KevMcCord

The Multi-Church Site

There is a new phenomenon in the church world called "Multi-Site Church."  One church meeting in many locations.  Ok, the Catholic church has done this for centuries, but they didn't have a cool name or HD video to "pipe in the pope" weekly.

This post is not about multi-site churches.  It's about "Multi-Church Sites."  Cheap retail space in strip malls creates interesting neighbors.

I regularly drive by a shopping center that really illustrates a multi-church site.

I maintain that the above arrangement would be IMPOSSIBLE if the church in the middle wasn't 7th Day Adventist.  As it is, I would say that it takes great faith and spiritual maturity to share your parking lot with another church.  The chorus for "I stand in awe of you" is running through my mind.

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.

Success: The Worst Outcome

I find myself repeating the same thing time and again as people share ideas of what we ought to do as a church.  I tell them...

The biggest problem with that idea is that it might work.

There are many things that are distractions masquerading as good ideas.  Others simply wouldn't be easily repeated or sustained.  A few are completely reasonable in and of themselves, but they have no real value to the organizational mission.  The most rare are sure to happen eventually, but only in due time.

In a community environment it is important to foster creativity and entrepreneurship.   Rather than saying "no" to these ideas I generally tell people to start doing it and that we might join them.  I tell them that we'd much rather celebrate and endorse them than start it.  When we do start things we want to be sure that:

1. they advance the mission
2. we have a leader we trust
3. we have the margin
4. we have a plan to sustain them
5. we see them work elsewhere or on a smaller scale
6. they are not already being done

We'd much rather CELEBRATE, ENDORSE, or JOIN successful things than START new things.

By this point in the conversation it generally becomes clear that by "we should do" they often mean "you should do." Alternatively, they had a plan and all they wanted from you was the church facilities and platform.  Either way the idea goes away and sometimes the person as well.  I can't think of one case where either departure was a bad thing. 

You can't fully plan for success.  Success is full of challenges.  You can decide what things you'll try to make successful.  It's similar to hiring people.  It's easier to screen them out then fire them.  Same thing for programs.  It's easier to say no before the program has a following that tells you that you can't stop it because it is SUCCEEDING.

As I write this post many ideas come to mind, but none more sharply than the oft requested "Parents Night Out".  Anything come to your mind?

Florida Church IT Roundtable

It's getting closer!  The Florida Church IT Roundtable hosted by Christ Fellowship is scheduled for January 26th.  Have you registered yet?

Event Wiki with registration link: http://fl.citrt.org/

Original Post: http://churchcio.com/regional-church-it-roundtable-event-in-florida

More Recent Post With Specifics:  http://churchcio.com/regional-florida-citrt-event-january-26th-2009

If you do IT for your church--by IT I mean Information Teachnology--and your church is in Florida I hope to see you there!  The $50 registration plus about that much money in gas and food is about all the conference budget I'm going to get this year and this is the best bang for the buck I'm sure!

Church Planteristics

What are the characteristics of a church planter? 

You may be asked to join someone in a church plant as part of their team.  Pray about it, but also assess the person who is asking for your help.

1. Are people naturally drawn to them?  Are they open and approachable?

2. Do they share the gospel with people as a normal part of their daily lives or do they require a stage?

3. Do they have a clear and compelling vision for this church start?

4. Is their church plant a reaction to something or are they truly called to start something new?

5. Have they discipled (mentored) anyone and then sent them out?  What do those folks say about them?

6. Have they identified an area?  Will they plant their family there before they plant a church there?

7. Does their experience, education, and training indicate they know the range of church plant options and what may work given their target area and likely audience?

8. Can they articulate their vision so that other people get excited?  Are you excited?  Why are they asking you?

9. Are there church leaders and churches behind them?

10. Are they investing their lives into anyone?  Do they invite people into their lives and into their family?

11. Does the church plant represent a real risk and evidence they are relying upon God?

12. Have they proven their ability to tough it out when things take longer and are harder than expected?

13. What milestones have they already met?  What milestones are they striving to meet in the first 6 months, 12 months, and so on.

