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buqbkafkd vlro `ero`e ql jlob qe^k lkb mi^`b A Field Report on the Emerging Multi-Site Movement by Warren Bird Connecting Innovators to Multiply www.leadnet.org These leadership communities are sponsored by “THE MULTI-SSITE CHURCH IS Leadership Network, a Dallas-based foundation A PHENOMENON THAT YOU WILL NO whose mission is to accelerate the effectiveness of DOUBT BE HEARING ABOUT the Church by identifying, connecting, and resourcing strategic leaders. The member churches IN THE FUTURE.” are: – LEADERSHIP JOURNAL, SPRING 2003 Chartwell Baptist Church, suburb of jìäíáJëáíÉ îÉåíìêÉë Ü~îÉ ÅÜ~åÖÉÇ íÜÉ Toronto, ON, ÅçåíÉñí Ñçê ãáåáëíêóKKK A growing number of www.chartwellchurch.org churches today … continue as one congregation Christ the King Community Church, with one staff, one treasury, one membership north of Seattle, WA, roster, one governing board and one name (it may www.ctkonline.com be Bethany East and Bethany West, or Trinity Community Christian Church, suburb North and Trinity South), but with three or four or of Chicago, IL, five or six or seven or eight worship services every weekend. www.communitychristian.org Fellowship Bible Church, Little Rock, “Several … multi-site congregations have AR, www.fbclr.org discovered that their off-campus ministries are Grace Community Church, Tyler, TX, the most effective channels for www.gcc.org reaching skeptics, agnostics, Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church, non-believers and inquirers at the very earliest stage of their just outside Pensacola, FL, faith journey. … And … from a www.gbumc.org financial perspective, this may Life Church, suburb of Oklahoma City, be the most cost-effective OK, www.LifeChurch.tv LYLE SCHALLER approach to evangelism”2 – New Life Community Church, Chicago, Lyle E. Schaller IL, www.newlifechicago.com jÉÉí pçãÉ çÑ íÜÉ máçåÉÉêëK The following North Coast Church, suburb of San insights are designed to help church leaders who Diego, CA, are looking for fresh ways to reach more people www.northcoastchurch.com and different people for Christ. If your church is North Point Community Church, suburb exploring or experimenting with alternative of Atlanta, GA, www.northpoint.org venues such as digital church, extension sites, Seacoast Church, suburb of Charleston, video-café congregations, multiple campuses, satellite ministries, or SC, www.seacoast.org IF YOUR CHURCH IS other variations that Willow Creek Community Church, go beyond your main suburb of Chicago, IL, EXPLORING … VIDEO worship area or main www.willowcreek.org campus, then keep CAFÉ CONGREGATIONS, reading. You will find MULTIPLE CAMPUSES … much help in this material. OR OTHER VARIATIONS … The research behind KEEP READING! this report draws on the experience of twelve pioneering churches selected to participate in a Multi-site Leadership Community. 2 All sizes. Multi-site take church across town, but across state as well. congregations occur in all Today, the church that started in 1996 draws sizes, with many off-site 7,500 people weekly across 10 services on 4 campuses averaging under campuses–with a long-range goal of 100 weekly 100 in weekly worship. The worship experiences 12 churches in the Multi-Site worldwide. MOST CHURCHES THAT Leadership Community average from 1,000 to Most churches that use USE A MULTI-SITE almost 20,000 in their a multi-site approach current weekend worship evolve into it, rather APPROACH EVOLVE INTO attendances. than starting with it. That’s the consensus of IT, RATHER THAN However, multi-site isn’t solely a megachurch 12 churches who are STARTING WITH IT. phenomenon. Multi-site churches can be found pacesetters in doing across the size spectrum, with churches in the church in multiple 250 to 500 attendance range are a frequent multi- locations–whether video cafés, multiple site sponsor. campuses, or other variations. Together they represent a weekend worship attendance of 67,600 on 46 campuses kÉï jìäíáJëáíÉ jçîÉãÉåí fë ~ “dçÇ with 109 services—an Comparison of the 12 surveyed churches: What if they only had one campus each (left)? Intead they qÜáåÖK” After preaching the two Saturday- average for each of 9 average four campuses each (right). evening services, Craig Groeschel and weekly services spread 100,000 his wife Amy went home, and in the among 4 campuses! middle of the night they went to the 50,000 hospital for Amy to give birth. Craig One of many approaches was not going to make it for next to doing multi-site 0 morning’s services in their fast-growing church is represented by Single Campus Multi-Campus Model Model congregation, Life Church, Edmond, 25-year-old Chartwell Total number of attendees Oklahoma.3 Now what? Baptist Church, in a CRAIG GROESCHEL suburb of Toronto, Someone from the church had a crazy Ontario, where Peter Roebbelen is idea: “Hey, let’s roll the video from