March 20, 2024

Preparing for Your First Campus Launch – Episode 340 | The Unstuck Church Podcast

preparing for your first campus launch

Fresh Content Each Week

New content to help you lead an unstuck church delivered to your inbox on Wednesday mornings.

We know your inbox is probably full.

We want to make it easier for you to find the right content-the articles, podcast episodes and resources most relevant to where you are in your leadership.

  • Protected: Order – August 7, 2021 @ 01:25 AM

    Podcast Episodes

  • Articles & Blog Posts

  • Protected: Order – August 7, 2021 @ 09:59 AM

    Quarterly Unstuck Church Report

Multisite Madness? (Part 2)

If you enjoy this episode, subscribe on your device for more:
iTunes   RSS  Stitcher   Spotify

Welcome back to our March series on “Multisite Madness?” As a reminder, we’ve designed this series for single-site churches who may be considering whether or not multisite is the right next step for them.

The common sentiment we hear from these churches is that they feel like they “don’t know what they don’t know.” That’s why our team created a list of 9 “Predictable Outcomes” of multisite to help these churches determine the right questions to ask and make the critical multisite decisions that lead to more predictable success.

MORE PREDICTABLE OUTCOMES OF MULTISITE

Though nearly 8 out of 10 multisite campuses are flourishing, many multisite campuses struggle and some do fail. So what’s the key to launching at the right size, in the right space, and with the right launch team to build and sustain a new multisite campus?

In this episode, Amy and I will unpack these questions and explain three “predictable outcomes” of multisite related to preparing for launch. We’ll walk through:

  • How to decide where to launch
  • How many people to launch with
  • Why location is more important than your facility

Going Multisite: How to Launch Your First Campus & Avoid Common Pitfalls

It’s true that going multisite too fast, too soon, or with the wrong strategy can easily get you multi-stuck. At this free webinar, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson will help you get clarity on the how, when, and who of going multisite for the first time.

When selecting the Core Team for a new campus, remember: People transfer and carry culture. [episode 340] #unstuckchurch Click To Tweet Plan for your initial attendance at a new location to be twice the size of the Core Team. [episode 340] #unstuckchurch Click To Tweet The strength of a multisite launch is in the core of followers from the sending congregation and the people they invite. The larger the launch team, the larger the launch, and the sooner the campus becomes self-sustaining. [episode 340] #unstuckchurch Click To Tweet While the actual facility is important and needs to meet the ministry’s needs, a feasible facility in the right location is better than a great facility in the wrong location. [episode 340] #unstuckchurch Click To Tweet
plainjoe endorsed logo color rgb

This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe:

Are you considering adding a second or third campus to your growing church? Need help telling your church’s unique story across every location? PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, has you covered. Their team of creative storytellers, talented designers, and innovative architects are passionate about helping churches tell their stories through spatial, interactive, and strategic storytelling. To learn more about a large church can succeed launching its first campus in a smaller venue, read PlainJoe’s article: “8 Questions to Ask Before Your Church Goes Multisite.”


Other Episodes in this Series


Leader Conversation Guide

Want to take this conversation back to a staff or senior leadership team meeting? 

Our Show Notes subscribers get a PDF download that recaps the episode content and includes a discussion guide you can print out and use at an upcoming meeting.

Opt-in here and get access to the full Leader Conversation Guide archive.


Share Your Thoughts and Questions on Social Media

We use #unstuckchurch on Twitter, and we start a real-time conversation each Wednesday morning when the episode drops. You can follow me @tonymorganlive and The Unstuck Group @unstuckgroup. If Facebook is where you spend your time, I’m there, too.


Write a Review—It Helps!

Your ratings and reviews really do help more pastors discover the podcast content I’m creating here. Would you take a minute to share your thoughts? Just open the the podcast on iTunes on your phone or computer, click Ratings & Reviews, and leave your opinion. Or leave us 5 stars on Spotify.


Transcript

Sean (00:02):

Welcome to The Unstuck Church podcast, where each week we are exploring what it means to be an unstuck church. As a church takes their first steps in the multisite journey, there are several important factors they need to get right during their first launch. And the data says that launching at the right size, in the right space and with the right team will set the campus up for long-term success. On this week’s podcast, Tony and Amy continue our series on multisite strategy with a conversation on what churches should consider when preparing for their first launch. Before we go there, though, if you’re brand new to the podcast, head to theunstuckgroup.com/podcast and subscribe to get the episode show notes. Each week, you’re gonna get resources to go along with that week’s episode, including our Leader Conversation Guide and some bonus resources. Again, that’s theunstuckgroup.com/podcast to subscribe. Now, before this week’s conversation, here’s a word from Amy.

Amy (01:00):

Are you considering adding a second or third campus to your growing church? Need help telling your church’s unique story across every location? PlainJoe: A Storyland Studio has you covered. Their team of creative storytellers, talented designers and innovative architects are passionate about helping churches tell their stories through spatial, interactive and strategic storytelling. Learn more at plainjoestudios.com/multisite.

Amy (01:32):

Hey, well, welcome back to our March series on Multisite Madness. And as a reminder, we’ve designed this series for single-site churches who might be considering whether or not multisite is a right next step for them.

Tony (01:45):

Yeah, that’s right, Amy. I mean, the common sentiment we hear from these churches that they feel like they don’t know what they don’t know. And that’s why our team created a list of nine predictable outcomes of multisite to help those churches determine the right questions to ask and then to make the critical multisite decisions that lead to more predictable success.

Amy (02:06):

Yeah. And last week we dove into the first three predictable outcomes, which if you missed it, were that you replicate what you are, that video really works and we need to begin financial planning before launch. And those topics are ones that I would consider, you know, good to know before you launch, but today, it looks like we’re gonna be discussing the three principles that help you prepare for launch.

Tony (02:29):

That’s right, Amy. So, though nearly eight of 10 multisite campuses are flourishing, many multisite campuses struggle, and some do fail. So, I just want to be honest about that. I mean, when you look at the data, it’s obvious that some multisite campuses don’t take off. And that’s what the key to launching at the right size and the right space and with the right launch team to build and sustain a new multisite campus is all about. And we’re gonna unpack some of those questions and three more multisite principles today. The first principle of launching a new campus is to launch where you are already reaching people. In other words, we recommend that you launch with a core team of at least a hundred people who live in the area where you are launching. Now, that’s the minimum, but the right question to ask is what’s the right number of people for your church to replicate your brand in a new location? It might vary. Often, large mono-site churches need a larger core team with a larger staff and volunteer team to replicate the experience of their sending location. So, it may be much larger than a hundred people for that church to be able to replicate that experience.

Amy (03:47):

Yeah. In our Q4 2023 multisite-focused research report, we found that successful campuses had much larger core teams. That’s no surprise to us. The core teams of these healthy campuses were almost 60% larger prior to launch when compared to the core teams of closed campuses.

Tony (04:06):

So, if you’re hearing that and thinking, “A hundred is just too many people,” your church then may not be large enough yet to consider multisite. And if you’ve listened to our last episode, we explain that 1,000 people in attendance is typically the minimum we recommend for considering multisite. Churches need to be large enough, though, that they can afford to send out 10% of their congregation, 10% of their volunteers, 10% of their leaders, their giving and so on to launch a healthy new location while still maintaining health at their original location.

Amy (04:42):

Yeah. And Tony, I noticed that you didn’t just say a hundred people. You said a hundred people who live in the area where the new campus is launching. Can you share why that matters?

Tony (04:51):

Yeah. In our experience helping churches launch their first campus, we have found that a core team full of people who do not live in the area will make it practically impossible to reach that community because those folks they’re kind of being sent out almost like they’re missionaries to a foreign land. And what happens with those missionaries is they eventually come home. And same thing happens in multisite. If you’re sending missionaries out to a community where they don’t live, work and play, eventually those people are gonna gravitate back to the sending location. But the bigger thing is, Amy, they just don’t have that relational connection in the community. And because of that, usually your core team, that’s your best marketing into a new community. And because it’s gonna be word of mouth, people are gonna be inviting friends, neighbors, coworkers. So, don’t ask the core team to go for one year or six months and then allow them to go back to sending campus. Instead, invite them to make this new location their permanent campus and assume that this campus is new, near where they live, work and play.

Amy (06:04):

Yeah. And this is also the difference, I think, Tony, between asking the people on your core team to just show up for the first year versus asking them to serve for one year. We recommend that you ask those launch volunteers, again, people who live in that community, to make a commitment to serve in one of the key ministry areas of that new congregation for one year. And I don’t know. We find if people commit to serve for a year, they usually stay far beyond that year once that new campus is established.

Tony (06:32):

Yeah, that’s right, Amy. And then the final reason I think this matters is because people transfer and carry culture.

Amy (06:39):

Mm-Hmm. Yep

Tony (06:39):

And the campus pastor can only do so much to establish the culture of the sending church on their own. So, the culture of your launch team can set the tone for the culture of that entire campus. Prepared, equipped and vision-driven teams create that contagious atmosphere of joy and excellence that you want to see in every new location. So, this isn’t just about your volunteers enjoying serving at your church. This is about what they carry into this new community. Are they excited about what’s happening in your church? Are they eager to invite their friends? If you launch with a specific purpose and strategy for your ministry team and your volunteers, they’re going to bleed that into the culture of your campus. And that’s part of what creates health and success, success and creates those predictable outcomes that we’re looking for, Amy.

Amy (07:33):

Alright. What’s the second principle, Tony, when it comes to launching a new campus?

Tony (07:38):

All right. So the second one we’re gonna hit today is about planning to launch at twice the size of your core team. In other words, this is easy math, Amy.

Amy (07:46):

Excellent.

Tony (07:46):

Your initial attendance at your new location will often be twice the size of your core team. So, if you launch with a core team of a hundred people, your initial attendance will likely be around 200 people. If you launch with a core team of 300 people, your initial attendance will likely be around 600 people.

Amy (08:08):

Mm-Hmm.

Tony (08:08):

And it’s been amazing through the years, Amy, just how many times we’ve seen it work almost exactly to the number on that. And that number is important because you’re gonna need to know it for preparation. As an example, you need to know that number to prepare to build your staff team. So, typically, Amy, we recommend one full-time equivalent for every 75 people in attendance at a church. The challenge, of course, is you can’t just use that same ratio at your new multisite campuses. And the reason why is because when you have attendance at a location, it’s not just the campus staff that is serving at that location. You’re gonna also have some central staff leaders that are supporting all the locations.

Amy (08:57):

Yeah. And that’s why it gets, as you talk about those ratios, that’s a surprising instruction that they can’t just go with that 75 to one. We need to increase that. But this hopefully will motivate churches, again, to go, “We need to have a larger core team. We need to launch larger.” Because I mean, at a minimum, every campus needs to have a campus pastor. They need to have kids’ ministry. They need to have worship and production. So, if you just do the math on kind of the staff that you need to launch this location, it’ll actually help inform the size of a core team. Again, at my church, we were outside the bell curve, right? We had four people alone in just the weekend experience that we launched, but I think we launched in our multisite journey, we needed to have somewhere between 10 and 14 full-time equivalents to launch our brand around the Twin Cities. That’s probably higher than most multisite churches. But when you know what you need to launch with, that’ll help you inform your launch team. And then from there, you’ve gotta still fill other critical ministry roles. You know, so you need your high-level volunteers and first impressions in small groups. Some churches have set up tear-down type of things. So, as you build out, this is what we do when we serve a church in this area, as we work through what are the core staff and then what are the core ministry teams? This is the work you wanna do in advance by locking down that size of the core team and the anticipated launch size that you’ll open with.

Tony (10:21):

Yeah. So, we can almost help churches do the math backwards. And if they tell us, we need to have a campus pastor. We need to have full-time worship, full-time kids, a tech person, and they have five different roles all together that they tell us they need to have filled. Then, we can back up and say, “Okay, in order to have five full-time positions, let’s say we need to have 500 people that launch from day one at this location then, which means we have to be able to build a core of 250 people in order to launch a campus that size.” And so it’s good, it’s good to be aware of our sense of what the staffing needs to look like because that helps us to plan ahead then the scale of the campus that we need to launch with.

Amy (11:13):

Yeah, the predictable outcome here, Tony, is if we don’t do this math now as we’re preparing to launch with a core team, the predictable outcome is campuses are overstaffed.

Tony (11:24):

That’s right.

Amy (11:24):

So, it is not unusual for us, you know, for me in the staffing and structure area to be looking at the staffing at a large, you know, mono-site church that has launched a couple of campuses. By the way, add a few mergers in there and this gets exasperated. But they will have, for a campus of 125 people, they’ll have three and a half FTEs when they should have one.

Tony (11:48):

Right, right.

Amy (11:48):

So, and this is where we get the overstaffing at campus levels, which then the predictable outcome is the main location or that sending location starts to become understaffed, which then the quality of that experience can drop. And you and I know for multisite to stay healthy, that sending location has to stay strong and healthy. So, doing this math in advance of launching your first location will save a lot of pain and a lot of headaches down the line.

Tony (12:15):

Yeah. So, again, we need to do the math ahead of time to help us think about the size of the staff team that we need to have in place, which then also helps us think about the size of the volunteer team and volunteer leaders that we need to have in place. But then, it starts to get also into some of the financial planning that we need to do. And we talked about this a little bit in last week’s episode, but we need to think about financially how are we going to support this new location with all the ministry that needs to happen. And then that also carries forward into making sure that the facility itself is large enough for the launch and then the continued growth that we need to see at that location. So, for all these reasons, Amy, we just need to plan ahead for double the size of our core team at launch at this new location and then hopefully planning for growth going forward.

Amy (13:11):

So I, and I might be just banging this drum one too many times, but again, you don’t want to launch with too few people that can really hurt you. The strength of a multisite launch is in the core of followers from the sending congregation and the people that they invite. The larger the launch team core, the larger the launch and the sooner that campus becomes self-sustaining, both functionally and financially.

Tony (13:36):

Yeah. And let me just double down to what I mentioned earlier. The size of your core team, it’s important, not just because functionally it allows you to accomplish the ministry that you want to accomplish in that location, but it’s the number one way that you’re going to reach new people. The larger that core team is, those are the people that are gonna be inviting their friends, their family, their coworkers, the, the families at the ball fields. We need a large core team to be the folks that are actually driving the growth that’s gonna happen at that new location. Amy, our quarter 4 2023 report confirmed that successful campuses launched larger. In fact, the average in-person attendance launch at campuses that are still thriving today was 320 people. That’s where they started.

Amy (14:30):

Yeah.

Tony (14:30):

The average, on the other hand, for closed campuses was 140 people. So, what that means is healthy campuses launch with more than twice as many people.

Amy (14:41):

Yep. And by the way, if you remember, those healthy campuses, on average, have doubled in size since they launched to more than 640 people. All right, Tony, what’s our final principle for today?

Tony (14:53):

So the final principle I wanted to hit is that location is more important than facility. In other words, while the actual facility is important and needs to meet the ministry needs, a feasible facility in the right location is better than a great facility in the wrong location. So, what constitutes the right location? Well, here are a few things to consider. We recommend that churches launch campuses in drive-to locations, meaning where do people drive for work? Where do they drive for shopping, movies, entertainment? Avoid drive-from locations, which are predominantly residential areas. There are also emotional barriers to location selection: major highways, significant geographical features, such as rivers, lakes, mountains. Those can all be natural dividing lines to where people work and live. So, it’s important to launch in the direction people do life.

Amy (15:54):

You know, and one more key factor to consider when finding the right location is the distance from the sending location, whether that be too far or too close. One of the most consistent facts about church attendance is that the majority of churchgoers in North America live within a 15-minute commute of their church campus. The rest live within 30 minutes. But that’s why we recommend your new campus should be between 15 and 30 minutes from the sending campus. We don’t wanna be too far away because the facilities need to be in an area where there’s already a strong contingent of people that are attending from the sending church. I know a lot of churches do these heat maps to make sure that we’ve got this strong core of people coming from a certain area. It’s much more likely we’re gonna have a strong core within 15 to 30 minutes than 45 to 60 minutes away. But we also don’t wanna be too close to the sending church. And, Tony, I don’t know about you. This is the, this is the sin I see much more often than too far away. But we don’t wanna be too close to that sending church. Otherwise, what’s gonna happen is that people are gonna default and start to drive by that new location and come back to the sending church.

Tony (17:05):

And we see that happen all the time. You know, Amy, it’s just hard to give too many other recommendations as every community is so different. But these best practices are a good place to start. From there, we can work with churches to help identify the best location for them. And we do that all the time. Now, while we’ve said the location is more important than the facility, the facility still is an essential part.

Amy (17:31):

Yep.

Tony (17:31):

And many churches find portable facilities are a great temporary solution for maybe one to three years. Beyond that, though, they can be limiting factors. And so for those churches that are starting out portable, you just need to make sure that by the time the year-three mark comes along, you have a clear picture of where that campus is going to go so that it can be in more of a permanent space.

Amy (17:58):

Yeah. That same report that we’ve been quoting found that closed campuses were twice as likely to meet in a portable space that required set up and tear down every week. And that, that’s why we recommend putting a cap on how long we’re gonna be in this portable situation because it does, it does have a, a start and an end time for many attenders.  And, Tony, the last thing that I wanna say about the facility is that when it comes to finding the right facility, you know, we have found that the most financially sustainable model for multisite churches is to launch big in a facility that’s just a little bit smaller so that you can have multiple services. Now, that’s gonna look different for every church. But if you understand your core size, what you’re gonna open with, where you think you’re going to grow into, it’s better to have multiple services than just to have a space that’s big enough for just one big service for the church.

Tony (19:02):

That’s good, Amy. So, here’s the bottom line. The ideal multisite facility is easily visible. It’s accessible and financially affordable. And the facilities need to be big enough for dynamic worship, children’s programming, lobby space and then adequate parking, too, but small enough so that you’re forced to get to multiple services as soon as possible, at least some time within that first year that the campus is open.

Tony (19:37):

Well, while we’re on the topic of choosing the right facility, recently, Phil from PlainJoe Studios showed our team some examples of the ways PlainJoe equips large churches to keep the story consistent when they’re launching in a smaller venue. And I thought they would have some relevant insights in this area. So, I invited Matt from PlainJoe to talk a little bit about the practical side of keeping the church’s brand and story cohesive when that first campus is in a smaller venue. So, Matt, first off, can you speak to the importance of facility design in promoting the unified sense of being one church in multiple locations?

Matt (20:16):

Yeah, Tony, like a lot of our team, I’m a former Disney guy, and while we were working for the Walt Disney Company for the Mouse, the importance of story was just pounded into our heads. And, and that’s because they recognize that a powerful story moves people. And there’s lots of scientific data coming out now about, you know, confirming that that’s true. But the fact is, God has wired us all as humans to be moved by story. And as the church, we’re the keeper of the greatest story ever told. But, you know, too often these days, our storytelling doesn’t quite hit the mark. It isn’t necessarily worthy of the story. So, we help churches find their story, their unique place in the kingdom, and facilities are one of the most important ways we can tell that story. You know, we have a phrase we like to say around PlainJoe that everything speaks and that includes facilities. You know, when people walk into your building, it’s telling a story. You know, like it or not, it’s telling some story about you. It says something about your church. And that’s why it’s important to be intentional with what those facilities communicate. And for a church opening up another location, there have to be some unifying elements that tie all of the campuses together in telling the story of that church body and what it’s all about.

Tony (21:33):

So, with that in mind, can you share some best practices PlainJoe would recommend for creating that feel of being in the same church while attending in a much smaller and maybe very different space than the sending location?

Matt (21:45):

Yeah. You know, once you have your story straight, it’s great because it informs a thousand design decisions. So, I go to Elevation Church and a couple, a buddy of mine were a part of the founding team and are still there. So, because of what I do for a living, they were picking my brain pretty early on about anything to do with storytelling and visuals and communication. And, and I was a part of the church when we opened our first satellite campus and our first permanent campus. And in fact, Elevation brought in PlainJoe at that time to help develop the storyline for what a Elevation campus looks like and feels like. And PlainJoe is working with Elevation now and updating their kids’ ministry spaces across 20 campuses now. So, Elevation’s core story is really about reaching people far from God so they can be raised to life in Christ. So, if our church is gonna attract people that are far from God, you know, then that tells us maybe they didn’t grow up in a church or they’ve been burned by the church. And so our spaces should actually look nothing like a church. They should just feel like cool, modern, relevant spaces to hang out. So, when you walk into an Elevation campus, whether it’s permanent or temporary, you’ll always see bold graphics. Where we’ve had an influence on building the building from scratch, you’ll see like raw concrete floors and entrances that are made of metal and glass. And no matter where we are, you’ll see wayfinding signage that makes it easy to get around, even if we have to set it up temporarily with banners. And our auditoriums are gonna have great lighting and sound because we wanna do everything with excellence. We don’t want the music to feel like some substandard version of something the world would put out. We want the gospel to be presented with excellence, and we want to create a distraction-free environment, that’s a big thing, where people can have an encounter with God. So, this right down to the seats being comfortable. So, that, that’s just a few examples. So, as we’ve opened up our second, third, 19th campus, from Melbourne, Florida to Toronto, Canada, we’ve had the opportunity to occupy, and we still occupy buildings that we’ve been able to customize ourselves. And we’re still setting up and tearing down in high schools and everything in between. So, in some cases, we just get creative with pipe and drape, you know. We find facilities that are as cool and comfortable as possible in great locations. And then we roll in well-branded carts and kiosks, and we bring in tables with greenery and mints and lotion into the bathrooms, you know, to convert this high school in into something that at least feels like an Elevation campus. You know, we basically do what we need to do to express the Elevation story.

Tony (24:37):

Yeah. I love that intentionality about creating consistent environments across a variety of different locations. Matt, what are some of the costly mistakes that you see large churches making, though, with their smaller campus facilities? And then maybe what, what should they know upfront so that they aren’t having to make major changes later?

Matt (25:00):

Yeah. The, the two things to know upfront that avoid costly mistakes are budget and programming. You know, on, on the budget front, it’s important to at least have a ballpark range of the budget upfront and be realistic about it. That way we’re not overdesigning something that can’t be executed. You know, we’re working with, in addition to the Elevations and Life Churches and Saddlebacks of the world, we’re working with churches as small as 150. And we can do some amazing things on those smaller budgets simply by landing on a compelling story together and then prioritizing where that story gets told in the space. You know, it could be as simple as an amazing mural on a piece of vinyl that visually expresses what the church is all about. And then, we may, maybe we do a few door wraps to bring that in and that’s enough for now until we, we have more money to work with. If there’s a bigger budget available, then we can tell the story to inform every little architectural and interior design elements. But if we know the budget, we can prioritize how that story gets told from the beginning and know where to put the focus. So, that’s budget. And then on the programming side, you know, equally as important as the pretty pictures and concepts that we develop is the spreadsheet math behind the whole thing behind what the space needs to accomplish. So, how many people are we moving in and out in what periods of time and how many kids are in how many different classrooms? And what’s the parking situation and what are your service times? If you’re not thinking about that stuff upfront, it can create some really costly mistakes. And you know, knowing that stuff upfront helps us design spaces that are functional as well as creative and expressive.

Tony (26:44):

Matt, it’s been interesting; our research through the years shows this clear correlation between churches that are very intentional about their children’s ministry areas, environments, programming and then the growth of the church and the number of people crossing the line of faith. And so, specifically with children’s ministry areas, what are some ways churches can maintain a high-quality kids’ ministry experience in a smaller space?

Matt (27:15):

Yeah, you know, particularly in this post–Covid environment, we’re seeing kids’ spaces being the catalyst to families coming back to in-person attendance. Because if we can create a space that’s engaging enough, those kids are dragging their parents, you know, to come to church.

Tony (27:31):

Mm-Hmm.

Matt (27:31):

So, like I said, PlainJoe is helping, helping my church Elevation update its kids’ spaces. And we have campuses we’ve designed from the ground up that we own and operate. We have campuses that were still set-up / tear-down in high school. So, our PlainJoe team helped the Elevation creative and kids’ ministry team land on a core story that ties in with the church’s greater story. And then, we created concepts for how that can be executed everywhere from permanent to temporary campuses. And let’s just say pipe and drape and rolling carts can go a long way, you know, if they’re designed with bold and compelling graphics that tell your story well.

Tony (28:10):

Well, Matt, it’s, it’s been fun to engage this conversation with you. So, many of the churches that we’re working with at The Unstuck Group are working as well with PlainJoe. I wish, I wish I could get your team into more churches, though, because it’s clearly obvious when they’ve had some help thinking about the story that they’re trying to tell through their facilities. But any final thoughts you’d wanna, want pastors to hear?

Matt (28:36):

Yeah, you know, in my consulting life beyond the Disney days, I had a chance to work with a lot of different multisite businesses like Starbucks. And the reason that Disney and Starbucks are successful with, you know, placing their brands across multiple locations is that they have a clear definition of, of their story. And so, I’ll give the audience out there freebie, whether you bring us in to help or not, but story is a combination of character, setting and plot. So, think about your characters: the people that you’re serving and you’re looking to reach, and the staff from, from the founding till today are part of tose characters. The setting: where are you in the world? Your, your places and spaces should feel like they fit well into your community and your neighborhood. And then plot: you know, what is the unique story arc of your church? Where are you headed next? And it, it’s at the intersection of those three circles, character, setting and plot, that we always find the big idea that can drive all of your church’s or any organization’s storytelling, including your spaces.

Amy (29:44):

Well, there you have it; three key principles for launching strong with your first multisite campus: launch where you’re already reaching people, plan to launch at twice the size of your core team and remember that the location is more important than the facility. And of course, launching strong doesn’t guarantee success, but it does set up the campus in the best way possible for long-term sustainability. That’s what the predictable outcomes are there for. So, Tony, any other thoughts on this topic as we wrap up today’s conversation?

Tony (30:15):

Well, let me just say, I was just with my good friends. They actually flew from, they past, they pastor and serve at a great church in Milton Keynes, which is about an hour north of London. But, they were all traveling to the U.S. to attend a conference, and I just spent a day with them. It’s Milton Keynes Christian Center, fun team. I’ve been working with them for, gosh, close to 10 years now, Amy. And they are, it’s just so exciting to see. The church is thriving right now, lots of people crossing the line of faith, and their average attendance is larger than it’s even ever been. And so, especially, for churches in the U.K., that’s a good thing.

Amy (31:02):

Love that.

Tony (31:02):

Because they were just dramatically impacted by the pandemic. And so now to see the church thriving like it is here just a few years later is good. And because of that, they’re actually considering what we’re talking about. So, they’re thinking about what does multisite look like for their church? And so, it’s fun to be diving into these topics because I know there are pastors that are listening, including my friends from Milton Keynes Christian Center. But like I said, Amy, launching strong isn’t the only component in a successful multisite campus, but the success of everything else hinges on it. So, it’s important to get this right, and that’s why it’s important to get as much information as you can before taking this step. Our team has more than a hundred years of combined experience when it comes to thriving multisite churches, including large, growing churches that embarked on multisite for the very first time. And at our free upcoming webinar on April 4th, we’re gonna show you how this works best. You can learn more about the webinar and register to join us through the link in your show notes.

Sean (32:18):

Well, thanks for joining us on this week’s podcast. At The Unstuck Group, our goal is to help pastors grow healthy churches by guiding them to align vision, strategy, team and action. In everything we do, our priority is to help churches help people meet and follow Jesus. And if there’s a way that we can serve you and your church, reach out to us today at theunstuckgroup.com. Next week, we’re back with another brand-new episode. Until then, have a great week.

Tony Morgan

Tony is the Founder and Lead Strategist of The Unstuck Group. Started in 2009, The Unstuck Group has served 500 churches throughout the United States and several countries around the world. Previously, Tony served on the senior leadership teams of three rapidly growing churches including NewSpring Church in South Carolina. He has five published books including, The Unstuck Church, and, with Amy Anderson, he hosts The Unstuck Church Podcast which has thousands of listeners each month.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.