Fresh Perspectives on All Things Multisite
The following materials have been selected by Warren Bird, Ph.D., Research Director at Leadership Network, to expose you to the latest ideas, practices, and research. You will find much insight and help whether you’re on your first offsite campus or your tenth.
We recommend starting with the Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard Report (very first link below). This is the latest research based on the biggest study ever conducted. Then skim the rest to find topics that interest you most.
The tally below contains roughly 30 different resources. They’re organized by five broad categories: (1) those related to the Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard Report, (2) interviews on various topics with a wide assortment of multisite practitioners, (3) short video conversations between Dave Travis and Jim Sheppard on a variety of topics, (4) excerpts from the two most popular books on multisite, (5) and additional readings.
We’d love to hear your feedback or additional questions. Please contact us at research@leadershipnetw.wpengine.com. May God bless, guide and inspire you as you read and view this important material.
ADDITIONAL OPTION:To download any of the videos for offline viewing, click the “download now” link above the video viewer and save to your computer.
Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard Report
Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard – an illustrated, 36-page report covering over 25 major findings from a recent multisite church survey.
Visual Overview (PowerPoint Presentation) – Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard – a slide show of all the charts and tables from the illustrated report.
16 Surprising Insights into The Multisite Church Movement [infographic] – also taken from the illustrated report.
Video Overview: Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard – Download Now
A video narrative, following PowerPoint slides, of the key findings from the Leadership Network / Generis Multisite Church Scorecard report, with Q&A from the audience. The primary speaker is Warren Bird, Ph.D., Research Director at Leadership Network, joined by Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, with narration by Greg Ligon, co-author of Multisite Church Revolution and Multisite Church Roadtrip.
Interviews with Multisite Practitioners
Brian Frye: Will Multisite Churches Replace Most University Campus Ministries? Download now.
The answer is yes, according to predictions in this interview. The discussion describes specific multisite collegiate churches and why they’re successful, both financially and in how they grow. It also draws from Brian Frye’s doctoral research. Brian Frye, Ph.D., is National Collegiate Strategist for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and also Collegiate Evangelism Strategist for the denomination’s Ohio Collegiate Ministries. Interviewer is Warren Bird, Research Director at Leadership Network.
Charles Arn: Multisite as Turnaround Strategy for Non-Growing Churches? Download now.
Where is the next frontier for multisite? Dr. Charles Arn, church growth researcher and author of several books including How to Start a New Service, wonders aloud in this interview if one day he’ll be able to write, How and Why to Go Multisite with 50 Members.
What would happen, Charles asks, if a church that’s plateaued or in decline were to start a new campus for a new target group? Would it provide the same kind of outreach or growth intervention strategy that sometimes happens when a struggling church starts a new service for a new target group? If this could happen, the potential audience for becoming multisite would dramatically expand. No longer would it be an approach of replicating healthy churches, but now also for helping “stuck churches” find a new chapter of life
As Charles says of his controversial idea: “We are fairly certain that both starting a new worship service (for a new target audience) and planting a new church (also for a new target audience) have potential benefit in not only reaching new people, but revitalizing the “mother” church. It seems to me that all the ingredients are there for a similar dynamic to occur with multisite; the process of starting a new service/church might have an invigorating effect for declining/plateaued churches.” Interviewer is Warren Bird, Research Director at Leadership Network.
Ed Stetzer: Multisite Downsides with Stetzer, Whitehead, McConnell, Bird on The Exchange Download now.
This hour-long conversation starts with a quick overview of multisite research, but then explores the potential downsides of multisite — What does the movement need to guard against or be wary of? What are downsides or reactions to multisite? Host Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research interviews Warren Bird from Leadership Network, Darren Whitehead formerly teaching pastor at Willow Creek and now multisite church planter with Church of the City in Nashville, and Scott McConnell of LifeWay Research and author of Multisite Churches: Guidance for the Movement’s Next Generation.
Geoff Surratt: If Healthy, a Church of 500-1000 Can Go Multisite Download now.