14. Could this person succeed in business if they weren't church planting.

15. What are they asking you to do?  Is it a wide open commitment?

I've never met anyone called to church plant that didn't have several of the above characteristics, but I wouldn't join the team unless they had MOST of what the above questions imply.

I'm also a bit surprised when people join their team with completely wide-open commitments.  I'm against most wide-open commitments.  If there is no goal in view, no objective measure of success, and no clear boundaries on participation the end is likely to be awkward if not painful. 

Here's a thought, why not begin a church plant with an objective date and a target or two that, if not met, will signal a major reconsideration of the strategy.

Something prayerfully arrived at like:

If we don't have 4 small groups with 12 people in each and an average weekly worship attendance of 100 people by year 2 we'll look at options including merging with another church.

One last thought.  Go ahead and leave your established church if you feel truly called to join someone's team.   How your church and your pastor react to your decision will tell you more about them than 5 years of sitting and serving there would.

Just know Church planting will be a tough, faith-challendging experience.  Remember, in the church planting metaphor the team is like seeds that get burried underground so the church can grow.  In that respect it's going to be dirty and you're going to feel smothered at times.  It'll be close quarters with the other seeds and you may not see daylight for quite some time.

MeetUp Church

It's just a matter of time until someone starts MeetUpChurch.com (Domain Available).

I imagine the church would use Twitter extensively to communicate.  A church without a building or even a regular rental.  A church where the worship service might happen at a park, a habitat for humanity construction site,at a homeless shelter or in a night club or at a movie theatre.  You find out the week before.

I imagine the church would either do portable Kids classes or rent a preschool on Sundays that is otherwise closed and earning $0.

I imagine the church might pipe in teaching from whatever amazing teacher is willing to get an honorarium for being "virtually there".  Surely they stream teaching.  Perhaps the MeetUps are taking place in 8 or 9 places at once.

I figure the leadership of this church is basically a bunch of worship creatives who love a high density urban area.  Maybe they decide to avoid the big-preacher-teacher-man-ceo model on purpose. 

They are supported by missional Christians who'd rather not be in endless church building campaigns.   Everyone would know that the web is used for things like tithing so that logistical things like handling money don't complicate the Meet-ups.

The church-in-a-box people think this is going to really catch on and they'll sell lots of trailers filled with the stuff you need to perform.  Ironically, these guys don't actually try to make the place they are in like an auditorium.  People stand a lot, bring their own chairs if they want, use what is there.  Sometimes worship is a cappella.  Sometimes it happens at home as people stream the team and sing along with their kids in preparation for going to the meet-up to do something not-churchy like clean-up a neighborhood.

Ironically, the website of this church is less important than you might think.  It's probably just a couple of pages explaining things and helping to make the average churchy person who visited aware that they probably wouldn't like it.  On the home page is the stream of twitter updates from everyone in the church.  Fowl language probably shows up now and then.  So what?

What would matter is that people follow @MeetUpChurch on Twitter.

MeetUp Church probably wouldn't have marketing slogan or tag line, but if they did it would be something like "Meet Up, Do Good"

I'd be MORE likely to go to this church.  I'd be doubly likely to want to participate in starting this church with the right team of people with the right leader at the center.  You see, even MeetUp church needs a solid leader who can communicate and inspire.  I'm banking he can do that without ever-more-creative 3-week teaching series.

Raking Data

Yesterday I raked a lot of leaves.

Raking leaves and analyzing data share a number of similarities.

You don't rake leaves unless there are enough leaves to make it worth your while.  You don't analyze data unless you have enough of it to make it worth your while.

If you don't rake often you'll get blisters and you probably won't have the best tools.  You may even avoid the job.  If you don't analyze your data regularly you may find it hard to begin and painful to accomplish.

Gathering the data is hard work, but it isn't quite half the work.  You still have to do something with it.  Getting leaves in piles is not the end of the job.

If you have a lawn mower that bags debris you can cut your grass and get the leaves up at the same time.  If your information management systems are well designed analysis is built right in.

No one rakes leaves efficiently the first time.  There are tricks you learn from trail and error and from watching others.  Someone who rakes leaves for a living expends less energy and gets more done.  Analysis tools like Google Analytics are designed for websites with millions of hits a day.  You can leverage a tool like that even if you have a little church website.

