Customer Reviews

A Multi-Site Church Roadtrip: Exploring the New Normal (Leadership Network Innovation Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sometimes it's affirming to hear that other missional leaders are asking the same questions...and coming to the same conclusions. It's encouraging to see that God is moving ministries of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes to embrace Jesus' mission to reach the world.

I was certainly encouraged as I worked my way through "The Multi-Site Church Road Trip". As the authors shared their insights gleaned from the personal experiences in 14 multi-site churches, I found myself resonating with much of what they said. The broad look at all of these unique ministries reasserted to me the depth and breadth of the Christian Church. I look forward to the day when my church denomination will be able to contribute to a work like this!

The book was very practical, and yet never prescribed one model over the other. I appreciated the general introductions to these dynamic ministries, and yet, never felt pressured to adopt any one particular practice. In a day when individual uniqueness and clarity in the church are gaining momentum, I am grateful for authors/ speakers/ practitioners who share examples without prescription. As I read through the observations from the authors, there was one theme that consistently rose to the top: missional churches who are embracing the multi-site vision are forever in a grand experiment. This is our story too.

Here are my top 10 thoughts that I gained from reading this book:

1) Multi-site is motivated by Christ's Mission! Multi-site is a 2,000 year approach to address the challenge of reaching people and making disciples. pg. 18

2) Most multi-site churches are trading the Starbucks model (franchising) for a tour through "Legoland". Multi-site churches are "able to showcase a tremendous variety of sizes and designs, but it is still evident that everything is built from the same building blocks." pg. 29

3) If you decide to embrace multi-site you will need to decide whether you will be a church with additional sites, or one church of multiple sites. Chapter 3

4) Healthy multi-sites have developed their DNA over time. That DNA can become the engine for expansion. But the DNA must be reproducible. pg. 48

5) "Location is a means to an end." pg. 72 Multi-site flies in the face of the "irrational belief that people are in community because they show up at the same physical space each week." pg. 48

6) Make sure your model is motivated by mission, and not by growth! "Your heart cannot be, 'We want to put up another campus.' Instead your heart has to be, 'We want to reach that community.' You need to be okay with the idea that the community is worth serving even if you never open the doors to a campus there.'" pg. 79

7) Some are embracing multi-site to enter into communities where existing churches are leaving. "What would it say to the community if you moved into a neighborhood that other churches were leaving and decided to make a difference?" pg. 83

8) Embrace technology! "'What new technologies on the horizon could we harness for kingdom use within current fund limitations?'" pg. 113

9) Be willing to adapt and embrace change! "Adding sites/ locations will mean changing the way you are organized." pg. 116

10) Leadership! Leadership! Leadership! Multi-site can actually allow for more people to use their gifts. The 5-fold gifts (APEPT/ Ephesians 4:11) are seen more clearly. Intentional development and articulation of your "Leadership Greenhouse" is mandatory for replication. "Good leadership is always the key to healthy, growing churches. That need multiplies and increases in multi-site churches. Effective multi-site churches have an established culture and well-developed strategies for reproducing and growing biblical leaders." pg. 188

We have embraced the multi-site vision for one reason: it is the best way we can reach out to our neighbors, and friends and love them in the name of Jesus. We pray as this happens more and more frequently throughout our mission field that God's name would be glorified and that disciples will be made! "We must not forget that it's essential for churches to embrace a vision for replication and multiplication, fueled by the confidence that more people will come to know Christ as we bring the church to them in a way that they understand." pg. 218

If you are considering multi-site or are already multi-site, take the road trip!

Multi-site churches are becoming the new "normal", according to Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon and Warren Bird in this book, and they estimate that there are now more than 3,000 multi-site churches in the United States, whereas there were only about 300 ten years ago. To illustrate the benefits and variety of multi-site churches, the authors took a "road trip" and came up with a number of really interesting insights.

