Articles for tag: Multisite Ministry

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

Why We Invite All Our New Members to Our Home for Dinner (and How We Do It)

By Drew Sherman Over the last 13 years we have hosted more than 3,000 of our church family in our home. (That’s not a misprint!) During that time, our church attendance has grown from 1,500 to more than 6,000. God called my wife and me to Highland Meadows Christian Church near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in the summer of 2002. Four years later we changed our name to Compass Christian Church because we thought it better fit our plan for multisite ministry. We were excited about our rapid growth but concerned we were growing too busy to get to know

May 1, 2020

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Difference a Decade Makes

(See our related post, “2019 Fast Facts from Our Annual Survey of Churches.” Also, we have prepared a download that includes a complete listing of the 439 churches that participated in our survey; the download also spotlights the 10 fastest-growing churches in each category and those churches with the highest baptism ratios. Go here to ACCESS THE DOWNLOAD. _ _ _ By Kent Fillinger Twenty-two years ago marked the first time Christian Standard published a list of churches that averaged more than 1,000 in worship attendance. Sixteen years ago, I started analyzing the data and soon added an annual survey

October 2, 2019

Christian Standard

Third City Going the Distance to Launch Broken Bow Site

By Jim Nieman The first venture into multisite ministry by Third City Christian Church, Grand Island, Neb., started with a request for help more than a year ago. First Christian Church in Broken Bow, Neb., about 80 miles away, had lost its minister, and the folks who remained thought the church “wasn’t going to make it,” said Third City senior minister Scott Jones, “[so] they reached out to us.” The folks at First Christian knew Third City was a healthy, growing church. TCCC averages about 1,500 on weekends and has a strong after-school program that sees about 350 students weekly.

March 25, 2019

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Real Life Church, Valencia, California

Multisite in a New Light By Justin Horey The multisite model has been gaining momentum for years among large churches and megachurches nationwide. But when Real Life Church in Valencia, California, embraced the multisite model of ministry, it did so differently than many other churches. Real Life launched two new campuses in 2018, both in nontraditional ways: one campus was created through a merger/acquisition, and one campus was designed to reach people online. For more than a decade, Real Life Church had a close relationship with Discovery Church in nearby Simi Valley, California. Both churches were planted by Shepherd of

May 17, 2018

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

Special Church Report Part 2: Large and Medium Churches

By Kent Fillinger This month, the focus is on large churches (average worship attendance of 500 to 999) and medium churches (250 to 499 weekly) from our annual church survey. If you missed the May issue on megachurches and emerging megachurches, you can read it online to get caught up. Next month, I’ll conclude this series with a report on small churches (averaging 100 to 249 weekly) and very small churches (fewer than 100) and share the first-ever recorded data on these two church sizes. Here are some stats and stories that show the major themes that emerged for large

May 7, 2014

Christian Standard

Megachurches Break New Ground

By Kent Fillinger The annual survey of attendance and trends in the fellowship of Christian churches and churches of Christ always yields interesting facts, but our study for calendar year 2013 also identified three notable “firsts”: “¢ For the first time, three churches averaged more than 20,000 in weekly worship attendance. Joining Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, and Central Christian Church, Henderson, Nevada, both of which surpassed 20,000 for the third consecutive year, was Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona. “¢ For the first time in the 18-year history of this list, Southeast Christian did not have the highest

May 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Megachurches by the Numbers

By Kent E. Fillinger Here are some summary stats for the megachurches (more than 2,000 in weekly attendance) and emerging megachurches (an average weekly attendance of 1,000 to 1,999). A total of 63 megachurches and 67 emerging megachurches participated in this year”s survey. All statistics are based on the 2012 calendar year. In addition to the 130 megachurches and emerging megachurches, 105 large churches (which average 500 to 999 weekly) and 109 medium-size churches (an average weekly attendance of 250 to 499) participated in this year”s survey. The 344 participating churches are the most to date. Complete survey findings for

September 8, 2010

Christian Standard

LARGE-SIZED CHURCHES: A New Name and New Numbers

By Kent E. Fillinger What”s in a name? Abram became Abraham and Sarai become Sarah in the Old Testament, and Simon became Peter and Saul became Paul in the New Testament. Name changes were common in the Bible when God altered the purpose or role of an individual. Christian Standard has reported the average weekly attendance and the total number of baptisms annually for churches that average 1,000 or more in weekly attendance since 1997. Several years ago, the size designation of a megachurch shifted from 1,000 to 2,000 in attendance. Therefore, the term emerging megachurch was developed for churches

September 13, 2009

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: The Elephant in the Room

by Kent E. Fillinger Describing the 66 medium-sized churches analyzed in this issue reminds me of the old fable of the blind men who each touched a different part of an elephant and then tried to describe what the animal looked like. The men disagree based on the part of the elephant they touched and their personal perspective.  For the last four years, 3:STRANDS Consulting has partnered with Christian Standard to conduct in-depth research of Christian church/church of Christ megachurches and emerging megachurches. For the first time, the same research survey was completed by churches with average worship attendances of

April 13, 2008

Christian Standard

Multisite Momentum

By Kent Fillinger The second coming of the megachurch appears to be the multisite movement””or perhaps the next generation of multisite ministry arrived before you were even introduced to the original version. Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian (Naperville, Illinois), is an often quoted and passionate proponent of multisite ministry. He introduced a new concept””the “polysite church”””in an article in the February 24 Christian Standard. He described the polysite church as the next wave in church reproduction. A recent article in Rev! magazine titled “Mega, Schmega” (March/April 2008) described multisite ministry as the answer for the future church. Some

April 15, 2007

Christian Standard

MEGACHURCHES: By the Numbers

By Kent Fillinger “The family of God” and “God”s household” are two biblical metaphors used to describe the church. But what do you call it when a family moves into the church and makes it their home? Adaptive reuse. Living inside former churches is happening across the country. Defunct churches are being transitioned into residential housing and condominiums. But this isn”t the only sad reality. According to Leadership Journal, “even among adults with a biblical worldview, only about one quarter embraced the importance of church attendance in a person”s spiritual life.” That means we should celebrate the 117 megachurches and

February 4, 2007

Christian Standard

MULTISITE CHURCHES: It DIDN’T Work for Us

By Stephen Bond Multisite ministry is sweeping the nation. More and more churches are experimenting with this creative method of church extension. In church leadership gatherings, pastors increasingly speak about being “one church in two locations” (or three or four locations). It is always thrilling when the church is on the march! Multisite ministry is proving to be an effective way to advance the kingdom of God in many areas. The church I serve jumped on the multisite bandwagon two years ago. Summit Christian Church had previously helped plant two independent congregations, but we wanted to pursue church extension through

April 9, 2006

Christian Standard

MEGACHURCH PROFILE: SouthBrook Christian Church

By Kent Fillinger While many churches and leaders quote the platitude, “Less is more,” few adopt it as a policy. SouthBrook Christian Church has committed to ongoing simplicity and clarity, and as a result, the church has grown by 103 percent over the last four years. During the 13-year tenure of senior pastor Charlie McMahan, the church has grown from fewer than 100 to almost 3,500. McMahan realized after a span of significant growth that the church had become too complex and needed a period of pruning. McMahan said the church is “ruthlessly continuing to focus” in hopes of achieving

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