Multi-Site Churches: Part 2
Following up from Part 1…
In my ministry, it is the getting there that has been the great thing, not the arriving. In the same way multi-site is a vehicle; it is not the destination. So, be careful not to covet multi-site. It is extremely complex. It is very draining. It is a ton of work.
Personally it has been a struggle to adjust to the diminishment of my role in shepherding a flock. I love the people that I am preaching to and frankly there is just something unsatisfying and not authentic about rushing away from the people that you just poured your heart out to so you can make it to another service at another site. It is also a challenge to feel like a pastor in a church that you never see and that only sees you on video.
Multi-site as a focus has a lot of merit and we have done it, but it is also important that it does not diminish the hard work of reproducing ourselves in the lives of others. Some people are uniquely gifted to preach, but I really believe that the principles of communicating God’s Word are transferable to other gifted people. We have to be careful that when we are perpetuating satellites that we are not really saying, “It is all reproducible except me.” That would be an abdication of our responsibility to do the harder work of raising up others.
Theologically I have no hesitation with multi-site. In fact, when I am up preaching, I will often say, “I’m glad that you are here today wherever you are worshiping. It doesn’t matter where I am. All that matters is where you are and where God is, and He is right with you now as we open God’s Word together.” The manifest presence of God in the corporate gathering of His people is significant, not the physical location of the mouthpiece, so to speak.
There is definitely a multi-location dynamic to the church in Acts. And I don’t see anything in Scripture that forbids it. And technology allows it and abundant fruitfulness tends to force it and church planting doesn’t protect us from it. We arrived at it reluctantly because we can’t discount it from Scripture.
As churches consider becoming multi-site, they must first be drawn into multi-site through an abundant fruitfulness at your single location. There should be evidence that there is demand for your ministry that exceeds the capacity of your current geographical location or facilities. If there isn’t enough demand for your ministry to fill one building, who are you kidding? There won’t be more demand on the other side of town either.
Second, if you are experiencing some kind of abundance by God’s grace, then you must consider the best way to steward that abundance. For Harvest, that stewardship meant doing several other things before we utilized multi-site. We had reached the limitation of a facility that was really full four times each Sunday, and we were planting churches and it still did not solve the growth of our church. Only then, when an opportunity came to continue to grow the fruitfulness that we were experiencing, did we become multi-site.
Without the experience of seeing the abundance and stewarding the abundance at your single site, just going into adding sites because everyone else is doing it could be a really bad decision.
Categorized as: From James, Harvest Bible Chapel, Ministry
October 5th, 2009 at 9:57 am
James,
I appreciate your openness to your teams hesitation of using multi-sites in your ministry strategy. In recent months we have added multi-venues on our one campus and even then I struggle with the effectiveness of this movement. What I have come to realize is that God provided us with the venues and there are empty seats in each which can be filled with persons who want to learn and worship and just as importantly those who do not have a relationship with Christ.
Again thanks for the post.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Many would probably expect you to be a major proponent of the multi-site set-up, I am glad that you are sharing your thoughts about it in an authentic way. I can see in your writing that you truly love your flock and it is great to see that not all big churches are about just getting big numbers. I often hear individuals talk badly about churches that are set-up like Harvest, and often they talk badly about the pastor of those churches, but you have shown that a pastor can truly love his people and still have a big church.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I definitely appreciate your candid blog on the multi-site situation you have there. It helps those of us in small towns with small churches realize the struggles you go through just as we do and also your desire to see Christ honored just as we do. We’re all in this together and all of us desire to see God glorified. May we all recognize that we are all a small part of the greater design and work our best to be certain we don’t have a weak part coming out of the factory. Thank-you for your continued blogging.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Thank you so much for this history and your observations of it. It is amazing how God is working in and thru Harvest & I am thankful to see technology being utilized in a God honoring way.
In my mind it is not who or how the message is delivered. Your messages come to me via podcast and if anything this mode of delivery has enhanced my focus on the message rather than the messenger.
My church has limited technology, one service, and a children’s church ministry that prevents me from hearing the sermon most Sundays. I am thankful that your church can share its teaching so that I can be a better servant to the church family God has given me to love.
May God continue to lead and prosper the work of Harvest!
October 5th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
James,
We’re still keeping it real down at Niles and loving the family, the boldly and discerningly preached Word, and an atmosphere that exalts Christ. I’m currently warm to the idea of multi-sites as temporary solutions to the growth “problem” (praise God for such problems!), but am still wrestling with some questions. A couple of the biggest ones are, What does it mean to be a shepherd (pastor/elder)? and Can any of the tasks of shepherding be performed by someone who is not personally “known” by, and does not personally “know,” the congregation?