Seacoast Church has 13 different campuses, and some of these are quite big (5,000 attenders) whereas others are quite small (80 attenders). Teaching is mostly done by video. The smaller campuses get the benefits of being part of a larger church (access to high quality resources, specialist ministries, etc), while the larger campuses get the benefits of smaller churches (more opportunities for people to serve in meaningful ways, etc).

Christ the King Community Church International has 17 US and more than 100 international sites. Teaching is done in person at each site. Christ the King is a church of small groups, and it uses deliberately simple, low-tech, low-cost approaches to multiplying its ministry. Lifechurch.tv, on the other hand, is a leader in the use of technology in its 14 campuses, and it includes a fully online campus which can be attended by anyone in any country of the world.

The book includes examples from many other churches. Multi-site models have been used to kick-start the planting of new churches, and they have been effective in revitalising dying churches. Almost any church will find something of interest in the book; it certainly gave me a number of ideas about reaching unchurched people more rapidly and more cost-effectively. I recommend this book to all church leaders, including those who have never heard of or considered multi-site church strategies.

Review of A Multi-Site Road Trip

Publications abound on new ways to do church, innovative ministry, and forms of leadership. Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird, add to this array of material, and in doing so, provide church leaders with an invaluable resource on the concept of the multi-site church.

This book chronicles of the research that the authors have done on more than 100 multi-site churches, based on observation, interviews, and reflection on the practices of these churches.

"Multi-site is the new normal" (11), claim the authors. While the concept of one church meeting in various locations to many is a new idea, the practical outworking of this is not. Throughout the book, the authors not only describe what multi-site churches are, but show what these churches are doing that makes them successful. Far from being only theoretical, the authors profile multi-sites churches to show how they are working. This is perhaps the most important aspect of the book.

The book is divided into 15 chapters, with an introduction and epilogue:

Introducing the Road Trip

The Multi-site Variety Pack
The Church Planting Versus the Campus Launch Dilemma
Getting Multi-Site Into Your Genes
You Want to Launch a Campus Where?
Changing Your Community One Campus at a Time
Internet Campuses-Virtual or Real Reality?
Fun with Technology
Structure Morphing
Going Global
Shared Communicator
Merger Campuses-No Longer a Bad Idea
Two-or More-At Once
Multiplied, Multiple Leaders
Are You Sure this Isn't a Sin?
Grandchildren Already?
Epilogue:Predictions of What's Next

There are also appendices suggesting additional resources and providing various campus pastor job descriptions.

I will note several highlights that I found important. Chapter 6, on internet campuses, is especially informative. While internet campuses have been used by some churches for a number of years, this concept is just starting to get attention. While the authors show the benefits of an internet campus, such as involving people where they live, seeing the internet as a specific region and target population,the ability to reach into international ares, and relative cost, they by means disregard the criticisms of the internet campus. Problems such as addressing issues of discipleship, the use of technology, and the connections that are needed by people. This is a common thread through each case study. The authors not only write about the successes of various multi-site churches, but also about the failures and problems that these churches have encountered along the way.In chapter 8, the authors deal with the issue of organizational structure in utilizing a multi-site. They deal with issues surrounding the campus pastor, finances, and support. These are some of the most practical issues that churches ask when trying to understand the multi-site phenomenon. The remaining chapters contain information that is just as useful, and will be of great use to church leaders.

Another point that comes from this research is that multi-sites are not just for megachurches, although many of the churches profiled are.

This book is a great introduction to the concept of multi-site churches, As stated earlier, this is not a book on just why multi-sites are working, but an honest appraisal of the challenges that are encountered. With the effects of globalization, technology, and cultural change, multi-sites can provide a tremendous opportunity for churches to increase their mission in a way that can be effective and substantive. The authors are to be commended on their research,and hopefully more books based on field research of multi-site churches will come as a result of this book. This book is highly recommended to pastors, church leaders, and those involved in evangelism research as a staring point to understand the practical aspects of multisite ministry.

A Multi-Site Church Road Trip is an encyclopedia of information about starting, running, and managing a church with multiple campuses. The book is written by three leaders who are openly supportive and/or participating in this church structure format. Though they briefly cover some points antagonistic to multi-site churches, this book is more about how to run a church with multiple campuses once you have made a decision to do so.

