reading up on the multi-campus church

Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Well, you've got some good information here, but where do I go for more! I'm hungry to learn about how we are going to make this thing -- this multi-campus church thing -- work!"

I highly recommend The Multi-Site Church Revolution, by Surratt, Ligon, and Bird. It is a good, yet rather brief introduction to the various models of multi-campus that are presently out there. It provides the basic how-to-do-it-yourself steps as well. It is refreshing that they do not present multi-campus as a one-size-fits-all approach either. They give many examples from a wide variety of churches.

You can purchase a copy from The Cove for just $15.

off to a good start

A number of Lakesiders came together on January 16th for our first Multi-Campus Vision gathering. Pastor Brad and I shared about the convergence that it appears our creative God is orchestrating in this vision for Lakeside to go multi-campus. Lakeside has been gearing up the past few years to start a new church, but their search for the right leadership had been unsuccessful. At the same time, we were seriously considering leaving New Zealand to be nearer to family in the States. I wrote the pastoral staff and informed them, that due to needs in our extended family, would be returning to Northern California, without a clue as to what's next for us. We began discussing the possibility of working together. But in what capacity? As we talked, we learned that we were both looking into the slightly non-traditional approach of remaining one church but meeting in multiple locations in order to strategically impact our region for the kingdom. The more we read about it, asked around, discussed it, the more excited we became.

During our conversation on the 16th with those attendance, it became obvious that many Lakesiders from places like Orangevale and Cameron Park have a strong sense of identification with their areas and would love to see Lakeside establish a stronger presence in their communities. We even discussed T-shirts, yes T-shirts, reading "Lakeside-Cameron Park" or "Lakeside-Orangevale." We even joked about "Lakeside-Rescue" with the one representative from Rescue. We had a great time! See what you missed! I tell you, it's exciting to see people eager to join together in order to see Lakeside doing good works in their neighborhoods and reaching out to their friends and co-workers with the good news of Jesus.

We have two more Vision Gatherings coming up, January 30th and 31st, 7:00-8:30 pm at the church. Hope to see you there.

who do we need?

I've been thinking a bit about who we need to join the new campus development team. Certainly we need a core of FAST Lakesiders (I know you just love acronyms).

• Faithful: they can keep commitments
• Available: they are able and willing to carve out the necessary time to invest in people and ministry
• Spirit-filled: they are open to the Spirit's influence
• Teachable: we are launching into a new venture; we need to be eager learners.

I have also begun praying a couple of verses from Luke.

The first is for leaders. Jesus urged his disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields." Luke 10:2

The second is for a core of people. In the parable of the soils, Jesus talked about "honest, good-hearted people who hear God's message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest." Luke 8:15

Would you join me in asking God to bring us both the necessary leaders and many FAST Lakesiders? May his Kingdom increase.

multi-campus FAQs

Q. What is a multi-campus church?

A. Basically, it is one church in multiple locations. Even though a multi-campus church gathers in more than one location and can take a variety of forms, as one church, it shares a common vision, administration and senior leadership. Multi-campus churches resemble any of a wide variety of models (e.g. video venue, regional-campus, teaching team, partnership with local business or non-profit organizations, etc.).

For some churches, having multiple campuses involves only a worship gathering at each location; for others, each location has a full range of support ministries. Some churches use video-cast sermons (recorded or live); others have in-person teaching on-campus. Some churches maintain a similar worship atmosphere and style at all their campuses, and others allow or invite variation.

Q. Why are we doing this?

A. Our master Jesus gave us this mission: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20, The Message

Lakeside Church itself is the result of a missional venture. Over 20 years ago Pastor Brad and his wife Donna, believing that Folsom needed a church like Lakeside to help transform more people into passionate and productive followers of Jesus, launched the first worship service of Lakeside Church at the Folsom Eagles Hall, on the corner of Scott and Sutter Streets. On that first Sunday in September 1987, 55 people came, including 15 out-of-town guests. Since then, Lakeside has been committed to the establishment of local churches in the region and around the world. A few years ago, we began purposely setting aside Lakeside on Mission funds in order to spearhead a new church in the area.

Q. Why use a multi-campus strategy?

A. As we looked into starting a new church, we got very excited when we came across the multi-campus approach. Why? Oh, there are so many reasons why using a multi-campus strategy is… how should I say… strategic. Here are a few of them.

GOING LOCAL

Our region continues to grow. Many Lakesiders drive 20, 30 or more minutes to participate in Lakeside-Folsom each week. For them to be truly involved in their local church, as well as being an effective portrayal of Jesus in their communities, their local church needs to be local. We are seeking to bring the church closer to where people are living. Being local makes it logistically easier and more natural to invite neighbors and friends into the Lakeside family.

PLACEMENT
As Erwin McManus of Mosaic Church has said, multi-campus is not about space; it’s about place. It about being a finely tuned instrument positioned exactly where we can have the greatest impact.

BOTH BIG AND SMALL BENEFITS
It helps us move beyond a traditional outreach model of more and more Sunday gatherings and the need for larger and larger buildings. Multi-campus strategy is an organic and decentralized approach to church health and growth. We envision a regional, multi-campus church of interdependence and community. In the multi-campus model, we can actually pursue seemingly conflicting aims at the same time:
• Grow larger and smaller
• Brand new and trusted name
• Less cost and greater impact
• New church vibe and big-church punch
• Move there and stay here
• More opportunity and more support
• More reach and more maturity

MOMENTUM
Starting a new campus from an existing church allows us to leverage the momentum we already have. We can launch with people who already attend Lakeside, use current ministry leadership to develop new leaders, use financial resources that are already available, and draw from and continue the growth that is already being experienced at Lakeside-Folsom.

Q. What will the new campus be like?

A. The new campus will be an extension of the ministry of Lakeside, and a fully functioning congregation with a campus pastor and leadership team. It will have Student Ministries for high school and middle school students, as well as Kidsfest, our children’s program for infants to fifth grade. We envision that several times a year, students from all Lakeside campuses will get together for retreats, camps and other events. Among other opportunities for spiritual formation, adult small groups are going to be a huge part of our multi-campus experience. They are a great way to experience real community with neighbors, joining together for meaningful interaction and to impact people and places in our very own communities.

Most weekly Sunday Gatherings at the campus will feature a video message from Lakeside-Folsom, as well as live worship and a time of community conversation in response to the message. The campus pastor, a local team of worship arts musicians and the local leadership team will host the gatherings.

Though spread throughout the region, Lakeside Church campuses will share a common teaching focus, benefit from experienced visionary leadership and pursue a common mission – to transform as many people as possible into passionate and productive followers of Jesus.