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Top Posts from 2016 #6 “Campus Constants for Multisite Churches”

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

The Multisite Church Movement continues to be one of the most popular topics on my blog the last couple of years and this year was no different. This post about Campus Constants came in at #6. Hope it’s helpful!

Last week the Unstuck Group hosted a successful webinar, “Making Multisite Work” with Tony Morgan, Warren Bird and members of the Unstuck Group. During that webinar I mentioned a “Campus Constant” document that we use at Sun Valley, a large multisite church in the Phoenix Metro area that I have the privilege of serving at, that helps us remain clear on our multisite model. During the live chat on the webinar we received multiple requests for me to share that document. So to make it easy I figured I’d just share it here for you. Feel free to learn from this and adapt it for your context. We’ve found that this document along with our leadership distinctives and “playbooks” developed by each Ministry Development Team member for each of their ministry areas has really helped us define, stay on track, and provide clarity to our multisite model.

Make sure you scroll to the bottom of this post to find the link to the replay of the webinar if you missed it and other multisite resources!

Mission:   Helping people meet, know, and follow Jesus.

Vision:   To help as many people meet, know and follow Jesus as we possibly can by growing a movement of reproducing Campuses and Churches.

By 2020, we believe God is leading us to:
– Experience 3,000 baptisms
– Expand to 7 campuses
– Start 7 new churches
– Start Residency Program
– Grow to 10,000 people in attendance

Strategy:   This strategy serves as the foundation for spiritual growth.

  • Meet: We help people meet Jesus through Weekend Services.
  • Know: We help people know Jesus through Small Groups.
  • Follow: We help people follow Jesus through opportunities to Give, Serve and Share

Cultural Values:   These values are what keep us on target as we move towards our vision.

  • Authenticity: Trusting Jesus and others with the real me.
  • Community: Learning from Jesus through strong friendships centered around God’s Word.
  • Generosity: Living like Jesus through giving, serving and sharing.

Leadership Distinctives:   This is what we expect from those in leadership and what makes the Sun Valley Staff Culture so unique. Follow this link if you’re interested in seeing these distinctives written out.

Leadership Structure:   At Sun Valley vision is global and leadership is local. Leadership authority and responsibility flows through the Campus Pastors and influence flows through Central Services and the Ministry Development Team. Every ministry of the Church at each Campus will operate under one leadership structure that ultimately comes under the authority of the Board of Servant Leaders and the Lead Pastor.

Campus Pastor Team:   Campus Pastors are responsible for executing the Sun Valley Mission, Vision, Strategy, Values and Leadership Distinctives on their respective campus. The Campus Pastor role is a Management and Shepherding role at Sun Valley. They manage SV Kids, SV Students, SV Groups and Guest Service ministries on their campus. They also shepherd the staff, volunteers, and congregants at their campus.

Ministry Development Team:   The Ministry Development Team influences the ministries on each Sun Valley Campus. They help to ensure that the following takes place on each Sun Valley Campus:

  • Content: Curriculum and teaching in each sub-ministry environment is the same on each campus.
  • Consistent: Ministry practices, behaviors, and experiences are consistent on each campus.
  • Communication: Clear lines of communication exist between ministry counterparts on each campus as well as between the Ministry Development Team and the Campus Pastors.
  • Coach: Observe sub-ministries and staff members on campuses and coach them towards effectiveness and Sun Valley cultural consistency.

Weekend Teaching:   The Teaching Team will set the teaching schedule and will serve as the primary communicators either in person or by video.

Branding:   Every Campus will operate under the same branding and communication strategy including a centralized website for the church representing all Campuses.

Financial Model:   Every Campus will share these financial goals:

  • Within 12 months, offerings from the Campus will cover its ongoing ministry expenses including staffing costs.
  • Within 24 months, the Campus will also contribute its prorated portion of central service expenses.
  • Within 36 months, the Campus will also contribute towards expansion endeavors.

Alignment:   We choose to align the best practices, behaviors, and experiences on each of our Campuses, including SV Kids, SV Students, Groups, Missions, Guest Services, Weekend Services and Business Services.