The book covers several different aspects to running a multi-site church, including chapters on:
* Discovering the wide range of possibilities with multiple campuses
* Understanding the difference between launching a new campus and planting a new church
* Moving from a church with multiple sites to a church of multiple sites
* Researching the location options for new campuses
* Making each campus specific to the needs of the local community
* Discovering the role of Internet campuses
* Choosing the appropriate technology for your church sites
* Morphing the organizational grid to fit the multi-site structure
* Discovering new opportunities for cross-cultural and international campuses
* Resolving communication and leadership responsibilities
* Determining when to merge churches
* Figuring out how many new campus to launch in a specific period
* Understanding leadership issues
* Lining up multi-site churches with scripture
* Becoming a grandparent church to campuses that start new sites

The theme of the book is taking a road trip to 15 different American churches that have multiple campuses. Each chapter begins with a `fast facts' section about the church including number of campuses, services, attendance, method of teaching, etc. However the chapters are more about the topics listed above than they are an in-depth study of these specific churches. While some congregations are used as examples throughout the book, others are regulated to a couple of pages and one just three paragraphs. At times the book seemed more of a road map than an actual road trip.

This book will mostly interest leaders who are looking at how grow their churches, maximizing their talent and resources while expanding into new communities. They will find this book and the churches profiled within as a good resource for seeing how multiple campuses could fit their churches vision.

When I first received the book, I'm not exactly sure that I had any beginning expectations of the book. Other than the fact that it seemed like many of the churches I myself have been visiting as of lately, have either developed or are in the process of developing some form of "Multi-Site" church organization. I will say that the thickness of the book was a little intimidating at first, but as I flipped through the 15 chapters covered in only 200+ pages, I realized that this book wasn't as intimidating as it first seemed.

A Multi-Site Church Road Trip developed as a result of Greg Ligon, Warren Bird, and Geoff Surratt visiting numerous multi-site churches across the country and sharing with the readers what the people there have learned. Some of the topics that are covered include:

1) The Church Planting Versus Campus Launch Dilema;
2) Changing Your Community One Campus At A Time, multi-site churches that are transforming their communities by contextualizing their service;
3) Internet Campuses - Virtual or Real Reality?
4) Going Global;
5) Merger Campuses - No Longer A Bad Idea;
6) Multiplied, Multiple Leaders

The latter is discussed in Chapter 13, which I found to be one of the most important issues that I have personally noticed when visiting churches under these structures. Growing good biblical leaders in a multi-site program can be a challenge at times. "A Multi-Site Church Roadtrip" visited Lake Pointe Church whose original campus is in Rockwall, Tx , and divulged components of their leadership development program that I feel many churches could adapt.

Overall "A Multi-Site Church Roadtrip" gives the reader a good beginning foundation of the various concerns, and issues that revolve around Multi-Site churches. It also gives insight to purpose and reasoning behind some of the decisions that various churches have made when opting to go this route. After reading this book I can definitely say that I would recommend this book to anyone who is involved in their church planning and development process. Of course I would definitely recommend this book to church Pastors regardless of their intent to develop a multi-site church.




Thanks for reading! Stay Blessed!




K.M. Johnson

Author of, "Knowing The Struggle Is Over!"

I have been very curious about the proliferation of multi-site/multi-campus churches, so when I saw a chance to get this book* and review it, I jumped at it. I just finished the book and I am anxious to share some of my observations.

* Multi-Site Church Roadtrip is definitely an "Ah!" book.

The purpose of the Multi-Site Road Trip is to provide snapshots of several leading churches that have gone to (or started as) a multi-site model. By visiting these different churches and interviewing their people, Geoff, Warren, and Greg are able to give a "nuts and bolts" look at each of the churches.

