Multisite ministry is an effective way for churches to expand their influence and reach more communities. More congregations are exploring multiple campuses. But how does children’s ministry work at a multisite ministry? Check out these insights from Nina Schmidgall at National Community Church in Washington, D.C.
National Community Church became a multisite ministry in 2003, when we launched our second location. Since then, we have navigated multisite children’s ministry while continuing to expand. Our six locations meet primarily in movie theaters across D.C.
Before launching multisite ministry, we had to identify what made us “one church.” Our family ministry team began exploring how our children’s ministry would operate as one ministry as well.
We decided that, like the overall church, our kidmin should have one budget, one primary set of policies and procedures. Each location should have individual leadership but share one vision, one mission, and one set of values.
Just as adults would hear the same message at various locations, children would learn the same Bible lessons each week.
4 Benefits of Multisite Ministry
1. You reach new communities.
One of the greatest benefits of multisite family programs is the ability to reach new people and new communities. People can invite classmates and neighbors to a location right in their own community, without asking them to cross the bridge. Multisite ministry puts the “local” back in the local church.
2. You can grow small.
The greatest benefit of multisite ministry? You can have the excellence and resources of a large church with the intimacy of a smaller-church setting. We can to grow—but by going smaller!
Our multisite structure allows families to feel a sense of community at their location. Children still receive significant hands-on attention. Families form connections with one another. Our teaching and small-group teams have great connections with each child. Plus, we can respond to individual family or child needs.
When asked where the church is going, Pastor Andy Stanley answered, “Smaller.” Hooray for multisite ministry, then!
3. You can collaborate and share resources.
Multisite ministry raises the quality level for programs across all our campuses. We have a strong commitment of collaboration among leaders. When we overcome a challenge at one location, we can implement that solution across all locations.
4. Learning opportunities abound.
Innovations at a new campus inspire improvements at every other campus! Whenever we try something and it works, we take it back to other locations. Multiple locations can be intimidating because, when you make a decision, you must make it work across all locations! BUT many of our best ideas come from an experiment we tried one place.
One of our core values as a church is “everything is an experiment.” The multisite ministry framework offers a wonderful opportunity to practice that!
Best Practices of Multisite Ministry to Kids
Every church does multisite ministry a bit differently. Here are some of my recommendations:
1. Maintain strong leadership and vision.
For multisite strategy to succeed, strong leadership is essential at every site. Within family ministry, we call this person the Location or Campus Coordinator. It’s very important to have a “face” with the “place.”
2. Reinvent and be flexible!
Systems we had in place for two locations required adjustments as we grew to six. And we’ll probably have to totally rework them when we have 20! We must encourage a strong attitude of flexibility within our teams and with our parents.
