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?