I would guess that many people in ministry are like me, they are students of ministries. I always want to know what other churches are doing, how their doing it, and what the impact looks like. This is due to a desire to find strategies that would have an impact in my local community and a dose of nosiness. This books definitely satisfied my curiosity. Though the book speaks to the "why?" of multi-site ministry, it focuses mainly on the "how?"As you read, you often find yourself saying, "Ah! That is how they make it work..."

I found answers to questions like:

How do they provide live video of the main campus?

What is the organizational and financial structure of these churches?

How and when do they decide to expand to another campus?

* Multi-Site Church Roadtrip is a well organized book.

The authors do not simply roam from church to church, but they focus on the strength or unique feature of the different churches. They are also sure to include examples and contrasts from the other churches that fit the theme of the current chapter. As you read, you don't feel like you are reading a bio on a dozen churches, you feel like you are learning the building blocks of Multi-Site from the leaders or originators of the concept.

In addition to this, there are practical resources like starting each chapter with a basic bio sheet on the featured church, websites for all the featured churches, campus pastor job descriptions, and discussion questions.

* Multi-Site Church Roadtrip is not just a book for multi-site leaders.

Our church is not multi-site and we currently have no plans to be one. However, as I read the book I found a lot of practical ideas that can easily be incorporated to a single campus church. Most of these churches started off as single site churches, but because of their growth and vision they shifted to multi-site. The elements that brought them to that point are ones that I want in my church.

I was especially challenged by chapter 13 which focused on the necessity of a constant reproduction of leaders. Leadership reproduction is needed in a church that grows spiritually and numerically. I got some great insights on how Lake Pointe Church does this to facilitate growth to new locations that I can use to facilitate growth in one location.

Plus, reading about the big visions these churches have and the risks they take to accomplish their mission, challenges me to think dream bigger.

* Multi-Site Church Roadtrip does not settle the argument on whether the model is sustainable.

If (like me) you question whether multi-site is the right direction for the church to go in, you will still have some questions after reading the book. The book includes some arguments against the model from some of the foremost critics (kudos to the authors for including them).

They even admit that we can't know where all of this is heading. They say "Some of the hardest objections to address are those based on the reality that we simply don't know what the long-term effects of the multi-site movement will be." Of course, we wont/can't find out until we get there.

The book doesn't settle the argument, but I don't think it was intended to. This book provides info on how it is being done, which gives all of us more information to help us decide or form an opinion. For example, I personally lean toward the idea of letting secondary locations become their own church. That is the strategy that New Hope Christian Fellowship Hawaii is pursuing. The book covers their approach in chapter 2 "The Church Planting versus Campus Launch Dilemma."

In summary: I recommend the book and I will put what I learned into good use in my own church as well as in future conversations about multi-site ministry.

*I received the book for free by committing to review it on my blog.

by John D. Scott, Rachel's husband....

In 2002, I was drowning. On the edge of a breakdown, I walked into a psychiatrist's office, fell down on his couch and bore my tortured soul.

After 45 minutes describing my life- working a full time job along with 3 part time gigs (1 in ministry), I told him, "I'm pulled in every direction... and I can't finish anything I start....I can't even finish a book without quitting and starting another...." With that, Dr. Dingfelder gave me an assignment to complete before my next stint on his couch. "Well then, finish 1 book." So I read the Purpose Driven Life (I think I finished it.. thanks Pastor Rick for keeping me out of the nuthouse).

Today

Almost a decade later, I found Road Trip to be therapy to churches riding the Multi-Sites wave -a powerful movement, but 1 with fierce undertows. As churches launch into this movement, Road Trip is a virtual sit down with some early adapters who've navigated these riptides. Taking time to finish this book could keep unprepared staffs from clinging to couches like Dr. Dingfelder's...

The Undertows

When I grabbed that couch, I was working full time at a school and part time at a church, a Subway sandwich shop, and an after-school program. If you asked me what I did, I'd probably say, "A little bit of everything...hey would you like chips and drink with that ?" I was road weary and was having an identity crisis to say the least.

