What are the new multi-site trends?

Seacoast Church is a multi-site church based out of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Geoff Surratt is the ministries pastor for Seacoast, and he’s written quite a bit on multi-site strategy. His first book, The Multi-site Church Revolution, is a foundational resource that every church leader should read before launching their own multi-site campuses. Here’s my interview with Geoff about his current learnings.

TONY: First of all, catch us up to speed on what’s happening at Seacoast.

GEOFF: Life is fun at Seacoast. We are now in 13 locations across three states with about 10,000 people attending each weekend. This year we have been realigning our focus on making a positive impact in our neighborhoods through community transformation projects and we have been concentrating on helping leaders within Seacoast to take their next step in development. We are very excited about what’s next as we harness 21st century tools to spread the ageless Gospel. (Pretty pithy, huh?)

TONY: Tell us about your newest book on multi-site.

GEOFF: Greg Ligon, Warren Bird and I have teamed up to write a companion volume to our first book (The Multi-site Church Revolution) which will come out at the beginning of October. In A Multi-site Church Roadtrip, we travel to 15 different sites to experience the latest innovations in multi-site ministry. During the roadtrip we stop by Seacoast to look at the variety pack approach to multiple campuses. We drop in on Lifechurch.tv to get the latest on technology. We cruise on down the bayou for a stop in with Dino Rizzo and the gang at Healing Place Church to see how multi-site, Dream Centers and social justice all come together. I think this book will be a great resource for churches considering becoming multi-site as well as multi-site churches who are considering new opportunities for expanded influence.

TONY: What are some new trends you’ve noticed since your first multi-site book was published?

GEOFF: One of the biggest trends I’ve noticed is that multi-site is no longer a novelty. When we wrote the first book it was difficult to find multi-site models in many parts of the country; now it’s difficult to find a city without a multi-site church. Another trend is the explosion of internet campuses. With the rise of free or almost-free services like USTREAM and LiveStream any church with a website and a webcam can have a live online presence. A trend that is just emerging is the idea of an international campus; several churches are trying to figure out how a congregation in South America, Asia or Africa can be campus of a church in America.

TONY: Is there anything in the first book that you disagree with now?

GEOFF: While some of the examples in the first book have changed as churches change over time, I still think the principles are very solid. The Multi-site Church Revolution actually makes a great primer for churches launching their first or second campus and thinking through questions such as structure, budgeting and location. I have talked to several churches who have taken their whole staff through the book as a primer to where the church is going next.

TONY: Name a church doing multi-site that we should be studying that may not be on our radar at this point. What’s their unique story?

GEOFF: One of the most unique multi-site churches in the country is Brand New Church (yep, that’s their name) based in Harrison, Arkansas. Pastor Shannon O’Dell has a vision for rural America, so they are bypassing the big cities to go into small communities in the Midwest. Brand New Church currently has four campuses in Arkansas and several house churches spread across Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as an internet campus. All of the campuses are linked up live by satellite and Brand New Church can broadcast from anywhere using their mobile uplink mounted on the back of a bright red Hummer. On a recent Sunday Pastor O’Dell gave a live tour of one of the smaller campuses using his Flip HD camera and beaming the signal via the Hummer parked out front.

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For other great resources on multi-site strategy, you may also want to check out the Leadership Network. They have several free resources specifically to help churches learn more about launching new campuses.