not alone in my head: Regional's

Field Trip: Visiting other Churches that have Multiple Campuses

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:34:05 GMT

Over the last few days, I’ve been to DC and ATL visiting two churches that have a multi campus approach to ministry.

(I like to say “DC” and “ATL” rather than typing out the full names for a couple of reasons: (1) writing out the name is so formal, and using just the letters is like being on first name basis with an entire city (or district), which I am. Also, (2) I am a world traveler, and one thing you may not know about us is that we use like to use acronyms so we spend less time typing and more time traveling.)

The first person we met was MARK BATTERSON and he started National Community Church. I’ll start with the most important: Mark strikes me as a leader who is both very passionate and very humble and very focused on his calling and vision.

(Often people like to use ‘both’ to only refer to two things, but since there is no English word that can stand in for ‘both’ and refer to three things, I am limited and forced to use ‘both.’)

Mark wasn’t just warm and likeable, he was genuine and thoughtful, eager to help and was encouraging. During Mark’s message (which was good, of course I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t think it was), someone behind me said, “he’s such a dork” with all the admiration and affection that was like one sibling to another. It was exactly the great kind of connection I think is important for a leader to make. RW likes to say, “We take God seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously.” When I’m in a conversation with someone, I’m often thinking, “nor do I see any reason to take you seriously.” (just loving others as I love myself.)

NCC is committed to reaching the people of Capitol Hill, and some of the surrounding areas (like George Town and Arlington area). They have a UNIQUE challenge: many of the people in their mission field are in their 20s, and the turnover rate is 40-50% each year. Their calling is to be in market place locations, like UNION STATION, movie theaters, and even a coffee house.

Let’s talk about that coffee house: it’s called Ebenozer’s (didn’t ask why, although my short time with Mark leads me to believe there would be some significance, I don’t think he leaves much to chance) and they had some really great coffee. I’m a total food snob (one of the reasons I’m a fat pig) and I know good coffee (even though it doesn’t make me that fat). A coffee place is only as good as its espresso, and when I ordered my customary FOUR SHOTS of black-toasty-liquidly-velvet-silk-kick you in the face-little slice of heaven, I was not disappointed in the slightest.

Check out their website and Mark’s blog.

We also met with David McDaniel from North Point Ministries (www.northpoint.org) to talk to him about their strategy for a multi site approach. I’m not going to write as much about David and North Point because this is the longest blog in the world. David was also very helpful and had a great heart. They have been very successful and it would be easy for most people to develop an attitude of superiority—not David! North point plants BIG campuses, one has 3000 seats and the other has 2000 seats. Both have multiple services, and while they aren’t yet at capacity, I got the feeling that they would be within a year or so. When they plant a new place, they intentionally want to “cannibalize” their existing campuses (his term, not mine). The intentionally want to plant NEAR so as to empty seats and keep the onus on ALL CAMPUSES to reach and invite new people. Unless I understood incorrectly, they have no “full time” worship music pastor. Instead they contract all of their musicians. I think this keeps things fresh, although I’m sure they use several regularly. Good stuff!

There’s probably more I could write (both serious and silly) but I’ll keep this post short and sweet and end it now.

NEW Regional Website

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:22:35 GMT

yea! I have an official website. It took me a long time to get my act in gear... but I finally have:

http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/regionals/index.html

check it out for what's happening with our regionals...

This page will be updated weekly:

http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/blogs/regionals/index.html

and even has RSS if you are nerdy enough for that:

http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/rss/blogs/regionals.xml

lemme know if you want me to give you a few more links to the same web site.

http://regional.saddleback.com

Saddleback Expansion Update -- July 25th, 2007

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:47:43 GMT

WHAT will our expansion look like?

(a) Backyard Saddleback—A Saddleback EXPERIENCE in a home setting. Designed for a few small groups (30-60 people) to gather together and invite their neighbors. We’re going to “beta test” these before going fully public. (I need a new name for this... cause they don't have to meet in backyards)

(b) Saddleback Satellite—A Saddleback SERVICE in your community. Worship in a midsized gathering of 100-300 at a comfortable location like a theater, restaurant, or neighborhood clubhouse. We envision each Saddleback Satellite to be a place with great worship and safe places to invite friends and family in the ease of their local community.

(c) Saddleback Campus—A Saddleback CAMPUS in your area. A community of 500 to 1500, a regional campus is a Saddleback start up that includes all of the core Saddleback ministries you’ve come to love. You’ll find multiple service times, programs for children and students, and a small group to join. Check out Saddleback San Clemente and experience it firsthand.

WHERE are we headed?

4 Backyards (wherever we can find 2-4 small groups to commit)

2 Satellites (Huntington and Corona)

1 Campus (Irvine)

WHEN will all of this happen?

September ’07

Launch Huntington Satellite

Launch Corona Satellite

Beta Test 4 Backyards

February ‘08

Roll out Backyards

March ‘08

Launch Irvine Saddleback Campus

Backyard Saddleback Ideas

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 03:42:01 GMT

>>>NOT NEW, BUT IMPORTANT DEPARTMENT

Our regional strategy isn’t about making worship more convenient for our members, it’s about empowering them for evangelism to reach their neighborhood. This is an important piece of vision that will get tested as implementation progresses.

>>>BACKYARD SADDLEBACK

These are designed for 2-4 small groups (20-40 people) to gather together to experience Saddleback in a home setting so that they might reach their community.

