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Church Planting & Multi-Site Venues
By admin | January 17, 2007
Because we are committed to the idea that the gospel is for the whole person, the whole city, and the whole world and because the Church exists for mission we want to be a church committed to reaching the whole city. We see this working out for us in a couple of key ways.
1. Church Launching
I am convinced that the most effective way to reach people with the gospel is through church planting. All the statistics bear out this point. Not only that but we need all kinds of different churches to reach all kinds of different people. So we want to be a church that is actively raising up future generations of church planters for our city, our region, and our world.
But this isn’t just a nice kingdom strategy we’ve contrived, in fact it has been God’s primary means for establishing his mission since the early followers of Jesus. So in that way we are merely tapping into something that is quite ancient. I say this only to highlight that we aren’t attempting to hop on the church planting bandwagon because it is en vogue.
To dream longterm for a moment - I hope to see us develop a leadership development institute in the next 5 years whereby we will train emerging leaders. One aspect of this leadership development strategy will be training other to launch churches (hopefully we’ve learned something).
2. Multisite Venues
The second way I see us becoming a church for the city is through multisite venues throughout the city. While we plan to physically land in the northland this won’t ultimately be to the exclusive of the rest of the city. Our hope is to see ministry sites throughout the city designed to reach and grow people all over the city.
To dream longterm for a moment - I hope to see us one day develop ministry venues that are no more than 15 minutes from anyone in the city with localized leadership (and for us to think strategically for the day when light rail actually exists in KC). Secondly, I hope to see us utilize multi-site venues as a prelude and resourcing of church plants in some instances as well.
There are two analogies I use to describe what I mean by a multisite venue. First off it is analogous to starting a new service in a different location. So it’s similar to a church that starts an additional service in their facility, centralized leadership and resources, etc. It’s dissimilar because ministry will happen in this new location above and beyond a mere worship gathering.
Second, it is similar to starting another church - because ministry will take place in that new location. It is dissimilar in that there is one centralized leadership team and some form of centralized resources. So it is one church, multiple locations. (As a side note, I am a bit dissatisfied with those who are equating multisite venues with church planting…they are not the same thing.)
For us I foresee these as live venues. Vid venues are growing on me (for no more than teaching though - although I do see the inherent pitfalls here). But I foresee us using live venues and attempting to raise up local leadership, including communicators, musicians, and volunteers, etc. With this said I should also mention that we will have high requirements for those who will communicate in our worship gatherings. Not because I’m such a stellar communicator and we need people to be as stellar as I; rather, because of our commitment to our Core DNA and Vision. We want people who embody our Core DNA and Vision in their everyday lives. (Of course this will be true for all those who will be leaders, namely pastors/elders/whatever we end up calling them and deacons/deaconesses/whatever we end up calling them.)
So what’s your take? Any thoughts on these ideas or thoughts? Any questions about this?
The DNA of a Missional Church (of the Mind)
Topics: Church, Church Planting, Ideas, Leadership, Missional Movements |
January 17th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
It’s exciting to hear about your vision. I’ll be praying for you as it all starts to become a reality.