Earlier this year I had the strangest and maybe most powerful experience of my life. The story actually starts 11 years ago. October 2006, A Dream On October 16, 2006, I had the most vivid dream of my life. The dream had three scenes. In the Scene 1, I was traveling through the countryside. It […]
Archive | Small Towns
7 Great Icebreaker Questions to Use When Launching a New Group
Last month I started two new groups—a men’s discipleship group and an advanced leadership training group. When I launch a new small group, class, or training group, I like to ask several icebreaker questions the first meeting as well as casting vision and outlining expectations for the group. Asking a few icebreaker questions builds community, opening […]
8 Things You Need in Your New Multisite Campus Facility
Our church has launched four new campuses in the last four years. In the process we have learned that we should look for eight things when searching for the ideal building for a new campus. Worship Space. Obviously, you need space for worship services when you launch. We have always started every campus with two services. […]
Four Keys to Using Direct Mail to Help You Publicize Your Campus Launch
In the last four years our church has launched four new campuses in outlying county seats here in east central Illinois. When we launch a new campus, our goal is to launch strong. We want momentum and a large enough core of people to sustain the key ministries of the church with workers and to […]
Three Reasons Your Next Church Campus Should Launch with Two Services
In the last four years our church has launched four new campuses in other cities. Each time we have launched with two Sunday morning services, and I foresee us doing two services every time we start a new campus. There are three reasons why we do this and why your church should consider this, too. […]
Where Should Your Church Start a New Campus?
If your church is getting serious about using a multisite strategy to reach more people for Christ, one of the first questions you’ll probably ask is, “Where should we start a new campus?” To answer that question I am going to outline three ways churches have picked places and then I’ll tell you our church’s […]
Three Reasons Your Church Should Go Multisite
Why do multisite church? Why should your church spend the time, effort and expense to launch new campuses in new locations? I want to share three key reasons, based on our church’s experience, why you should seriously consider using a multisite strategy. We began our multisite journey motivated by two facts. First, we learned that […]
How to Launch a New Multisite Church Campus
Our church is launching its sixth campus later this month in Charleston, IL. Since we’ve done this a few times before, other churches are asking us how you launch a new multisite campus. Here’s how we do it. Identify a multisite pastor. Our church uses a very leader-centric strategy. We do not start new campuses […]
10 Multisite Church Myths (and Realities)
Our church has been doing multisite (MS) ministry for a little over three years and we now have five campuses. Because we are the MS church with the most number of campuses in our denomination, we field a lot of questions from other churches and leaders. In my discussions with others I’ve realized that people […]
10 Reasons Why We Should Plant Churches in Small Towns
In the last three years our church has started campuses in three smaller towns in east central Illinois. We have been surprised at how rapidly these new churches (sites of our overall church) have grown. It’s been very rewarding to see the many lives changed and marriages saved as these communities are served in significant […]