Multi-Site Church: Ministry Directors

In a multi-site church there are generally ministry directors (aka leader, pastor).  This is someone who is tasked with leading a ministry department.  The department may be children, youth, worship, small groups, discipleship, etc.

Once a church has 3 or more sites, the ministry director may find her role changing.  This is normal, but the transition can be painful.  Someone who was really great at leading a department on a single campus may not easily re-cast their role in a multi-site environment.

My wife directs a children's ministry at a multi-site church.  She and I recently discussed the following four major responsibilities and four major phases in supporting a campus at a multi-site church.

Responsibilities of the Ministry Director with regards to a Campus.

1. Train the Team
2. Resource the Campus
3. Encourage the Team
4. Maintain Church Standards

You will notice that Recruit and Overseeare both left off this list.  These tasks are better delegated to a Ministry Coordinator who is assigned to that campus.  Both the campus pastor and the ministry director should assist the ministry coordinator in these efforts.  While it is optional, I believe the ministry coordinator should report directly to their Campus Pastor while maintaining close ties with the Ministry Director.

Phases in the life-cycle of a Campus

1. Pre-launch / Expansion
2. Post-launch
3. Maintenance
4. Crisis (could be departmental or campus-wide)

Levels of Effort for the Ministry Director with regards to a Campus should be adjusted for each responsibility depending on the phase the campus is in.  The following matrix illustrates one possible allocation of effort.  Don't get caught up in the allocation.  It is subjective and it matters how you define the responsibilities.

Before allocating your effort, define the responsibilities and phases for your church.  By defining these, it will be easier to understand if a campus is being fully supported in a manner appropriate to the reality of that campus.

Comments

[Jack Hakimian]

To add to the complexity of this approach which seems to make sense is the factor that if you don't have a relational influence in peoples lives on a ground level in the church and community in a new multi-site all the strategizing in the world is purely theoretical.

Coordinators and Campus Pastor's have to be empowered to spend time with individuals and groups in spiritual practices and fellowship in order to build the bonds that inspire loyalty and engagement in an organization. The problem with having a certain standard in a transplanted multi-site is that unless the new campus pastor comes from the existing sending church with a group of people who have bought into his leadership and are capable, any new campus pastor will have to start from scratch with any new new coordinators of children, youth,evangelism, etc ministries in team building.

Thoughtful strategy like Kevin's coupled with relational, motivational influence are the ingredients of practical success in any volunteer driven institution. Both take time to develop and must be developed simultaneously. That is the difficulty and complexity of building a church. Like the argument for intelligent design, "It is irreducibly complex".
Both the heart and the brain have to be functioning for their to be operative life. One cannot proceed the other, but grow together to have operative, healthy life or else you have an empty frame with no energy.

God bless you and thanks for documenting your thoughts and what seems to be an obvious approach to be considered.