The main mistakes made while building a new multisite church structure are easily avoidable, and sticking to these main points will ensure that your campus will flourish. Read on for the top 6 things to keep in mind while operating a multiple-campus church.
Identify Your Core Mission
One of the main reasons for secondary campuses failing is a downfall in communication and a lack of a unified vision. To combat this, decide on a coherent and shareable message at the heart of the children's ministry curriculum.
Make this vision concrete by working it into policies, values, and even the budget. This ensures that each branch of your church is on the same page, upholding the same principles in learning while living the same mission.
Compacting your church's core mission into clear, concise, and repeatable language is critical. If every member of your congregation can answer the question – "what matters most in this church?" – you have succeeded in solidifying a united foundation.
Focus On Building Community
Asking yourself the question "why?" is a guaranteed way of getting the answers needed for your church, specifically. What are the main reasons for expanding the kids' ministry curriculum across multiple sites?
For the majority, the answers will be similar. Are you trying to help your youngsters to feel as though they have a friend wherever they go? Is your aim to build branches of community that can reach far and wide?
If the answer is yes, there should be a spotlight on building community across the campuses, not just within. There is ample opportunity to keep a close connection between campuses, from friendly competitions and sporting events to fund-raisers and bake sales.
Collaboration and Communication
Another way to form stronger bonds between the campuses is to collaborate on the curriculum, resources, and anything else that might be of importance. A good messaging channel between the workers is essential to establish regular communication.
There are many free software options for church communication, and our favorites can be discovered here. From image and video sharing to group chats, reminders, and more, messaging services can transform feelings of connection across distances.
Regular in-person meetings and brainstorming sessions between the staff members are also highly beneficial in building cross-campus bridges. It might not be possible for every campus, but handy video-chatting tools that are now at our fingertips mean that conversation is possible for everyone.
Strong Leadership
Selecting a solid team of staff members and volunteers to lead the additional campuses will ensure that the vision is shared to its full potential. Energy is contagious, and passionate and strong-willed individuals will help a new campus to flourish.
Choosing from within the congregation is also vital when assigning leadership roles. Rather than having to introduce someone entirely new for your church and its vision, why not assign trusted and hard-working volunteers roles of greater responsibility at the unique campus setting?
Flexibility
Depending on the size of your church, the methods of management will inevitably require flexibility and change. Being versatile and accepting that some elements of compromise will be necessary for the smooth running of the ministry is crucial.
Valuing the voices and opinions from within each campus will ensure that no one feels alienated. A bottom-up approach to management is often superior in preserving the church's core values while keeping every member looked after and considered.
Accessible outlets for people to raise concerns, or make suggestions, are a great way to get more volunteers involved and assign a more significant number of leadership positions while listening to the voices of the community. Allowing kids to share exactly what they appreciate from their ministry is more valuable than we sometimes think.
Regular Visits to All of the Sites
Taking the time to visit the different campuses and get to know the kids there will also help develop closer bonds to the core of the church. This can be done in fun ways, too, and the kids might start to look forward to the visits from senior church staff.
Letting all of the children get to know each other is also one of the most important ways of keeping a feeling of connectedness. However, we understand that this is difficult in the current times, and many would prefer to minimize the socialization of their children.
Luckily, there are various ways of building bonds without too many risks, like meeting in an outdoor venue with plenty of space, like a park or community field. Additionally, buddy systems can be put in place across the different campuses, so the kids will know that they have a friend.
A multisite kids ministry done right will have phenomenal outcomes. With incredible church technology tools readily available to enhance communication and planning, organization on a grand scale has never been easier. Build a coherent and user-friendly church online platform to include all of your church members in one online hub. Simultaneously center the core mission of your church while prioritizing communication and watch your community grow.