Road Trip will save you from both. The book can help you know who you are and how it translates to campuses, withouth having to burn up that lonesome trail. As you get on the front end of the wave, it helps navigate the currents:

1-The Internet Campus concept: is it reality or not?
2-Church Mergers: a how to, and a how-not-to (I think the next book in the series should be solely about this).
3-Multi-site in your genetics: getting rid of the 'us and them' mentality by being a church "of" multiple sites, not just a church 'with' multiple sites.
4-Lego land, not Starbucks: how to be built of the same DNA, but have local expressions with variety
5-Global Campuses: my favorite chapter. My thoughts on this below.
Legs the Locals can walk on: International Campuses

On a trip to our Costa Rica Campus, I skipped right to the chapter on International Campuses. I was pumped to view our progress in the burroughs of San Jose through the lens of global campuses detailed in Road Trip.

"International ministry is about taking the best of what you have to offer, and adding to it that which is appealing to the local population. Then you have a combo that works." p.138

Having a local church expression not only gives a platform for worship services, but also for the outreach components to have a global and local expression. International Campuses take Jail ministry, adopt a school partnerships, and Dreamcenter concepts and provide legs that the locals can walk on...not just the missions teams sent periodically.

My thanks to the authors for taking the trip for us: Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird. You saved us travelling budget, and I'd say counseling budget as well. Ideas birthed by your work will translate to multi site churches expanding to more people in a healthier way. Keep it up.

-John D. Scott

First, let me say that this book has very good information contained in it. It truly gives the reader a picture of the various types of multi-site churches and also gives a picture of the different ways that multi-site churches can come into being and exist.

I want to list the things that I really liked first:

(1) Application to my own context: Anyone who is looking at multi-site or multi-venue worship/churches will find this book informative. I particularly found Chapter 11: Merger Campuses-No Longer a Bad Idea as it gave me some great information and insight into mergers which my church is currently in the process of.

(2) The ending of the chapters usually has a section where the authors ask poignant questions that cause the reader to reflect on their own situation and how that chapter might apply to their life as a church and where God may be calling them.

(3) The book is 100% a great reference and connectional point to give you information on churches that are multi-site and where they are located. Whatever your church situation may be you will be able to find someone who has probably been in a similar situation as a church or has gone the direction you are hoping and this book will help you find that church and give you the information to connect directly with the source.

(4) There were little sections in the book that really helped like page 150-151 with a section called "What Makes a Great Campus Pastor?" These sections (highlighted within different chapters) contained great information that would give practical information to leaders of churches looking at possibly moving into a multi-site existence and what they might need to look for.

Now on to some things that I feel could have made the book better:

(1) While the authors intend for the (meant to be funny) statements and pseudo-conversation with the reader about food to be a binding part of the story, I personally found them to be annoying and distracting and really they didn't serve any purpose (outside of being "cutesy")

(2) The "road trip" actually didn't always give the reader an in-depth look at the church listed as the intro church and focus of the chapter. This I found extremely annoying because the church highlighted with information in the intro to each chapter was sometimes only used as a brief jumping off point to talk about a certain type of multi-site church. For example Chapter 7: Fun with Technology highlights North Coast Church (Vista, California) as the church "visit," but in reality most of the chapter focuses on LifeChurch.tv (Oklahoma). The chapter was informative but the structure is very misleading as North Coast Church didn't play a prominent role in the chapter really at all.

(3) That brings me to my third point. I haven't read the authors first book The Multi-Site Revolution and this may play a part in my take, but this book seems like it would have been better if it had focused more in depth on 3 or 4 churches. Practically speaking, LifeChurch.tv played a role in a majority of the chapter and really was the main focus of 3 or 4 chapters, which is fine but I personally would have felt the book would have been better if it had just intentionally focused on LifeChurch.tv for 1/3 or 1/4 of the book. (just my own tastes in terms of structure and alignment)

In the end this book is a very good informational book for anyone who might be looking at multi-site (or multi-venue) existence. It may not flow and focus like some of the books I am used to, but the information contained in the chapters makes up for that and makes it a worthwhile read (if only to really have a compact resource of connections so one could learn from others).

