I hear that question being thrown around a lot these days, so what's the answer. For me the answer is yes, multi site is a huge part of the future of the Church, but it's certainly not the only future of the church. The House Church movement seems to be growing, coffee shop and theater churches are springing up everywhere, cell churches, on line churches, and churches that none of us have heard of yet, will all be a part of the future. So multi site is just one of many movements out there, but because I'm in the middle of it, it's filling my every thought. What strikes me most about the multi site movement, is how broad of a word multi site actually is.
I spent five days in South Carolina at Seacoast and I came away from that experience really pumped about the Multi Site Ministry here at BAF. But I also came away really excited because I realized that the term Multi Site was much broader than I had ever imagined. Just within Seacoast itself I saw different forms of the multi site vision. The campus in in Mt Pleasant couldn't be any different from the North Charleston Campus, yet they're both Seacoast, and they both feel like Seacoast. Greg and Geoff Surratt really have something special going on in SC and we learned a lot from them.
Then I got to hear the multi site vision of Healing Place Church in Louisiana, and their vision is both different from Seacoast's, and different even within their own ministry. They've started a Dream Center in Donaldson LA, while at the same time planting two Healing Place Churches in Africa. Multi Site means something completely different at Healing Place Church than it does at Seacoast, yet they're both multi site churches. Pastor Dino Rizzo is a man on mission to take Jesus Christ to the world any way they can and I learned a lot from him.
Then I got to hear about National Community Church from Mark Batterson, who by the way is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and their multi site vision is unique in itself. They now meet, and plan to keep meeting, in theaters around the DC area. Different leaders, different styles of churches, different multi site plans, but with the same goals, to reach the lost for Jesus and expand His Kingdom.
Tell me about your churches vision for multi site. Taking over the BAF Multi Site Ministry has been a huge blessing to me. I think about this stuff constantly and I can't wait to start the next site. This is a new direction and I see how it's going to be a catalyst for life change all over South Texas and beyond.
I want to learn from you so shoot me an email or comment and let me know what the multi site vision looks like at your church. Next week I'll talk about the many blessing from starting two new sites this summer and going from two to four sites total, as well as the struggles and how multi site growth will change things.
John
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