Geoff Surratt draws from his extensive consulting experience with multisite churches to ask some tough questions about the Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Scorecard, starting with what size of church can go multisite, and then the implications for church planting, and more. Geoff is lead author of the two leading multisite books: Multisite Church Revolution and Multisite Church Roadtrip, and runs the popular blog, geoffsurratt.com. Interviewer is Warren Bird, Research Director at Leadership Network.
Jim Tomberlin: Why 1 in 3 Multisite Campuses Comes as the Result of a Merger Download now.
The numbers are both true and increasing: today just better than 1 in 3 multisite campuses come as a result of a merger. Jim Tomberlin, former multisite pastor, does almost half of his consulting with church mergers, most of which become campuses of multisite churches. This interview explores the hows and whys of the multisite-merger phenomenon. Jim is founder and chief strategist of MultiSiteSolutions.com and lead author of Better Together: Making Healthy Church Mergers Work, co-written with Warren Bird.
Bart Scharrer: We Closed a Campus, Learning Much in the Process Download now.
Substance Church, founded in 2004, has been multisite 5 years and recently closed one of its locations. Bart Scharrer, Executive Pastor, walks through the postmortem: why they closed it, what they did well about the closure, what the impact was, and what they might have done differently. Substance Church is in greater Minneapolis and was founded by Peter Haas and his wife Carolyn. Interviewer is Warren Bird, Research Director at Leadership Network.
Tim Nations: Three Milestones in a Multisite’s Growth – and How Leadership Network Can Help Download now.
Tim Nations says there are three times in the life of a multisite church when it especially benefits from peer interaction with other multisite churches: when it initially goes multisite, when it opens the 3rd or 4th campus, and when it opens an 8th, 9th or 10th campus. He explains why and offers ways Leadership Network can help. Tim is a Leaderhip Community and Innovation Lab Director with Leadership Network. Interviewer is Warren Bird, Research Director at Leadership Network.
Wayne Mancari: Why We Have 10 Campuses with More to Come! Download now.
Wayne Mancari takes a big-picture look at their 10 campuses — “with many more to come,” he says. He discusses why they went multisite, how they manage so many campuses, and how being multisite has changed the way they do church. Lots of great advice from a seasoned, pacesetting church. Wayne is Executive Pastor of Church Planting and Leadership at Cathedral of Faith Church, San Jose, CA, where Ken Foreman is Senior Pastor.
Roundtable: Multisite Pacesetters Predict Where the Movement Is Going Download now.
A roundtable of updates and predictions from Dave and Jon Ferguson, Community Christian Church, Naperville, IL (12 campuses across Chicagoland); Kadi Cole, Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL (7 campuses across south Florida); and Andy Addis of CrossPoint Church, Hutchinson, KS (11 campuses in rural area). Interviewer is Greg Ligon, co-author of Multisite Church Revolution and Multisite Church Roadtrip.
Craig Groschel: America’s Largest Multisite Church: Advice from Pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv Download now.
Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of America’s largest-attendance multisite church, offers frank, practical and passionate advice from their model. Topics include maximizing your current building, focusing on leadership more than preachership, and being very careful before doing a merger.
Bobby Gruenewald: America’s Largest Multisite Church: Behind the Technology at LifeChurch.tv Download now.
Bobby Gruenewald heads many of the technology initiatives for LifeChurch.tv. In this 2013 interview he talks about YouBible and other ways of helping people use technology to connect with each other and with God. Interviewer is Greg Ligon, co-author of Multisite Church Revolution and Multisite Church Roadtrip.
Larry Osborne and Chris Brown: After 15 Years of Multisite: What North Coast Has Learned Download now.
“One size fits all” doesn’t work for multisite efforts at North Coast Church, Vista, CA, according to its two senior pastors, Larry Osborne and Chris Brown. They look back on the church’s fifteen-plus year history with multisite and identify some of the most important lessons learned.
