Going Multi-Site, pt. 4

You've probably heard the expression,
"Paralysis by Analysis."

Well, nobody has accused me of suffering from that condition.
Some folks have accused me of leaping before looking.
But I disagree.

Yesterday I wrote that God called us and opened a door for us. That's enough.
The analysis is done.
I think we've established that there is very little to risk. A lot to gain.

Now we plan, organize and prepare.
Before the initial launch, when we were doing preview services, we adopted the "Show, don't tell," approach. We were not going to talk about what the Connections worship experience would look like, we'd show people. It generated excitement and understanding from the start.

For the new site we are going to show them as well. But that said, I think we can be a little more open to what will unfold.

To start, we are going to go weekly from the beginning. This was a planning and logistical necessity. Plus, we have the initiative to start this service this way.

For the first three services we are planning to simply duplicate the Connections morning experience: same music, same media, same message.

During that time we can assess our progress: do we continue to bring in the same worship team, or do we start to form a separate evening team? Time will tell. What we do know is that I, or whoever else is preaching, will bring the same message.

As we move through the first several weeks we'll need to honestly assess our development.
If no one participates, if no new folks come out, if this seems to totally fizzle, we pull the plug.

If it seems to generate interest, but not a strong following, we evaluate what we really need to do with the Sunday evening time slot.

If it seems to only generate interest with a University Crowd (as we are meeting on a campus owned building), then that doesn't really match up with us being a community church. Something would have to change in that situation.

But if it takes off, if the campus likes us and wants to continue the relationship, and if the community likes us and gets involved, then we are in fact on to something.

At this stage there are more unknowns that knowns:

• Will it succeed?
• What will happen with the worship and volunteer teams?
• If this is a success, what happens when we hit Christmas break? Next summer? Can we convince Kings to let us use the facilities? Do we need to go somewhere else? Do we combine the services for the summer?

For all of that- time will tell. There's no real way of knowing where this will go.
But that's the fun part! Seizing this moment and seeing what happens!