Though the apostle Paul (not, of course, primarily a pastor) traveled from church to church over a vast territory, writing letters and sending delegates between visits, he still emphasized the relational ethos of his ministry. “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us” (1 Thess 1:5-6).” “You yourselves know how I lived among you…” (Acts 20:18ff). There is also the modeling component of shepherding that cannot be done from afar (it’s difficult enough up close). While campus pastors supply some of this lack, there is still a disconnect between the person teaching the congregation and modeling “among them” what he’s teaching.
Again, I’m not offering a critique here, but asking some questions I think are important to the discussion. Thanks for sharing the stories with everyone! Your transparency is a form of modeling that is commendable.
Your brother,
Matt
Matt:
Good to hear from you. Your questions are right on. Wish I had better answers. Seems like most big ministry decisions involve gaining something and losing something. Not sure how to gain the loss with out losing the gain, but I sure do feel the tension.
thanks for writing,
james
October 5th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
From hearing and seeing the fruit of the ministry of harvest I can say you are not into multi’site as a fad or novel concept to try. The fact that you and your team has developed strong leaders with strong church plants is eveidence enough of that. I am just concernned about the other fellowships that haven’t done all they can before making this step. This is why I really appreciate your authentic transparency on the subject.
Maay many more of our Christain leaders have God’s heart for the people of God and fight this fad mentalality that seems to run in our churches today.
Thanks AGAIN for taking the right stand! May our Lord continue to strengthen you and the leaders at Harvest.
Curtis
October 7th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Thank you for your post and for being honest. This is a subject that has been on my mind in the recent years as I watch this model take on a life of it’s own. Currently, I attend a church where the story sounds the same as yours. My concern comes from what I am seeing happening.
Great preachers (and speakers) draw great numbers, and the hope is that they hear the message. They get people’s attention for the moment, but is there truly effective discipling with this method. People get hung up on the “man” quoting him all the time rather than scripture. Then there are the other sheep who are weak and new to the faith. Without true discipling, they tend to drift into the background and take a complacent positioning in the Body. No one challenges them in a sea of thousands of people. Granted, everyone is ultimately responsible for their own relationship with Christ, we are meant to have community and close fellowship to be able to sharpen one another. In the process of churches growing larger from tranplants and seekers, few leaders get raised in the church and groomed to take their place. More programs are created to occupy the people in a hope that it helps in their maturity. As the programs expand, there are fewer mature leaders to run them so warm, willing, good-intentioned people are put in place. Do you see where I am going with this?
I guess there is nothing concrete in the Bible about not doing multi-sites, but what are your thoughts on this suggestion? Rather than having multi-sites, why not discern, raise up and place other preachers to do as one is gifted to do. I can’t say that you are not doing this. I belive that, as an elder in the body of Christ, you are mentoring other ministers to take their place in shepherding as you do, maybe even to take over your other campuses.
Churches are getting so large from the transference of membership and “seekers” rather than true converts. Communities are not being changed as much as “believers” are becoming spiritually constipated with great teachings. The people are not able to replicate and apply the teachings it in their own families, workplaces and everyday life. There simply isn’t any biblical discipling going on.
Harvest is a great ministry and this is not a personal attack on the ministry that God is blessing. It is more about the many pastors who look to how you do things and are mimicking the model, but are very shallow and widespread in spiritual immaturity of their congregants. I believe you when you say that Harvest is reluctant to take on a multi-site approach. As Matt stated earlier, I’m currently warm to the idea of multi-sites as temporary solutions to the growth “problem.” The teaching of the Gospel is alive in your ministry and there is no room for excuses concerning not knowing the truth. As always, thank you for being transparent. If you have time, let us or me know what have been your thoughts on that suggestion.
Praying with you man of God!
L J
October 8th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Thank you James for sharing God’s truth with so many. Not only are you a multi-site church but thankfully you have been pastor to my family in Eastern Canada as well.
My dad passed away suddenly only two weeks ago and your revelation series is helping me so much. When you experience a loss, I am discovering that our hope in Christ is the only comfort. Your teaching from Revelation is helping our family as we sit around the computer each week and let the Lord speak to us through your teaching.
Thanks for your faithfulness to teach the truth.
We pray for your health and strength in these days.
Thanks again,
Andrea