I’ve been blessed to be a part of several growing organizations. Growth excites people, but growth hurts. It stretches people and systems. Leaders have to decrease their direct control and increase their communication. I’ve seen growth stretch church leaders and force them to create scalable systems that work in different campus locations and sizes. Nothing stretches a church leadership team like planting and maintaining multiple campuses. Each campus needs great leaders and the organization needs wide communication channels to carry the same vision in its different contexts.
Catch and release the right people. Church growth stands and falls on the backs of those God calls and gifts for ministry. Catch them with a compelling vision and release them to serve.
Keep the vision clear. Nothing stalls church growth or kills new campuses like vision drift. Make it so clear and compelling that it works and inspires all people in each context.
Meet consistently. Keep your leaders in the loop. Schedule weekly check-ins, monthly meetings, and quarterly benchmarks with your pastors and leadership teams from all of your campuses.
Over communicate. Don’t assume you’ve said anything clear enough or too often. The greater the physical or cultural distance between campuses the more you must communicate.
Celebrate each other. Talk about the good things happening at each of your campuses. Share them in your messages and create a culture of shared experience.
Share resources. Graphics, kid’s curriculum, printing, videos, budgets, and training materials should work at all locations. Create them once and share them often.
Use technology. Not all meetings have to be face to face. Don’t make your leaders drive across your town or state to listen to something that could be said online or over a video conference.
Leverage your ChMS. Monitor your church’s health by requiring the data be current. Define the metrics that show your church’s health. Use ChMS to both “speak to” and “listen to” your campuses.
Perform physicals not autopsies. Monitor and review attendance, visitors, salvations, first time givers, regular givers, pledges, small groups, and involvement data often to make corrections and innovations before it’s too late.
How do you extend yourself across multiple campuses?
