MULTI-SITE as strategy … is hot

Recently, I met with Geoff Surratt, author of The Multi-Site Church Revolution: Being One Church in Many Locations. I was amazed to hear Geoff point out that, of the 100 largest churches in America, 65 reported having multiple sites. As a strategy, multi-site is hot.

Tony Morgan identified five key factors when launching a new site:

1. Leader. The most critical factor to the success or failure of a new campus is having the right leader. They don’t necessarily need to be charismatic, but they do need to be team builders, good communicators, champions of the vision, driven and highly relational. There needs to be a specific person who has the gift of leadership leading the campus.
2. Location. There isn’t a black and white formula here, but location matters. That includes proximity to your existing campuses and proximity to the people you’re trying to reach. Where do people shop, eat and experience entertainment? That area is where they’re most likely to also invite friends to attend a service.
3. Music. Churches think message first when it comes to multi-site, but the quality of the music is just as important. If the worship arts programming (music, video, etc.) isn’t on the same level as what people experience at the existing campuses, they won’t stay at the new campus.
4. Time. To launch with the most chance for success, you need time to identify leaders, build teams, select locations, equip facilities, develop new systems and mobilize people. We’re talking months not weeks. With the right systems and leadership development strategy; however, this time frame can be shortened dramatically. (See Proverbs 21:5)
5. Money. The amount of money will differ from church to church, but multi-site will require a financial investment. You’ll need money to purchase technology, signage and children’s ministry equipment. You’ll need money to purchase or lease space and then modify it to meet your needs. You’ll need money to pay staff as the campus grows. And, don’t forget, new people will typically take 18 to 24 months before they start giving. (See Luke 14:28)

What to hear the stories of pastors who have multi-site experience?

John Bishop at Living Hope Church (Vancouver, WA)

What was the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge was, has been, and still is, to have adequate systems In place to support campuses, to encourage campus pastors, to stay unified as “one church” in multiple locations with unity.

Is there something unique about the DNA of Living Hope that made it work?
Living hope is a highly invitational church.  I really believe we are a dangerous church.  We have multiple stories of people who come to Living Hope and instinctively invite their friends.  That’s what makes living hope the place that it is.  I very rarely have to ask people to invite their friends – they naturally do it every week. (Read more at Books@Leadnet.org)

Steve Stroope, Senior Pastor at Lake Point Church (Rockwall, TX)

Some have critiqued the multi-site movement believing that it feeds a diminishing pool of leaders.  You told me that you believe it has exactly the opposite effect.  How so?
This is a great time to be a participant in the church leadership world.  There are so many different kinds of opportunities to lead that require different types of leaders.  The multi-site movement is an example of this.  It is providing many more opportunities for strong leaders who may not fit into the “senior pastor” leadership mold.  Some do not possess a strong gift for communication or teaching, but they are high capacity leaders and the multi-site model is creating a variety of brand new categories for those leaders. (Read more at Books@Leadnet.org)

Robert Emmitt, Senior Pastor at Community Bible Church (San Antonio, TX)

What is new about the multi-site ministry at Community Bible Church since we last talked?
We quit playing the CD’s of Robert, and let the pastors do the preaching.  We are looking more like a church planting ministry than a traditional multi-site. We are moving from a part time pastor to a full time pastor model. It costs more, but if you want the churches to grow, then the pastors need to devote their full time to it. (Read more at Books@Leadnet.org)

Dave Browning (twitter – @bigdaverino), Christ the King Community Church. (Burlington, WA)

I think it is interesting that you have a commitment to international campuses and a high value for use of technology in developing leaders but no Internet campuses?  Any reason for that?
Our international reach is more of a “God-thing” than anything else.  We had no plan to be outside of our own county, much less around the world.  But once you define the church by relationship, instead of geography, you realize that relationships do not respect geographical boundaries.  We say that we can go as far as relationships will take us.  Our goal is to raise up people to do ministry, so we view technology as a tool, not a strategy. (Read more at Books@Leadnet.org)

Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.tv

You have developed a model for connection with LifeChurch.tv that has three tiers – Open, Network and United. Why “qualifies” a church to become a part of the tightest affiliation – United?
Far more churches are becoming a Network Church rather than a United Church. As of today, we have 74 Network Churches. These are totally separate 501c-3s that use our weekly teaching. (Many also use our kids curriculum and worship all at no charge.) Churches who are part of the LifeChurch.tv Network are reporting great responses and stories of changed lives from their members and attendees. In order for a United partnership to occur, we’re looking for a unique set of circumstances where we can do more together than apart. Only in rare situations is it worth uniting since merging churches can be painful, and there are so many effective ways to partner. (Read more at Books@Leadnet.org)

Want more orientation and resources related to the multi-site strategy? Check out D J Chuang’s “class about multi-site churches” and find loads of free resources.

Multi-campus strategy: 12 church stories

“Selecting Locations for Additional Campuses,” a study released by Leadership Network, tells how twelve churches developed multi-site strategies and why. Here are the churches and excerpts from the study that describe their approach: 

Flamingo Road Church, in Cooper City, FL

We’ve found this strategy to be the most effective method of helping believers get involved in their communities to share their faith, feed the hungry, and care for needy people. It’s unrealistic to expect people to drive long distances to worship and then drive back to their communities and serve by themselves. Our multi-site strategy enables them to worship and serve where they live. It allows us to effectively fulfill our mission to ‘partner with people to help them reach their God-potential so they can be mobilized for the kingdom.’

Real Life Fellowship in Corpus Christi, TX

Senior Pastor Micah Davidson remembers, “When I came to Real Life Fellowship, our board wanted the church to grow, but the only model they knew was to build larger buildings and add more services. The concept of adding new sites was foreign to them, but when they grasped the vision, they were excited about it. Our first site was in a newly opened theater across the bay. We felt that God had that facility built just for us.”

Willow Creek Community Church South Barrington, IL

Though some multi-site strategies focus on identifying and reaching other demographic groups in their areas, Willow Creek’s model is entirely geo-graphic. The map showing the homes of those who drove more than 20 minutes revealed clusters of people. Willow has launched four new sites to date, three in suburban Chicago and one downtown. The suburban campuses started with at least 350 people, and the downtown site began with 150. 

The Journey Church in St. Louis, MO

Darrin Patrick, senior pastor, sees the problem [of needing leaders for the new sites] as an opportunity: “If you only have one campus, only the stars fill the main roles in worship and leadership, but a multi-site strategy opens a lot of doors for leaders to develop.” Darrin has observed that every new site they open provides opportunities for people at their main campus to step up and fill new leadership roles because some of their people have gone to the new campuses, and at the new sites, every leader is in a new, challenging role. All of them face new challenges, and they can all grow in their leadership. 

Menlo Park Presbyterian Church near San Francisco, CA

Our senior pastor, John Ortberg, believes that we need to use every resource God has entrusted to us to reach people for Christ. San Francisco is a very expensive area, so we have to be very careful about how we invest God’s money, people, and other resources. Expanding to new sites gives us opportunities to touch people who wouldn’t come to our main campus. By getting bigger— with additional campuses—we’re able to get smaller, more relational, and contextualize our ministry to each specific community.

The Well in Fresno, CA

Brad Bell, senior pastor, notes that for a decade or so, the answer to the question of growth was to build larger buildings and expect people to drive to worship there, but now the thinking and the culture are shifting. He observes, “We’re asking the question, ‘How can a church reach the various cultures in our community without spending tens of millions of dollars on facilities?’ The answer for our church is to be open to creating sites that reach those people so they can be the church in their communities

instead of leaving their communities to go to church. For us, the multi-site concept is more incarnational and missional, and less rigidly institutional. I think that’s what people are looking for today.”

