When my “tour of duty” as the Worship Pastor for Canyon View Vineyard Church in Grand Junction, Colorado ended after 12 years, I passed the torch and moved out of the way. I have been a Multi-Site advocate for over 10 years now. So it was an easy decision to start planning another site for the church where I had spent 18 years watching peoples’ lives transformed.
Yesterday I spent some time with other Staff Pastors and Department Directors discussing the future of CVVC and how we can reach our community, as well as the region surrounding us. We discussed how we were doing reaching people and how we could better disciple those with whom we have built relationships.
Today we had a monthly All-Staff meeting during which time we celebrate the birthdays and anniversaries of our fellow staff members, receive updates from departments (ministries) and celebrate what God has been up to. We broke bread (ate breakfast together), caught up on life and simply enjoyed the company of one another.
This is just a glimpse into what I have been privileged to be part of while working at a Vineyard Church for almost 15 years. Most recently, I have had the great privilege of pastoring a small town, multi-site campus located just 16 miles away. I get the best of both worlds; big church connection and resources, meshed together with small town community and tradition.
The point of this post is to highlight some reasons to consider a multi-site/campus as part of your Church Plant Strategy. Yes, I said “church plant” strategy. Imagine a campus that takes on a life and vision of its own and you have the choice to release it.
Following are my Top 10 Reasons to consider a campus:
- I’m not on an island unto myself.
- Resources – finance, curriculum, classes, training – are available as a continued staff member.
- Back up – I don’t have to stress over coverage for the campus if I am gone because the campus is a ministry of the church.
- Planning – I utilize the expertise and ideas of the same team that plans the Weekend Service, Children’s curriculum and Communications from the Main Campus, while giving input and making it relevant to my campus.
- Staffing – I utilize existing personnel – Finance, Facilities, IT, Tech teams – from the Main campus. I don’t have to worry about hiring support staff.
- Volunteers – Multi–Sites provide more opportunities to serve within the church and out in communities.
- Not reinventing the wheel – Same weekend service, Children’s and Outreach as the main campus.
- More time to Pastor a church – Speaks for itself.
- More time to connect with Community outside of the church.
- Autonomy and accountability – Same elder board, executive board and budget, along with campus leaders, brings depth to the accountability while allowing the autonomy and flavor of the community where I am located.
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About the author
Ronnie Higuera is a pastor at Canyon View Vineyard Church in Grand Junction, Colorado. He served as worship pastor for 12 years. He has been a catalyst for multi-sites for a number of years and currently serves as Campus Pastor for Canyon View’s first video venue located16 miles away in the agricultural small town community of Palisade, CO. He and his wife Karen have 6 children and 6 grandchildren. Ronnie began following Jesus at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Grand Junction in 1994. He serves on The Small Town USA team partnership. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.