Saturday pastor. (See the beginning of this night.” That decision proved to be divinely document for websites of all churches inspired. mentioned.) “One of the awesome things about God is how “We backed into multi-site,” says He often turns obstacles into opportunities,” Roebbelen. “It’s not something we says Groeschel, looking intentionally tried to do. It was more PETER ROEBBELEN back on that pivotal like a disruptive moment where we weekend in January, faced a problem and saw an opportunity.” In 2001. “Little did we essence, their problem became an opportunity. know that one press of a button would open up For Chartwell, the initial motivation was to a realm of understanding–the video teaching accommodate growth. experience–that we never thought possible.” “We needed to go to a third service, but we THEIR PROBLEM BECAME The video “accident” enabled Life Church to gain wanted to do it during AN OPPORTUNITY. a bigger dream of how to keep pace with the the optimal Sunday- rapid growth that, at that time, had already led morning time.” So them to multiple services on two different Chartwell began experimenting with the use of campuses. Not only could they now more readily additional campuses. That was 1993. Ten years 3 later Chartwell offers 6 Saturday-night or Sunday- Today’s Most Innovative morning services on 4 campuses. By early 2003, Churches by Elmer Towns, 3 more than 1,000 regularly attended one of the of the 10 featured churches Chartwell congregations, and yet the main have modeled, for some part church’s seating capacity was 260–and still of their recent history, the is–consistent with their particular strategy of practice Towns calls “one creating a sense of relational intimacy within church meeting in many each local worship setting. locations. a multi-staffed ELMER TOWNS church, meeting in multi- Near Charleston, S.C., Seacoast Church is locations, offering multi-ministries, with a single currently worshipping 5,500 total in 10 services identity, single organization, single purpose, on 5 campuses. Their [and] single force of leadership.”4 primary trigger for going multi-site was Emerging movement. Roebbelen has the added lack of space; but context of being one of the few people who have they faced other researched the development in recent years. motivators too. “Our Using a study grant from the Lilly Endowment- problem was that funded Louisville Institute5, he visited a number people were showing of different locations. His analysis? “I think this is up, and the town a true movement, a true new work because it’s shut down any popping up in isolated situations all over the expansion hopes. place at about the same time.” Seacoast’s imaginative use of rented We aren’t content facilities includes this building at the whenever people are The people he interviewed don’t seem to be fad entrance of a shipping center going to hell if driven. “It’s a God thing,” Roebbelen says. “Most we can make a didn’t sit down to strategize and plan, and then difference,” says Seacoast’s Byron Davis, a lay conclude, ‘We’re going leader. As a result, they became really to try multi-site,’ because imaginative about how to use existing spaces: none of us had heard of THEY … DON’T SEEM college campuses, theaters, closed churches, and multi-site. We simply TO BE FAD DRIVEN. warehouses. “At first we thought the resistance began doing it. The was the devil, but actually stories have been “IT’S A GOD THING,” AT LEAST 1,000 expanding to multiple remarkably similar from campuses was the best thing coast to coast and from ROEBBELEN SAYS. CHURCHES ACROSS we could do–God had a north to south.” hand in it,” he says. NORTH AMERICA Most multi-site churches can identify with the COULD CURRENTLY The scope. Leadership television commercial for Electronic Data Network’s study and Systems (www.eds.com), in which a work BE DESCRIBED AS connection with churches team constructs a commercial airplane while it is like Chartwell and Seacoast being flown. The ad concludes, “In a sense, this is MULTI-SITE. leads to the belief that at what we do–we build your digital business, even least 1,000 churches across while you’re up and running.” Likewise, many North America could currently be described as multi-site leaders are figuring it out while multi-site. They become multi-site by extending doing it, and feel themselves to more than one location: some the responsibility of across town, some across the state, and some having passengers literally around the world. already aboard. Church analysts have been observing this trend “We started in 1998 for a number of years. In the 1990 book, Ten of because we were 4 out of space, out of good time slots, out has seen enough to offer a bold prediction: of energy, and out of options,” says “We’re to the point that we can’t imagine doing Larry Osborne, pastor of North Coast church any other way.” Church in Vista, CA.