optimal worship times
- Overcomes geographic barriers when a church facility is landlocked or tightly zoned
- Enables untapped talent to emerge each time a new venue or site is opened
- Mobilizes volunteers through an added variety of ministry opportunities
- Improves a church’s stewardship of funds and resources
- Enables a church to extend itself into smaller niches
- Models and trains people for church planting elsewhere
- Provides a pipeline for the development of emerging leaders and future staff
What are the disadvantages of a multisite church?
Going multisite can stretch the budget, invite criticism from other churches, and make new demands on church leadership; therefore, to be successful, it is vital that the key leaders of the church be unified and enthusiastic about the decision to go multisite.
Looking for additional information? Please be sure to visit our Multisite Resources page for extensive list of resources such as books, concept papers and blogs.
By Greg Ligon
Vice President and Publisher Leadership Network greg.ligon@leadnet.org twitter - gregligon
Comments
We are a rural church in West Virginia that 2000 people call home. We have launched two multi-site campus and we are in the process of launching our 3rd and 4th. Every strategy has it’s down side and multi-site is no different. But it allows us to re-purpose two strategies that reshaped the American landscape in the 1800’s.
In 1790, right after the Revolutionary War, only 10% of Americans attended a church. Yet, 50 years later, in 1840, the spiritual landscape of America had changed dramatically. In one generation America was transformed from a nation in which 90% of it’s population ignored church, to a nation in which 75% of it’s population attended church regularly. Of course that had a profound social impact on our country.
In 1790 there were 2000 pastors in America, pastoring 2000 churches. But 50 years later there were 40,000 pastors in America pastoring over 40,000 churches. The two denominations that led the nation in multiplying churches were the Methodist and the Baptist. Both used innovations that allowed them to maximize the impact of their leadership and grow exponentially. The Methodist used a form of multi-site in which one pastor preached the same sermon to 2, 3, 4, or 5 congregations,over a series of weeks. The baptists used the plow-boy pastor, in which a spiritually grounded person with leadership skills pastored the people in his community, though he was not formally trained. These simple innovations proliferated congregations all across the frontier and reshaped it.
The multi-site approach allows us to re-purpose these 19th century strategies for the 21st century. Like the Methodist Circuit Rider, our preaching team at our home campus is leveraged so we can share the same sermon with 2, 3, 4, 5 or more congregations, but because of great technology we can do this the same time, rather than over a series of weeks. Because our campus pastors do not have to carry the pulpit, we are able to utilize spiritually grounded leaders who have not been theologically trained to lead our campuses. That expands the leadership pool we can fish from to find good campus pastors. We give them on the job training to improve their practical skills (i.e. how to do baptism, weddings, funerals, form small groups etc) but the campus pastors are freed from the hours message preparation, so they can focus on pastoring their local congregation.
God used these two strategies 200 years ago to transform a nation that was teetering on the edge of secularism. Our hope is that God will re-purpose these 19th century innovations through the multi-site movement and use them again to change the landscape of a nation that is once again teetering on the edge of secularism.
Steve Felder
Executive Pastor
Horizons Church
Lost Creek, WV 26385
It’s almost funny how we put a new “innovative twist” on a very old (biblical) method of church gatherings. They met daily from house to house (local) and sometimes in large gatherings of thousands. A few decades ago we called it branch churches. Now it’s called “campuses”
Great insights Steve and Roy. Thanks.
Greg,
This was an encouraging read for me personally. It was just so encouraging to be reminded of the “why” behind Multisite (MS) again. I think we (Seacoast Church) have done MS for so long that we spend more time looking about the “who, what, where & when” behind MS and not enough time reminding ourselves of “why” we do church this way! The line I will chew on as I plan where we will plant our next Seacoast campus will be; ‘The purpose of becoming a multisite church is to make more and better disciples by bringing the church closer to where people are”. Man, that line alone will pump me up for the next season of planting…Thanks for the reminder!
I also plan on sitting down with our CP’s at our monthly meeting to discuss the 10 advantages of Multisite. Again, I think we forget that this is not a strategy only, but a MOVEMENT!
Cool stuff bro…
Jeff Kinney
Regional/Multisite Pastor
Seacoast Church
Glad that this was helpful. Always great to be reminded of the foundations, the basics ... and the why!
Greg Ligon
, As a pastor of a chucrh in a small town (Shippensburg, PA) my jaw dropped as I read this blog post first because of how Brand New Church is ministering to this chucrh down the street and secondly because they are a chucrh in the denomination I’m affiliated with as well. Thanks, Shannon, for loving The Church and for reaching out in this manner. What an example you are setting! Blessings. on 07 April 2011 / 12:20 PM