Let me be frank. Multi-site is not easy and is not for everyone. I have hated it at times and am thankful at other times. One of the things I love about multi-site is it forces you to grow, invest in and pray for more leaders. Sometimes people will call asking about Multi-site kids ministry I always tell them we have far from figured it out. Here are the other six things I tell them.
1. Two sites will stretch your parents more than you. Three sites plus will stretch you and your staff more than your parents.
2. There is no perfect model. Everyone has a different take. What you need is not a model to follow but clarity from your pastor on his desire and what that looks like in the context of your church.
3. Multi-site is hardest on the kids ministry because of the massive amounts of leaders and infrastructure need to pull off a Sunday. Once your pastor does one location start planning for five.
4. You have to be more sure of your values they need to be more clear and more simple than ever before.
5. You need a point person staff or volunteer who you trust and who understands the churches DNA and understands you and how you work.
6. You need to trust God more than ever because it really is bigger than you. One site you can manage but get to three or four and your God dependence gets greater. A greater dependence on the work of the Holy spirit and our trust in a God who works all things according to the counsel of His will in our kids ministry has been by far the best thing to come out of our multi-site experience.
12 years in and as we start our 5th campus I still have much to learn.
I agree that it's a tough deal. We went from 1 to 3 sites in my four years on staff as the Pastor of Children & Families, and from 2 to 6 services. It was tough work, but so worth what it cost (b/c we could reach more people with the Gospel message).
This is very good stuff, Sam! 🙂
Thanks Jenny.
Thanks for this post! I am the Kids Ministry Director at Fresh Life Church in Montana and we are a 2 campus church on our way to 3 and then…
LOTS to think and pray about!!!!
Glad this article came at the perfect time for you. Thanks for reading my blog and leaving a comment.
Thanks for sharing Sam. We’re trying to go multi-site now and we need to work on a few of these.
Great post, Sam. Having worked in multi-site kids ministry before this is spot on. Thanks for the tips!