SV Kids:   We create safe environments for kids to experience fun and exciting ministry programming, create trust and partnership with parents, and provide a great guest experience to everyone.

  • Early Childhood: Birth-Pre-K
  • Elementary: K-4

SV Students:   We create safe environments for students to experience fun and exciting relationally based ministry, create trust and partnerships with parents, and provide a great guest experience to everyone.

  • Preteen: 5-6 Grade
  • High: 7-8 Grade
  • High School: 9-12 Grade

SV Groups:   We help people get to know Jesus through strong friendship centered around God’s Word because we believe that life-change takes place best in the context of community. SV Groups provides leadership to move people through the spiritual formation pathway at Sun Valley including Yes Weekends, Starting Point, Baptisms, Bridge Groups, Small Groups, Recovery & Support Groups, and Local Outreach.

Guest Services:   We provide an exceptional experience to every guest who attends a Sun Valley Campus every time. Each Campus builds and utilizes the following strategies and teams:

  • Parking Team & New Here Park Here
  • New Here Start Here
  • Greeters
  • Ushers
  • Info Center
  • Coffee Shop / Refreshments
  • Campus Safety

Missions:   Our strategic passions are 1) Church Planting 2) Leadership Development 3) Social Justice. Every mission partner we support and each short-term project we participate in will pass the filter of our strategic passions. Each Campus will participate in the same short-term projects and support the same partners. Each Campus will also participate in the generosity offerings annually.

Weekend Services:   There is one centralized process to build the weekend worship experience from concept to completion and then deliver it to each campus. Beginning with biblical content, including creativity, and resulting in an exceptional and engaging Christ-centered experience.

Business Services:   There will be one centralized process or system for administrative services including banking, budgeting, staffing, payroll, benefits, capital expenditures, I.T., church management software, facility management, lease agreements, legal needs, etc.

Multisite Resources from the Unstuck Group:

  1. Download our free White Paper: “One Team. Multiple Locations. How Staff Teams at Effective Multisite Churches Overcome Distance and Lead Together.”
  2. Watch a replay of our recent webinar: “Making Multisite Work, with Tony Morgan, Warren Bird, and members of The Unstuck Group team.”
  3. Multisite Consulting: If your church is thinking about going multisite, need help clarifying your multisite strategy, or stuck at a couple campuses and want to move forward we offer consulting solutions designed specifically for multisite churches!

Photo Credit: kevin dooley via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Top Posts of 2016 #9 “Where there’s a Huddle there’s a Team”

Monday, December 26, 2016

I’m counting down my Top 10 most popular blog posts from 2016 and one of the topics I write about that gets the most traction is building and developing volunteer teams. Here’s one that focuses one small practice that can make a really big deal at your church.

How do you know if the volunteer teams at your church are really working? I don’t mean are they getting stuff done and meeting objectives, I mean are they developing people. After all the point of building volunteer teams at your church isn’t just to use people to accomplish objectives but rather to create opportunities and relationships to develop people.

Team huddles are one of the most overlooked opportunities by many church staff, and yet they are one of the easiest tactics to implement and they bear a disproportionate amount of fruit.

Simply put where there’s a team there’s a huddle. No huddle…no team. So go looking for huddles at your church. If you don’t see any you may be using people instead of developing them.

Team huddles are evidence of…

Leadership

When you see a team huddle that means someone is leading. Someone is getting the team together and calling the plays.

Planning

When you see a team huddle you can rest assured that someone is doing some planning. They’re sharing that plan with the team and helping everyone know how they’re going to accomplish what they’re going to accomplish that day.

Coordination

When you see a team huddle you can know that people are working together in a coordinated fashion. Yes someone has planed the plays and called the plays but it takes everyone blocking the right scheme, picking up their individual assignments, running the right routes, and putting the ball where it needs to go at the right time for the team to win. That’s called coordination.

Development

You know people are being developed when you see a team huddle. Tasks are being delegated and people are being empowerment to make decisions. Responsibility is being shared and young growing leaders are learning to build trust.

