This blog entry is part of a series of reflections on the multi-site model of church. After the whole series has been posted, you can do a search for multi-site within the blog to pull up the whole series.
Emphasize multiplication. Depending on how it’s done, multi-site can be a great tool for multiplying congregations quickly and effectively by leveraging the strengths of the original church while allowing optimal flexibility to cultivate relationships and meet local needs. Or it can feel like a new version of the non-planting mega-church. Are you into big or are you into growing?
If done well, multi-site churches can multiply, but that will require the same attention to building in the right DNA that a traditionally structured church needs to have. The same questions need to be asked: To what degree are you willing to empower others? How are you reaching the unreached? Where is your outward focus? How willing are you to give away people and resources for the greater good of the kingdom? It’s on questions like these that any type of church can multiply– and any church can stall out and die.