Conversations with Jim Sheppard and Dave Travis
We Will See More Mergers and Adoptions: Upsides and Downsides Download now.
Insights on the dynamics behind a merger and adoption as a new multisite campus, from interview between Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network.
We’re Seeing Medium and Smaller Size Churches Go Multisite Download now.
In a frank discussion about “winners” and “losers,” Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network, talk about both pain and breakthrough as churches, especially medium and smaller ones, go multisite.
“Not in Our Back Yard” Applies to Multisite Expansion as Well Download now.
Wise counsel on anticipating potential “not in our back yard” opposition when multisite enters a new community, based on interview between Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network.
Issues When Deciding Between Church Planting or Multisite, Part 1 Download now.
What do church plants and multisites have in common, and in what ways are they different? Which is harder? Does one lead to the other? Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network cover several potentially hot issues.
Issues When Deciding Between Church Planting or Multisite, Part 2 Download now.
What do church plants and multisites have in common, and in what ways are they different? Which is harder? Does one lead to the other? Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network cover several potentially hot issues.
Insights on Sanctuary Size and Video: What Works, What Is Changing Download now.
The trend toward smaller, more intimate and local settings matches well with a multisite approach, as also does well-done video in come contexts, say Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network.
How Generis Can Help Multisite Funding, Part 1 Download now.
Going multisite has huge financial implications, according to Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network. They offer tips about communication and giving leadership to funding.
How Generis Can Help Multisite Funding, Part 2 Download now.
In Part 2 Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network talk more specifically about specific funding models, such as the idea of one capital expansion initiative with identified priorities.
How Generis Can Help Multisite Funding, Part 3 Download now.
In Part 3, Generis talks about their experience in coaching multisite churches, both raising the generosity quotient of the overall congregation and also in funding capital projects. Discussion is between Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis, and Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network.
Sample Chapters from Books on Multisite
The Multisite Church Revolution – Sample Chapter
A Multisite Church Road Trip – Sample Chapter
Additional Reading
Multisite Is Multiplying: Survey Identifies Leading Practices and Confirms New Developments in the Movement’s Expansion – Leadership Network’s still-relevant 2010 largest and most comprehensive survey of multisite churches. The idea was to gain further insight into the phenomenon and to discover how churches are making it work. Download it: MS-2010-SEP-Multisite Is Multiplying-Bird-Walters
Many Students, Multiple Sites: Student Ministries Are Thriving in Multisite Settings – Churches across the county are experiencing a synergy as student ministry leaders move into multiple locations to reach and develop middle and high schoolers. Multisite student ministries around the U.S. utilize various ministry models and leadership structures to accomplish the same goals but all agree that joining forces across multiple locations is netting strong results. Download it: MS-2011-Apr-Many Students Multiple Sites-Williams
Making Multisite Mergers Work: New Options for Being One Church in Two or More Locations – The number of church mergers in the U.S. and Canada has been rising over recent decades, many of which are multisite or become multisite. In fact, one in three multisite campuses is created as the result of a church merger. This report compares the similarities and differences among mergers and multisite churches, offering many examples along the way. Download it: MS-2011-AUG-Making Multisites Work-Walter-Bird
Should Your Church Go Multisite? How can your congregation know if a multisite approach is right for you? Try this self-diagnostic tool to gain insight. Download it: MS-2005-JAN-Should Your Church Go MultiSite-Bird
The Leader-Making Challenge: 10 Ideas for Leadership Development in a Multisite Church – Here then are ten practical ideas for leadership development in a multisite church. They come from the discoveries and best-practice insights of churches that are pacesetters in the emerging multisite movement. Download it: MS-2005-FEB-The Leader-making Challenge-Bird
European Snapshots: Models of Multisite Church in Europe – Across Europe, there is growing interest in multisite church. This paper describes three very different churches in Europe who are developing multisite, and explores the logic behind their going multisite, the life of their sites and their leadership development. Download it: ECPN-2010-JAN-European Snapshots Models of Multi-site Church in Europe-Appleton