I recently read the new book Multi-Site Church Road Trip by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird. After reading The Multi-Site Revolution several years back, this was a wonderful update.

6 or 7 years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Dave Ferguson for dinner at a restaurant in Brighton, Michigan where Community Christian Church was then working on a potential site. Dan Reeves introduced me to CCC and the Ferguson brothers who were then cutting edge (and still are) in the multi-site movement. Then, as reflected in The Multi-Site Revolution, multi-site was new, exciting, and and catalyst to new growth. They were multi-siting in old churches and even in a housing development for the elderly. I had a chance to hear their strategy at a small conference in Kalamazoo not long after that in which they talked about the "franchising" of churches. Initially, that rubbed me the wrong way, but with the right spirit and for the right reasons, that idea was cheaper, more effective, and provided more accountability for "church planting" as well as more support for the planters (or campus pastors, as their usually called.) I had a chance later to visit the Yellow Box and worship with CCC and was really impressed with their innovation, passion, and down-to-earth evangelicalism. CCC was really my only real personal interaction with multi-siting until I began reading more about it in Leadership Network's articles.

I now serve at a large church just about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. We worship just under 2000 most Sundays, and for the last 5 years, myself and the other leadership have worked diligently to move our church not only towards planting, but towards being a multiplication center with church multiplication at the heartbeat of our mission. We've been involved in church plants in the past, but had gotten away from that focus and got sucked into the megachurch growth movement - which is only a negative comment because of the loss of a planting focus. Out of that focus, we've decided to plant 4 churches in the next 5 years through venues, sites, and plants. A month ago, we launched our first venue on our central campus called Rock Harbor with 60% of the attendees (170-200 total worshipers) from outside the church. We're now looking to out first site to possibly launch in September or October. We're also involved in the planting of a cluster of at least 5-10 churches in central Florida that will also launch this next year.

The Multi-Site Road trip has been an awesome primer in what's happening around the country and about the maturation of multi-siting over the past 10 or so years. What I loved about this book was that it didn't give a silver bullet and didn't promote a one-size fits all approach. In fact, exactly the opposite was true. MSR defines multi-siting as "one church meeting in multiple locations" and identifies five basic models:

1. video venues
2. regional campuses
3. teaching teams
4. partnerships
5. low risk models

They give examples of all these models and show how these models actually play out in real churches, real teams, with real struggles. It also helps the reader to see that multi-siting is not just for the large, or mega church, but that it is a strategy for growth that helps churches to reach new communities, make room for new people, or as our planting network (The Harbor Network) would say, lives into the reality that "new churches reach new people." It was insightful to read that multi-siting may be an evolution of church strategy not unlike the addition of a second or third service, something that will in the future be "the new norm" as the book calls it. The book is both practical and encouraging, and is a must read for anyone either considering venues or multi-siting, as an alternative to traditional "planting," and as a catalytic idea for a church looking to expand into the community.

A Review Of A Multi-Site Church Road Trip
Before I started this book, my view of multi-site churches was negative for personal reasons. I thought the idea of a message presented on a screen was impersonal. I don't even like watching our pastor on the screens at our church, and he is right on stage. I thought it was about churches growing just to make a name for themselves. And I thought church should be one building, one pastor, one crowd. I was a fool.
Geoff, Greg, and Warren have presented some churches that have made great strides in the setup and execution of excellent multi-site churches. I especially like places like Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, with their 3-in-1 setup. Or Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where any new location doesn't follow a template, but caters to the area it is planted in.
These ideas would have never occurred to me before. And although I'm still not totally sold on video pastoring, the fact that churches are doing the rest of the service live, like worship, prayer, intro, there would still be a community worshiping together, which I believe is very important.
I also like that the authors went to different churches around the country and personally experienced each one. They could have easily mailed it in and just talked about each one, but instead they visited, and through their times there, relayed those encounters to us. That shows a real passion, which shows throughout this book.
Overall, I liked it. I would definitely recommend (I already have), especially to anybody considering or just starting the idea of a multi-site church.

I hope you enjoy!