Multi-Site. . .
Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

Leadership Network Advance talked with co-authors Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon and Warren Bird about their new book, The Multi-Site Church Revolution: Being One Church in Many Locations, part of the Leadership Network Innovation Series from Zondervan.

Why did you write this book?

Warren: At every church conference we attended, no matter the topic, the hallway conversations were about the idea of becoming one church with more than one campus.

Greg: We felt called to create a resource that would communicate what God is doing through an entire movement--not just one style, size or location of church.

What do you say that's new?

Geoff: This is the first book to document the explosion of multi-site churches in America and to offer practical steps any church can take to become "one church in many locations."

Northland Community Church in Orlando, FL links campuses for simultaneous worship services.
What have you learned about the multi-site church movement?

Greg: Use of a multi-site strategy for doing ministry creates great potential for leveraging people and money, and it results in changed lives. It can work in almost any setting. Another exciting development is the creation of innovative, collaborative partnerships between churches and businesses, non-profit agencies and pretty much any entity that has a facility not being used during prime worship times on Sunday morning.

Warren: The idea of the campus pastor--the "face with the place" for a particular site, who is truly a pastor to the group--is essential for multi-site success.

How are church leaders grasping the concept of multi-site?

Greg: One of the great "ah-has," or turning points for most leaders, is the understanding of multi-site's breadth and depth. At its best, multi-site is not just another program or strategy that lines up with all the other programs or strategies of the church--student ministry, men's ministry, missions, etc. Rather, it is foundational.

Many leaders have begun to adopt the phrase first coined with reference to small groups years ago -- "We are not a church with small groups but rather a church of small groups." Today, we are hearing leaders say, "We are not a church with multiple sites but rather a church of multiple sites." When this shift is made, all the conversations change. You can no longer make a decision about children's ministry, women's ministry or small groups, without asking, "How will this decision impact each of our campuses? How will this idea be replicated?"

What are the big surprises in the book?

Greg: Many may be surprised to discover that the multi-site movement is not solely about video and/or live simulcast. Less than half of multi-site churches use video, others use rotating teaching teams and on-site teaching pastors in the execution of their multi-site model.

Warren: But if you do use video, your congregation will surprise you with how quickly they come to like videocast preaching (if done well).

Geoff: Another surprise is that multi-site is not a white, suburban, megachurch phenomenon; we found churches meeting in more than one

Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon,
and Warren Bird
location across the spectrum of churches in America. In researching about 1,000 multi-site churches we found mainline churches, non-denominational churches, suburban churches, inner-city churches, large churches and smaller churches expanding beyond one location.

Warren: No model is dominant. Denominational churches, such as United Methodists and Lutherans, are embracing multi-site as quickly and successfully as new or non-denominational churches.

Who is the book for and why should they read it?

Greg: The book is for everyone who is curious about the movement, and for those who have plans to launch a new campus and want to avoid detours. It is for senior pastors, teams, governance boards and members of churches.

Warren: It's for churches that think their only option is to build a larger facility. It's for churches with a passion to take the church to the people. And it's for church planters looking for a very workable model.

Geoff: My hope is that readers will be challenged to explore how their church can grow beyond the four walls of its present location. There are communities and cultures that are being bypassed when it comes to sharing the Good News; our goal is to provide the tools to build exit ramps to those who are being bypassed.

Geoff Surratt grew up in a pastor's home in Denver, Colorado. He has 23 years of ministry experience as a youth and children's pastor, senior pastor and now a teaching pastor at Seacoast Church. He and his wife Sherry have two children.

Greg Ligon has been with Leadership Network since 1997. He currently serves as Leadership Community Director focusing in the area of multi-site ministry and Director of Publishing. Greg is married to Susan and they have two boys.

Warren Bird is Director of Research for Leadership Network. Warren has authored many publications for Leadership Network, including many of the multi-site resources at http://www.leadnet.org/resources. Warren and his wife Michelle have two grown children.

To download a sample chapter of the book, go to: www.leadnet.org.