Check out the older rants if you missed them from last week.

Question 4: Does your staff and congregation know you are going to a new level?

So…Do they know that you will less to un-accessible? Will your staff understand that you will not be around to call all the shots? Does your congregation understand that you will not be the primary care pastor? Are they ready for a more CEO pastor or do they still want the loving pastor who is always around and available.

Some of you might say…wait, I can pull this off. Of course if you are running a smaller first campus, then these things might not be true for you, but here this if you are:

Craig Groeshel gave three things that churches must be doing before going multi-site at the Catalyst One Day last week:

* They are using up their building completely.
* You are missional and convinced you need to reach more people.
* You have the leadership to pull it off.

Question 5: Are you already leading a “growing” catalytic organization?

Take note of that first one in Craig’s list. If you are not growing to the point where you are using your entire building multiple times, I agree with Craig that you are not ready for multi-site.

Without a growing staff, multiple services, and other “pop” factors, multi-site will become multi-slave and might even stall the vision at your first campus. The lack of catalytic leadership at all levels have hampered us at times, but all of the other factors were there.

Make sure that you have answered ALL the questions and not just some before starting out on this crazy adventure called “multi-site”.

I pray nothing but HIS blessings and leading in your life as you seek this next level in your leadership and ministry!

Questions #1 and 2, are here. This one is HUGE, especially if you are a video venue. If not, adjust the question to fit your context.

QUESTION 3: Is the primary teacher(s) transferable on video?

And YES, video works in small towns. I would rather watch a video than not so great preaching live any day. It took us years (literally) to buy into it, but we drank the kool-aid and it has paid off. Even our campus in China uses 100% video and they love it. God’s Word transcends culture, race, creed, language and media form!

If you are not that great live (but other things make your ministry blossom) then don’t think without supernatural intervention that video will be any better. You have to be well above average live if you think you will make it on video.

If you have secondary teachers that don’t have as high a gift, make sure that they teach shorter and that you help them understand the dynamics of video. (Move around a bit, eye contact with the cameras, use props, etc.)

And this is just as important: YOU MUST HAVE EXCELLENT EQUIPMENT AND PROCESS! Don’t short-cut this! If you do, it will look like a great “Christian” film, and we all know how great those are (did you see Left Behind? Sorry guys…). Every short-cut, oops and technical miscue such as poor audio and lighting hurts twice as bad on video.

Couple other things: Ease them into video by piloting with your crowd. We did the “Nooma” type outdoor teachings many times before going to just a “sermon on the stage.”

And when I teach, I demand 9 times out of 10 that we film the first 2-5 minutes outdoors or somewhere on video so that we all start “at the same place” before making the transition to the stage. Check out any of our teachings recently to see this modeled. It makes the transition that much easier.

People laugh, cry, react, raise their hands, and most importantly, hundreds have trusted Christ watching a video sermon…so take the above and use it for GOD’S HONOR AND GLORY! It’s a heck of a risk, it takes a ton of time and resources, but the pay-off is worth it!

back tomorrow for part 4. peace!

Yesterday we talked about the importance of a top-level team at all levels.

Question #2: Do you have MATURE systems in place to handle growth and sustain momentum with that team?

I just finished 2 calls in 2 days with great leaders of whom I asked about question 1, which I believe is one of the most important. This question is a next-level question.

Once you have a great team who will bleed for the mission…do you have the systems in place to facilitate the growth? Don’t forget you should experience GROWTH as you launch. We grew by 300-400 by launching our 2 campuses. Are your systems ready to handle that?

Do you have enough staff to handle this growth? If your systems are still trying to be worked out at your first campus, then you will send the same dysfunction to site #2.

Are small groups and assimilation mature (I didn’t say GREAT…but MATURE and headed in the right direction with leadership and finances in place)?

Are your technology people able to handle multiple campuses?

How about children’s, worship, support ministries, outreach, youth, finances, etc.?

Of course you can hire people at the campuses to do this, but what is the learning curve for a new staff person unless they are capable and come from within? And even then, how long does it take for them to learn and fit in and start to make a gain in momentum for you? For us, it seems to be 6 months to a year, and in some cases, multiple years!

If you have dysfunction in your systems (and you know if you do, and we have plenty if you are keeping score) don’t think they will go away as you grow and “hire” them away with the “new growth”. It takes time for a new campus to mature just to give enough to support the new minimal staff you have. Remember your journey to get there at your campus?

You will be spinning plates and trying to overcome bad systems in 2 places if you don’t have mature systems ready to be implemented across 2 or more campuses.

Join us back tomorrow as I write about one of the most important questions to ask that will make or break a multi-site.

After going down the multi-site road for a few years…and talking with a bunch of people in small towns who are ready to launch multi-sites…I want to share some of the lessons we have learned the hard way and maybe it will help you decide if you are ready to go multi-site in a small town.

QUESTION #1: As lead pastor, is your main job casting vision, study, and prayer at least 90% of your time or are you tied up doing other things?

If you do not have a STRONG TEAM under you that can carry out the details and lead the charge, you just DOUBLED your troubles and dis-functions. It doesn’t get ANY easier just because you have more people and might have more staff at other campuses.

Unless you are strong already at most levels, and I do mean most levels (not necessarily GREAT, but STRONG) and headed in the right direction…then don’t even think about it. If you are spinning too many plates instead of doing the Acts 6 thing (teaching of the Word and prayer should be our dedication), then you will inherit way more plates to spin, except that you will be running how ever many miles between spinning plates (campuses) to accomplish the spin.

Do you think Craig Groeshel, Perry Noble, Andy Stanley, or whomever are pulling the same weight at all their campuses? No way. They barely run their first campuses [they have an amazing team under them accomplishing it so they can do what they are called to do best...they are truly level 5 leaders]. Do you have to be level 5? You better be at least a 4 in my opinion.

Your first campus (don’t say main, central, mother ship) should be so not in need of you and your staff ready to take on another big challenge before considering multi-site. If not, you doubled your work, stress, and dis-function, which isn’t worth the net gain (we gained 400 or so already) from multi-sites. See ya back tomorrow for some more to chew on.

blessings!