1. My first problem is that I need a new name to replace “Backyard Saddleback” since these can happen anywhere: backyards, inside a house, in the garage, in a community room at an apartment complex. If you have any ideas, email me: mattm@saddleback.net

2. Backyard Saddlebacks are about building momentum, not a monument. Monuments are built to stand forever (more accurately, a long time). Building momentum is seasonal. You can’t drive by keeping your foot on the gas the whole time. A commitment to a Backyard Saddleback can be for 2 or 3 months, and then you can go back to a Saddleback Campus. I can see some groups committing to this for a lot longer if they’d like. In the near future of Saddleback, I see hundreds of small groups signing up to for a 3 month run at a Backyard Saddleback.

I think these will be fluid and dynamic: they’ll pop into existence as people sense God is leading and they will end after a short run.

>>>Q and A about BACKYARD SADDLEBACK

(here’s a first draft... lemme know what you think)

How is a Backyard Saddleback different than a small group?

1. The Backyard gathering ought to be bigger than a single small group. We’re hoping 2 to 4 small groups commit to attending the gathering.

2. Many small groups struggle to be evangelistic. It can be tough to have a place that is both SAFE, INTIMATE, ETC. that has NEW VISITORS cycling through each week. Our hope is that a Backyard Saddleback is a place where Saddleback members would feel comfortable inviting their neighbors.

3. We imagine that most Backyard Saddlebacks will last for a season, something around 3-4 months. Connecting to a small group is something we hope lasts for a life time.

Will there be training? What about equipment?

If you decide to host a Backyard Saddleback, we’ll have some training materials for you. You and I’ll meet to make sure you are all set to go. We’ll provide you with all the equipment you need: projector, screen, DVD player, we’ll even get you some chairs if you run out and need more.

Do we have to meet in my backyard?

No! For many homes this will be the best place to gather 20-40 people, but you don’t have to meet in a backyard. You can meet anywhere you like: inside, in the garage, in a community center. Get creative, anywhere that can work is a potential location.

Can we pick any day or time to meet?

Sure! You can meet on any day that the people in your small groups can commit to. If you’re meeting outside, you’ll need to need to meet to show the teaching after dark since projectors don’t work well outside in the daylight.

Will our sermons be delayed a week?

If your gathering happens on Saturday night, you will have to be a week behind for the teaching. Although the internet feed of the service is live each week, expanding that image to a size suitable for a group of 20 (or 40) results in a significantly poorer image. In addition to this, the internet isn’t always reliable, and it would be a drag for everyone to show up only to find a technical difficulty.

What about tithing?

This is one area I anticipate learning many things. We’re going to start by NOT passing a plate around. In a group of 20-30, this can be too guilt producing. We’ll encourage people to tithe online or mail their tithes. Also, we’ll have some kind of collection lock box available as an option.

What about music?

This is another area where I’m planning on learning. I think each group may be a little different: some won’t have any music, some may be led by a worship music DVD, some gatherings may have something simple like an acoustic guitar. We’ll see what works best. I imagine that we’ll discover a variety of options for groups to choose. This is all a part of the testing process!

Saddleback Expanson Update (DRAFT 2)

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:12:20 GMT

I updated this info... click here to jump to that post.

Saddleback's Regional Campus Strategy

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:29:25 GMT

Here are some beginning thoughts to our strategy...

CHANGING LIVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
10 Regional Campuses by 2010

From our beginning, we have been committed to reach out to the community in the name of Jesus. Saddleback Church is about changing lives. Our vision is to move beyond the Lake Forest campus, into new communities, reaching more for Jesus and gathering together to worship Him. Are you ready to be a part of this vision? God might be calling you to GO and help support one of our off site initiatives. The vision is to have 10 regional campuses planted by December 2010. As we move toward that goal, we’re going to explore lots of different ways to worship together off campus. Here’s an overview of where we are headed:

Backyard Saddleback
“Saddleback teaching, in a comfortable home environment”
Encounter truth from God’s Word and experience the great teaching of Saddleback in a home setting without coming to the Saddleback campus. Designed for small groups to come together so they can to reach their neighborhood, these gatherings will range from 30-60 people and will include simple and inspiring worship music.

Video Venues
“Saddleback Services, in a location near you”
Worship God in a mid-sized gathering of 100-400 at a neutral location like a theater, restaurant, or neighborhood clubhouse. We’ve designed our video venues to be safe places to invite friends and family in the ease of their local community.

Regional Campus
“Saddleback church, in your neighborhood”
A regional campus brings Saddleback closer to home. A community of 500 to 1500, you’ll find multiple service times, programs for children and students, and a small group to join. Check out Saddleback San Clemente and experience it firsthand.

WHY SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS?
Great question! We're going to go in a couple different directions to see what works. Stay tuned as the craziness ensues...

Multi Site Churches

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:09:36 GMT

Here are some churches that meet in many locations. Many of these churches say "One Church, Many Locations" which I think is funny for a few reasons. Sure, it is clear, and I understand what they mean, and think it's a good phrase. I think it's funny because even on a single campus with thousands of attenders, is it really "one church?" I don't think so... I also find it funny beacuse isn't this phrase true for the whole Church? Seems like this phrase is best suited for explaining the meaning of the unity of the Spirit... but anyhow, enough about that, here are the churches I'm currently looking at:

http://www.calvaryftl.org/

http://www.fellowshipchurch.com

http://theaterchurch.com/

http://www.enewhope.org/

http://www.lifechurch.tv/

http://www.seacoast.org/

http://www.the-chapel.org/

http://www.lakepointe.org/

http://www.willowcreek.org/

http://www.marshillchurch.org/

http://www.thebranch.org/branchingout_staff.htm

http://www.ctkbellingham.com/index.htm

If you know of one that you think I ought to look at, please let me know!

mattm@saddleback.net