Encouragement

You can know that people are being encouraged when you see team huddles. People are celebrating what was accomplished on the last play and individuals on the team are being called out and honored for doing a great job.

If your church isn’t using team huddles try having each volunteer team start and end with a huddle using the tactics above. Try it for 30 days…you may be surprised by the results.

Posted in Leadership, Staffing, Volunteers

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Is Your Church Ready to Go Multisite?

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Currently there are more than 8,000 churches across America that consider themselves to be multisite churches. These multisite churches vary in denominational affiliation, theological persuasion, size of attendance, physical location and facilities, teaching (video or live), ministries, and style of worship. Churches are proving that there are a lot of ways to do multisite. Many churches are just jumping into the deep end of the pool and figuring this multisite thing out as they go. While you can do that, I’d suggest a better way to ensure a successful launch is to develop your strategy ahead of time. If you church is considering going multisite this next year I’d encourage your Senior Leadership Team work through these 10 multisite readiness checkpoints.

1. Healthy Culture

Does your church have a culture worth replicating? Do you know what makes the culture of your team and culture distinct? Is there clarity and alignment of mission, vision, and values?

2. Buy-in

Does the Senior Leadership Team at your church have buy-in from the staff, board, volunteers and church body? If there is not a deep level of trust that’s been built it’s going to be difficult to lead into a new and different future.

3. Growth

Is your current location growing? Do you need to go multisite? Is your current facility reaching capacity? If you’re not already growing and reaching new people going multisite will make it worse.

4. Staff Capacity

People replicate culture, not ministry programs, strategies or policies. Do you have a deep bench on your team? Do you already have people who could serve as campus pastors at the new site and the original site? If you went multisite who would go and be on that team, and what would that do to your existing team?

5. Staff Health

Is your staff team healthy? Unhealthy people make unhealthy choices and build unhealthy things. Is there a high level of trust on the team? Is there healthy conflict on the team? Do team members hold one another accountable to outcomes?

6. Volunteer Strength

Are high levels of people who attend your church involved on a volunteer team? Launching new campuses requires a deep bench. What volunteers will go and lead and serve a the new campus? Who will step up and fill the void left at the sending campus?

7. Ministry Model

Does your church have a clear, simple, and proven ministry model? Do you know what is driving the success of your church and can you replicate it? To multiply your church in future locations, you must define how you do church in a scalable way at your current location(s).

8. Systems & Strategies

Do you know how you do what you do? Have you written that down anywhere? You cannot replicate what is not clearly recorded. Clearly defined systems allow ministry leaders to easily interact with administrative processes and teams. Documented strategies for each ministry will allow the new campus to hit the ground running, not having to recreate the wheel.

9. Financial Strength

Do you have cash on hand to fund a new campus? How much will it cost to start the new campus? When will the new campus be financially viable? What is so special about that date?

10. Weekend Experience

Can you replicate your weekend worship experience in a new location? Will the technology, teaching, worship music, and other creative elements be on par with the original location?

If your church is considering going multisite or if your church is multi-stuck (you’ve gone multisite and now your stuck), I’d encourage you to engage the Unstuck Group. We have been developing a new one-of-a-kind process to help multisite churches get unstuck. Follow this link to learn more!

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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10 Articles that will Help your Church Make Vision Real

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Thank you for making November another great month here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! It’s fun to stay connected with you through social media and hearing that these articles have been helpful. So, thank you for connecting with me through the content on this blog! You made these the top posts from this last month. If you missed out on any of them, here they are all in one place for your convenience!

10 Insider Focused Ministry Names

The language we choose to use is important because it both reflects and builds culture at the same time. And one of the most obvious ways to tell if a church is insider focused or outsider focused is the language that they choose to use. It either says that the church is “inclusive” or “exclusive.”

How Many People Should your Church have on Staff?

Before you buy into the idea that you need another staff person at your church, think again. That just may be the worst decision you make at your church this year.

Should your Church spend more Energy Reaching or Keeping People?

It’s commonly said that you can tell if a church is insider-focusedor outsider-focused by how they make decisions. Do they make decisions based on whom they’re trying to keep or whom they’re trying to reach? Oh, if it were only that simple.

