Whether it’s an upcoming vacation or a new phase of life, anticipation is a tough emotion to bear when we know we’re headed somewhere great.
As your church grows and spreads your mission to more people, you might consider becoming a multi-site church. With more campuses, you may think, “We can reach more people! We will be known in more communities!” This is an exciting time for your church––but don’t let anticipation and eagerness be the only reasons you choose this path for your community. Becoming a multi-site church requires deliberation, conversation, and (most importantly) asking God if this is the right move for your church family.
To start these conversations, we want to help you narrow in on some of your basic goals and visions. The following questions will help you get the prayerful discussions started in focused, practical ways:
4 Big Questions to Ask Yourself Before Becoming a Multi-Site Church
1. Why are you considering going multi-site?
Ah, “why.” It’s the word that forces us to get to the heart of things––digging at our beliefs until we find true motivations behind them. Just like you’ve developed the “why” of your church (your mission), you should also develop the “why” of becoming a multi-site church. Determine your goals in making this move, and try to be very self-aware.
- Do you just want to increase the size of your congregation?
- Or reach a totally different demographic?
- Are you doing this to better serve your current members?
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Really “zoom in” until you find the simplest, most basic reasons you want to plant new branches of your church. |
2. What does your “vision” of the organization look like?
Do you want to plant well-established, independent churches that will eventually operate autonomously? Or do you simply want to open another location across town with the same mission, branding, and interpretation of the bible? Map out your vision (literally with a pen and paper) to better understand how it could take shape.
When you start to think about new branches, consider how the everyday events and groups will operate.
This includes:
- Missionary support
- Small groups
- Databases (like member names and tithing tracking)
- Content (podcasts, online sermons, videos, blog posts)
Remember that your pastors, staff, and current members will all have different “maps” and ideas to compare. It’s essential that these ideas be consistent before you take any action.
3. How will you handle finances?
“Budget” can be a scary word––but ultimately, it comes down to simple structuring. You don’t need to worry yet about how you’ll fund specific programs or events, but you do need to consider how your multiple campuses could be tied together financially. Will all campuses operate completely separately? Or would you be comfortable sharing pursestrings as long as funds are distributed fairly?
4. Are you going to have a sermon feed from another campus or have a totally different pastor?
When you think about the core of your leadership team, your pastor, how do you picture their involvement in the future branches? You could have a sermon video feed from one campus to the others, or you could have a totally different pastor leading each service. These individuals have been called on by God in their own unique ways, so the feel of the services could vary greatly. If it’s essential that the messaging of your services be universal across all campuses, you may consider live-streaming sermons from one location to the other.
Multi-Site Churches Online
Now that you’ve started to think about (and hopefully even answer) some of these questions, it’s time to consider how this translates to your online ministries. There are many options for multi-site website layouts, but you’ll want to start with some of these basic points:
- How “connected” do you want each campus to feel online?
- Do you want unique navigation menus for each location?
- How easily do you want to be able to add new campuses? To word this a different way, do you foresee needing a quick turn-around for content about new campuses or is a longer implementation time ok?
- Would you prefer maximum flexibility or less backend upkeep?
For example, see how the following churches displayed their multiple campuses:
