Multi-site church development continues to be a great tool for multiplying and revitalizing churches. A few observations about current multi-site churches among Louisiana Baptists:
- Those churches have experienced a combined 30% growth in attendance since becoming multi-site.
- 80% have experienced growth in worship and small groups.
- Half have included a church merger or gifting of a building from a declining church as part of the multi-site development.
- Half have requested and received cooperative funding from the Louisiana Baptists Missions & Ministries Team for the new sites.
- All of them were growing churches before multi-site development, not because of multi-site development.
One of the biggest takeaways: multi-site is not a tool for getting your church to grow, but to multiply your growing DNA to a new community. Dennis Watson, Pastor of Celebration Church in New Orleans, which has 6 campuses and is planning more, gives six benefits of a multi-site campus strategy. Multi-site enables your church to:
- Grow larger and smaller at the same time.
- Overcome geographic and cultural barriers to reach new people.
- Address more community needs and provide more community support.
- Involve more people in growth and outreach opportunities.
- Staff with generalists and specialists, so that both groups can be utilized.
- Provide a new church vibe with a big church punch.
How can our church know if multi-site is in our future:
- Do you have a vision for church revitalization that may include merging with a declining congregation?
- Are you running out of space, but do not feel led to build bigger?
- Has your church been in decline and could possibly be a candidate for merging with a sister congregation?
- Take this Multi-site Diagnosis Self-assessment (from Geoff Surratt, author of the Multi-Site Church Road Trip).
Contact one of our Church Planting Strategists to talk about how to start your church multiplication journey.
Follow Up Reading
Interested in learning more about multi-site? Bookmark these great resources.