The Difference between Preparation and Planning

Do great organizations prepare for the future or do they plan for it? The answer is, “yes.” To be clear preparation and planning are not the same thing, and great organizations become great by doing both.

Why Teams don’t Play up to their Potential

We had a great experience going to the game. It was a great game day atmosphere, we were there with some good friends, we had good seats, ate good food, and the Arkansas fans were more than hospitable. The outcome was just disappointing. It was like the Gators were trying to phone this one in. They didn’t look like themselves. It’s like they didn’t even get off the bus! I don’t mind losing if they leave it all on the field but they just didn’t play up to their potential. Ever been a part of a team like that? A team that doesn’t play up to their potential? It happens for all kinds of reasons:

8 Reasons Why People Don’t Volunteer at your Church

I’ve never worked with a church that has said they don’t need more volunteers. But I’ve worked with a bunch of churches that have trouble getting people to volunteer and stay engaged volunteering.

Why Church Health Matters and 14 Ways to Measure it

A few years ago, Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group set out to help pastors get a clearer understanding of the health of their churches, believing access to a better scorecard for ministry would show pastors where they were making an impact and where their churches might be stuck. That desire led to the first edition of Vital Signs. Tony has just released the 2016-2017 edition of Vital Signs: Why Church Health Matters and 14 Ways to Measure It. And here’s why I think you should grab a copy:

How your Church can Reach More Millennials 

There’s a lot of angst in the North American Church about Millennials walking away from Church. The Millennial generation is typically considered as born somewhere in the early 80’s – 2000 or so. Instead of fretting about it, the other day I sat down with some millennials to actually talk to them about their views of Church. These were some of the take aways from the conversation.

Everything is an Interview

Everything is an interview. Everything. College football players get this concept drilled into them by their coaches. They’re challenged to be proud of what they put on tape. Every Saturday they play a game and those game tapes essentially become their resume for a job interview to get to the NFL. But life is bigger than football; even for those of us who are a little obsessed by it. And in every interaction you have in life and in your work place, everything is an interview. And if you don’t view it that way, you may miss your next opportunity.

When to Add Another Worship Service at your Church

Many churches are stuck in attendance simply because they haven’t maximized their current facilities and campus. Thinking about adding another worship service at your church? Here are five strategic concepts to consider before you do. Not sure if multiple worship services are right for your church? Check out this blog on Overcoming the Fear of Moving to Multiple Worship Services.

Photo Credit: justin fain via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing, Volunteers

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How to Stop doing Ministry

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Most church leaders know that there’s a big difference between doing ministry and leading ministry. And most church leaders are quick to affirm that their calling is to lead ministry, not do ministry (equip the saints to do the work of the ministry…Ephesians 4:11-13). But most church leaders I talk to admit to really struggling with rising above the day-to-day grind of doing ministry.

So how do church leaders make time to work on their ministry and not get stuck working in the ministry? What are you going to do different this week that will actually help you move the ministry forward and not just get stuck in the daily grind of keeping it going? Here are a few practical ideas that will help you break up the mundane treadmill of the daily grind of ministry and help you shift your thinking

Change your Physical Environment

Go work outside, in a coffee shop, your favorite restaurant or any other space that inspires you or you enjoy. A change in scenery really can do you good. Break up the routine and turn on different parts of your brain!

Listen to Different Voices

Read authors you don’t always agree with, listen to podcasts, get around people who don’t know Jesus. Learn to listen to different voices. It will help you shift your thinking, challenge your views, and ignite new ideas.

Calendar it

A calendar is a simple tool that has the power to pull ideas out of the clouds and put them into real life. No one is in charge of your calendar but you. You either run your day or your day will run you.

Manage your Energy

Manage your energy not just your time. Think about what you spend time on that energizes you and what depletes you. Who gives you energy and who drains energy from you?

Exercise

Exercise, manage your sleep, and watch what you eat. You’ll be shocked how much better you think when you take care of yourself!

What else have you found helpful to get off the treadmill of doing ministry and actually start working on your ministry instead of getting stuck working in the ministry? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear your ideas!

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing
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