Brad Bell, senior pastor, notes that for a decade or so, the answer to the question of growth was to build larger buildings and expect people to drive to worship there, but now the thinking and the culture are shifting. He observes, “We’re asking the question, ‘How can a church reach the various cultures in our community without spending tens of millions of dollars on facilities?’ The answer for our church is to be open to creating sites that reach those people so they can be the church in their communities instead of leaving their communities to go to church. For us, the multi-site concept is more incarnational and missional, and less rigidly institutional. I think that’s what people are looking for today.”

Christ Fellowship in Miami, FL

Eric Geiger, executive pastor, observes, “If we merely wanted to grow, it would be a lot cheaper and less trouble to simply add more services, but we added sites because they give us opportunities to reach more people and penetrate more parts of our community.”

McLean Bible Church in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Denny Harris, executive pastor notes, “Washington is the center of the Free World. God impressed on us that he wants us to have an impact on the entire community. To do that, we looked at a map of the city, asked God for direction, and identified communities where we felt God wanted us to put new sites to create a ‘spiritual beltway’ around Washington.  From that, we developed a long-term plan to build leaders, find resources, and establish thriving churches in those areas so that eventually, we can touch all six million people in our metropolitan area. So far, we have four campuses, and we hope to start one a year for the next five or six years.” 

Cross Timbers Community Church in Argyle, TX

Cross Timbers Community Church is in a town of about 3,000 people, but a few years after they opened their doors, they had more than 5,000 in worship each week. Obviously, most of them drove a considerable distance to come to the church. Toby, Jim and the staff looked at the demographics of their church, and they identified clusters of 350 to 500 singles and families (about 500 to 1,000 individuals) in communities in the area. These groups of people provided opportunities for new sites to begin with 125 to 150 when the campuses opened. 

The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oaks, TX

Justin Lathrop, development leader at The Oaks Fellowship, recounts that the decision to open a second campus in Red Oak in 2001 didn’t happen because the staff had studied multi-site strategies. “We’d never even heard the term ‘multi-site,’ but opening another campus made sense because about 80% of the people who came to our church in the city at Oak Cliff drove from the Red Oak suburbs—and they needed a better school there, too. Both of those factors led us to start a charter school and a new church campus 20 miles down the road from our main campus, and the success we’ve experienced from combining the school and the church led us to think even bigger.”

The Crossing in Quincy, IL

Senior pastor Jerry Harris and his staff devised a multi-site strategy from a term coined in the 2000 United States Census to identify clusters of small towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: micropolitan. He relates, “Quincy is a small town, and there are a number of other small towns within an hour or so of us. As we looked at each of these communities, we realized that there are very few vibrant, creative churches that offer exciting ministries for children, students, or adults. Very few of these churches have over 200 people, but most of these towns are home to small colleges, and students respond very well to creativity and vision. They just need something or someone to come in and provide that spiritual spark.” Jerry observes that land values in these communities don’t compare to the cities, so their strategy can be more aggressive. “Let’s be honest,” he relates, “Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Galesburg, and the other towns near us aren’t Chicago or San Francisco. We can buy a large facility for very little money, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.” The church bought a 56,000 square foot building with parking for 350 cars on six acres on the main street in McComb, Illinois, and paid only $750,000. 

Woodside Bible Church in Troy, MI

By one estimate, 3,500 to 4,000 churches in America close each year, and at least some of these could consider becoming a venue for another church with greater resources. Beth McKenna, new campus development director explains her senior pastor’s perspective about struggling churches: “Doug Schmidt has a wonderful heart to help pastors. When a pastor comes to him for help, Doug does everything he can to help that pastor and his church succeed. He consults, advises, and provides as many resources as possible. In the vast majority of these relationships, he’s able to help them turn a corner and keep moving forward, but a few times in the course of consulting with these churches, the pastors and their boards have asked to become an extension of Woodside.” Doug certainly isn’t trying to build a kingdom for Woodside. When struggling churches ask to become an extension campus, he sometimes suggests they partner with another church in their area that might be a better fit. 

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the online seminary course “The Theology and Purpose of Evangelism” may be helped by reading the study in full. 

Download full study

Hat tip Learnings @ Leadership Network