How Multisite Can Wreck Your Church

Going multisite can expand your ministry, reach new people, and have a positive impact on multiple communities. It can also wreck your church.

Just a few years ago, multisite was one strategy churches considered for reaching more people. Now it seems the standard strategy for every church. It’s rare anymore that I come into contact with a pastor of 800+ who isn’t already thinking about new campuses.

It’s great to dream about taking the gospel into new communities. In fact, at The Unstuck Group we often encourage churches to consider multisite as a next step. At the same time, we’ve also seen many churches become stuck as a result of going multisite. It wasn’t that the strategy was wrong for their church. They just didn’t take the right steps to prepare ahead of time.

We think you should think twice before launching another campus. Whether you are an existing or future multisite church, we want you to be as strategic as possible to reach as many people as possible. This month, we’re going to try to talk you out of going multisite — or at least out of going before you are ready. We’re not going to give you pie-in-the-sky ideals of how great it is to be multisite and why every church should launch a campus next year. You can find plenty of that on your own. Instead, we’re going to share the challenges, pitfalls, and shortcomings our team has seen and experienced with multisite churches.

To get things started, here’s an overview of 9 ways going multisite can wreck your church:

1. Multiple Visions

   When the vision isn’t 100% clear at one location, new campuses develop their own.

2. Draining Campuses

   When an existing location isn’t growing itself, launching a new campus will likely leave it worse off.

3. Leaders At Their Lid

   New locations will shift existing staff from leading a ministry to developing ministry leaders – but only if they have the capacity to do so.

4. Staff Tension

   When roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines are unclear, new campuses only further complicate relationships.

5. Insufficient Volunteers

   Without a deep volunteer bench, a new campus will leave every team short of key players.

6. Complicated Ministry Model

   Without a clear discipleship pathway, new campuses will pave their own, only adding to the confusion.

7. Strained Systems

   Every additional campus tests the strength of existing systems. When those systems are underdeveloped, the entire organization slows down.

8. Financial Pressure

   Startup costs along with the first few years of operations will always require a large investment. Without sufficient capital on the front-end, other campuses will see that investment as a burden.

9. Downgraded Weekend Services

   When new campuses cannot create the experience a church is known for, either they become “second-rate” or established campuses are downgraded.

Does your church run the risk of any of these as you consider new campuses? We want to see you get and stay unstuck as you expand. One of the ways we help is through a Multisite Readiness Assessment. It’s an opportunity for us to get hands-on with your team and help you determine the steps needed to prepare for healthy, new campuses. It’s an investment on the front-end to save you problems for years to come.

Click here to learn more about launching campuses without wrecking your church. And keep an eye out for more multisite articles this month.

Photo Credit: Igor Goryachev via unsplash.com