I had the pleasure of taking part in the CF church-wide staff retreat. Russ Olman is Director of Community Campuses at Lake Pointe Church in Dallas, TX. Lake Pointe has a "Central Campus" and has six satellite campuses. Russ is also the campus pastor at their Town East Campus (the largest satellite). In addition, Russ started "Ministry Advantage", a non-profit international coaching organization that has served hundreds of pastors and church leaders in the areas of leadership skills and church development.
While Rockwall, TX is a completely different environment than Miami, FL, Russ brought some great insight into the multi-site model.
Below are several nuggets Russ impressed on me:
First Year
* first year, disregard numbers
* focus on quality, systems, procedures (I wanted to yell out "Infrastructure")
* nobody knows how difficult it is to start a church (until you do it)
Volunteering
* get good at helping people identify their passion.
* know the difference between a committed volunteer and a passionate volunteer
* buyers remorse - sometimes volunteers buy into an idea w/o realizing what is involved in serving.
Features on Campus
* site/size appropriate - when starting campuses, don't create all features, all services immediately.
* offer what would be appropriate for your size.
* offer services/features when volunteers are available (satellite campuses will not be a full-service provider)
* "size appropriate ministry" - backed by communication, expectation, alignment
* be conscious of the services you provide
What we do
* 80/20 effect - 20% of your effort creates 80% of the impact (I'll be revisiting this at a later point).
* whatever we do, do it well (I've heard this somewhere before, too).
* Biased towards action
* when you're 80% confident on your action, pull the trigger (I'll revisit this too).
Communication
* what does the satellite campus communicate to the main campus? about the main campus? vice versa?
* Central campuses are "used to" doing things certain ways. It can be difficult for central sites to think multi-site.
* Satellite + Central = marriage relationship (if you're married, you understand)
* Get to the solution side of the problem, don't stay on the problem side.
Miscellaneous
* not sold on thematic worship elements, good worship cuts across cultural demographics
* re: video teaching - it's the message, not the medium
* campus identity is defined by texture, color, layour, standardizing equipment, etc.
* Delegation: "Don't do anything someone else can do for you." - Bill Marriott, Sr.
Comments