Tag: Eric Bryant

The question of multi-site churches

Over the last few weeks a group of guys in my tribe have been having a discussion via email about what it means to be a leader/pastor in a church.

Brian sent a link to an article from Pastors.com about multi-site churches today. The article raises some interesting points. He asked for our thoughts and thought I’d share them here and get your input as well.

Many churches across the country are moving beyond their original building to become one church in many locations. Some construct a beautiful new campus sporting state-of-the-art sound, light, and video systems at a cost of several million dollars. While this strategy is often successful, it sets the bar much too high for the average church considering a multi-site strategy. Few congregations can invest massive sums of money to open a second or third location, and with the current challenges in the economy, the number of churches is dwindling that can tap that level of cash. So how can an average church develop an affordable multi-site strategy?

I thought the article brought up some good ideas. I liked this statement…

We have discovered that the further the new campus is from the original site, the less you need to spend to replicate your original campus.

I think wherever the replication takes place, the site should take on the look/feel of the community its in. Whether its in Red Oak, Waco, Mesquite/Forney or Alaska – let the people coming help form what the church looks like, sounds like, feels like.

The article also points out ::

In a small group of 12 people, the only equipment you need is a good coffee maker. A group of 50 can have a great worship experience with an acoustic guitar and a microphone.

It just ads to the idea of a site replicating the culture/feel/ideas of where you’re at.

I saw a great video from Andrew Jones (tall skinny kiwi) yesterday about how to make pizza (I’m thinking about doing it one week with our community group leaders). He makes the point about how Jesus talks about two kinds of yeast. The yeast of the Kingdom and the yeast of the Pharisees. And as Christians, naturally we want to be the yeast of the Kingdom – always duplicating – bud emergence. He also says, if you want a great way to start a church – throw a pizza party. Gather up folks in a home, and eat pizza and then go from there.

One thing the article didn’t touch on was/is the technology aspects. Would encounter multi-site utilize the same messages across the board? Would it use a video taped message each week? Would we up our video streaming quality and use it? Or would the “pastor” of the multi-site church lead? Those are all options.

Also, talking with Eric Bryant (executive pastor at Mossaic in LA – author of Peppermint Filled Pinatas) this week for our podcast, I asked how they had such a large church and kept the gatherings personal. He said they have volunteers leading each multi-site who work very hard at meeting people, getting people plugged in and really pastoring those who come each week. He said there are times that people might slip through the cracks, but overall the volunteer staffs work to be sure each person feels just as welcome as they might in a group of 5 or 6.

(Watch some other thoughts with Eric and Erwin McManus :: http://vimeo.com/3427533)

I think that’s a great point and something we as “leaders” need to work on more and more each Sunday at encounter – multi site or not. Are we doing our best to talk with people, meet with people, lead people? Are we getting caught in the business of each Sunday where we miss the opportunity to hear someone’s story? Are we staying busy and avoiding hearing the spiritual/physical/emotional needs of those in our tribe?

The Hero within

Sunday we talked about becoming Jesus to our neighborhoods and what that might look like and how it might change our neighbors and neighborhood. And we talked about how even the smallest things can have the greatest impact.

I received an email afterwards from someone who explained how it was all the “little things” people had done recently for them that made a world of difference in their life.

I also heard from someone who said he wants to put a “prayer box” at the end of his driveway for his neighbors to share their needs with one another.

I’m excited to think of all the small things we can do for one another that can change the world for each person. “You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world for one person.”

I love that no matter what your skills are, or talents, or passions are, God can help you find that “hero within” and use you to impact countless people around you.

Kinda like Carlos…

(HT Mosaic and Eric Bryant)

note: I’ve had some problems with the CD from Sunday. it may not have been finalized or recorded completely. hopefully I can get that fixed next Sunday and share audio from Sunday morning for those who’ve asked for it.

Peppermint Filled Pinatas

I’m currently listening to the audio book version of “Peppermint Filled Pinatas.”

Some really good stuff in there!

The author just told a story (in chapter 3) about a 16-year-old girl who invited him and his wife to her birthday party at a skating rink. They reluctantly decided to come and brought a few teenagers along with them. Turns out other than a few members of the girls family, they were the only ones to come to the party and stay.

A couple weeks later, the mother of the girl, who had been against her daughter being a part of a church showed up at the church and wanted to become a follower of Christ.

Her reason, she said she changed her mind after the author and his wife showed up at the birthday party.

“Now if we get an invitation and it happens to be the night of our small group not only do we miss the small group, but we invite our small group to join us. We need to say ‘No’ more often to our business so that we can create room for spontaneous adventures with others.”

That’s hard for me to swallow. I tend to see my small group as “my ministry” or “my calling.” I tend to get really frustrated when people who know I have small group on a particular night of the week make plans during that time and expect me to forgo our small group in favor of their event.

Perhaps there’s still a whole lot more that I need to surrender!

Let go and let God!

Thoughts? Anyone else struggle with this?