There is a beautiful yard under there (you think).  You may find out the grass is dead when you pick up the dead leaves.  You always begin data analysis with an assumption.  Some people don't want to rake the data and find out the assumption is wrong.

In the end the analogy breaks down since data is useful stuff and dead leaves aren't very useful.  In both cases though you can get a sense of accomplishment when you look at the finished product and you bring order to chaos.

I have a lot of data to rake this next few weeks.  I need to know what I'm going to do with the data before I get it all piled up.  I need to list the questions that need answers, confront my assumptions, determine my goals, and mock up the final product before I start raking it together.

IT, Communications, & Media

David Drinnon makes a great case with visual aids for having one leader overseeing IT, Communications and Media in very large churches.

Reverse Triage Your Traditions

Reverse triage your traditions. 

1. First kill the ones that no longer further your mission
2. Then put the ones no longer relevant to your culture on notice to adapt or die.
3. Finally, examine the ones that DO further your mission and ARE relevant to your culture for ways to make them part of your current strategy.

Love the past if it is worth loving, but don't lie about it.

Learn from it, but don't live in it.

Reminisce on occasion, but lead folks to look to the future. 

There was a time for putting kids on wodden structures made by volunteers to resemble christmas trees.  It passed.

Old Churches Can Change!

I go to church every week in an OLD church building that has a very YOUNG ministry format.

Earlier this year we took out the pews, replaced carpet, painted the building, gave away the organ, vanished the hymnals, painted the ceiling black, expanded the stage, added lighting and speakers, and mixed in tables in our general seating area. 

Those are just the cosmetic changes we made.  While we were merging with the First Baptist Church of North Miami we changed our name to Oasis Church!  They started out talking with us while we were still the First Baptist Church of Pembroke Pines (dba Church of Pembroke Pines).  At the same time we introduced the concept of the Campus Pastor and the concept of a Teaching Team.   

Let me summarize that.  We changed all the stuff people fret about in less than 9 months without a single fight.  I don't even remember who picked the carpet colors.  The music style went from island flavored classic hymns to passion conference style worship.  We did lose a family over worship, but that was the extent of the controversy.

Seriously, from the perspective of the old timers we nearly made a night club out of their beloved church.  Most of them made the transition with us and they are still an integral part of our church. 

I firmly believe what we did could be repeated.

You can change an old church including the people's habits,the property, and the programs, but you have to follow a few guidelines.

1. Be Invited!  We didn't push our way in.  They wanted to continue to reach their community and they decided we could help.
2. Check Your Compatibility.  These folks were older than us and they did things differently than us, but we had the same heartbeat to reach people for Jesus.
3. Build Trust.  We gave ourselves to the support of their ministry long before the merger happened.  We then worked through dozens of logistical and administrative issues for months after the merger.  Before we changed the outward manifestation of church we journeyed together through enough decisions to begin to trust one another's intentions.
4. Bring a Plan. We didn't have all the details worked out, but we did have a plan.
5. Set Expectations.  This means you tell them the good and the bad and work through their concerns.  Don't start without clear expectations.
6. Invest. We invested people and money into this effort!
7. Genuinely Work to Include Everyone. We need them as much as they needed us to transform rather than replace, to merge rather than co-opt, to carry on rather than eclipse the ministry of 80 years that we inherited.
8. Let people leave graciously.  Seriously, there is a way to do this!  It generally involves hugging.

9. Be Honest.  Don't pretend this stuff is just happening or that it is definitely going to work. Don't spring changes on people.  Don't coddle them by saying they will like it or it won't be so bad or we'll do some of the old stuff if you don't plan to do that.

That's my list.  Today there is no longer "Them" and "Us".  There is only a newly combined "Us."  I wouldn't want to go to church without getting a hug from my friend Vick or watching my friend Ruth serve in KidsWorld for a 6th uninterrupted decade!

Old churches can change because older people can tolerate and participate in change if they believe in the mission.  I plan to be one of those older people who can change one day, but I'm going to give you holy hell if you don't follow my advice.