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Home > Blog > Multisite Churches After COVID-19

Multisite Churches After COVID-19

By New Churches Team

Many churches are making contingency plans around their multisite campuses and plans for after COVID-19.

Online Campuses

One thing that will almost definitely come out of this season is that more churches will have an Internet campus. This approach is good for the future of multisite churches, as it means that more people are becoming comfortable with seeing their pastor on a screen. Over the past 30-40 years, church attendance has dropped from 2-3 times a week to 2-3 times a month. One thing we don’t know yet is how attendance will be affected when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. People might consider staying home and attending their church, or another church they found, online. Keeping an Internet campus allows you to stay connected to those members who now prefer attending church online.

Financial Considerations

From a financial perspective there are several things to consider.

1. If your church was setting aside a reserve fund to start a new campus soon, will you be able to keep that fund? Or during this time of lower offerings, will you need to use that fund for regular operations? If using that fund keeps you from taking on debt, then that approach might be something to consider, even if it means delaying or changing your plans for opening another campus.
2. Also, it is likely that many churches will close. Their buildings will become available, which could be a future option for multisite campuses. But as Internet campuses become more normalized, will it be wise to take on the debt of a building?
3. Larger and mid-size churches may have more difficulty during this time than smaller churches. Smaller churches that only have one or two people on staff, who may be bivocational, will have an easier time continuing to pay their staff than a large church that has large staff numbers employed. The smaller rural churches that are very community based will find a way to get through this. Larger churches that aren’t as community based will struggle more, even though they will likely have a much better Internet experience. All churches should focus on building an army instead of an audience.
4. Regardless of what happens, multisite will likely continue, but people won’t be willing to put as much risk of investment into it. They will likely start with a very small staff and a low budget and not add things until they grow. The time of fully finding a large campus from the beginning won’t be as common.

Adapted from the New Churches Q&A Podcast Episode 484: The Future of Multisite Churches. Click here to listen to more to church planting, multisite, and multiplication tips.

Home > Blog > Rethinking Post-Coronavirus Ministry

Rethinking Post-Coronavirus Ministry

By Todd Adkins

Now that we’ve found ourselves in a significant crisis, there are three big questions to consider:

•   How do we do ministry during the crisis?
•   What does it look like right after the crisis?
•   Does it establish a new normal?

Unlike a business, we don’t have to wonder what our “why” is; it’s the gospel.

But as we look ahead, assess our contexts with state and local government-sanctioned re-entry processes in mind, and make plans to reopen our churches, it’s important to understand what our “who” is—the people who have been involved in our churches and those who may be new, in the virtual sense.

Here are four things each church should consider as they think about the people they’ll be serving—both those who’ve been around for a while and newcomers.

1. Who Are We Trying to Serve?

Think about the kinds of people you’re serving. What specific groups within the church?

For example, if one of the groups you see yourself serving are parents, they may be coming out of a quarantine where they’ve had extra time with their kids and want to ride that wave—to be more intentional in their parenting, whether that means more quality time with them under “normal” circumstances, or more focused discipleship.

In the scenarios where you’re thinking about a parent, consider what this looks like, practically. Generally, they’re going to be at home. But think more specifically: at the kitchen table during meal time, outside shooting hoops, or reading to them or telling stories at bedtime.

With this in mind, let’s move to the next consideration.

2. What Are Their Greatest Needs?

For our purposes, let’s keep our focus on the example of the parent group for the rest of this article.

Most parents’ greatest needs are generally going to be the same. But how you address them needs realignment with what the pandemic has changed.

So it may be helping them talking to their child about COVID-19. Perhaps your church could provide a resource to help them be intentional in leading their child to grow closer to God.

Or maybe it’s something more practical—a resource to keep the kids occupied so the parents can perform tasks that get neglected simply because their hands are full with the children most of the time.

3. What Abilities Does Your Church Need to Meet One of These Specific Needs?

How would your church create or procure a resource that would allow parents to be intentional in leading their child to grow closer to God?

This is an important opportunity—for both the church leaders and the parents. Take advantage of the opportunity that due to the quarantine, many more families are sharing meals together daily instead of all the hustle and bustle of everyday activities.

In this scenario, the church can develop conversation starters to be used whenever the family is involved in one of the scenes I described above—gathering around the kitchen table, playing in the yard, or winding down at bedtime.

What are some prompts you can develop for parents when they have the captive audience of their children in any of these everyday life scenarios? What are some conversation topics that seem natural—topics of eternal and spiritual significance?

4. How Are We Going to Deliver the Resources/Content?

Are you going to do this digitally? If so, by what means?

Do you plan to post it to a Facebook group, sending it out via email? Or by some other means? At what frequency?

Should you go the analog route and print off on a nice quality paper and mail them? Or do you get fancy and make a deck of conversation cards with your church’s logo?

A Tool to Help You Turn Considerations Into Reality

Hopefully, the examination questions are helpful and bring clarity to how you might realign your ministries for different groups within your congregation best during this time.

Ministry Grid has created a free course to help churches move toward a new normal in response to COVID-19, including this ministry realignment framework.

This course includes 9 videos and 15 documents to establish clarity in the midst of chaos, think through who you’re serving, create financial and ministry contingency plans, shift focus and resource the right things, and emerge from this season stronger than before.

We recommend you walk through this course with your church staff or ministry team to create a contextualized response and reopening plan for your church.

The reality of COVID-19 may not seem beautiful at the moment, but we have a unique opportunity to see our churches thrive today and in the days to come.