Churches sometimes have attendance grow faster than the ability to expand the size of the church building can keep with that growth. Recently, our church went through the decision-making process for needing multiple services. We had to decide if we were going to have multiple services at one location, or maybe if we would open an additional location for another service.
Originally, it seemed the most effective way to separate our meetings into two separate meetings was to have both meetings within the same building. Doing this, it seemed, no one would miss seeing their friends, regardless of which service they decided to attend.
In practice, we discovered that each service would choose its own membership attendance, and whether we met in the same building, or different locations, there would be some adjustment like lost relationships. The disadvantages associated with two consecutive meetings in one building would be the rushed feeling that could take place between the two services.
Since there is just one single parking area, the earliest service would have to empty out by a prescribed time. The second service attendees would be required to time their entry so as not to conflict with the closure of the first meeting.
Therefore, after thinking about the options, we chose to look towards two meetings in two locations. The most obvious challenge with a subsequent service in a different location is getting a second meeting building location. The expense goes way up, but the possibility for growing two services faster provides an offset for the added expense.
The second most difficult obstacle is offsetting the meeting times so that the same ministers can oversee both services. Having another pastor available, and rotating ministry personnel made this obstacle easy to face. Most of the time, there would be shared ministry resources.
Just in case, we also have a second pastor and a second worship team in place, and another plan to relieve the pressure of just one person who could do both locations.
Because of the plan in place, we located a second building a few miles away from our original building, in a slightly larger community.
The end result is that the 440 original members from the original church, one year later, totals about 500 members between the two services. This represents a rise of about 20%, which happens to be what we set out to achieve when we first looked at expanding our church services.
One more good thing came as a consequence of our decision to go to two locations. We now have a strategy in place for doing the same thing at more locations in the future.
Originally, it seemed the most effective way to separate our meetings into two separate meetings was to have both meetings within the same building. Doing this, it seemed, no one would miss seeing their friends, regardless of which service they decided to attend.
In practice, we discovered that each service would choose its own membership attendance, and whether we met in the same building, or different locations, there would be some adjustment like lost relationships. The disadvantages associated with two consecutive meetings in one building would be the rushed feeling that could take place between the two services.
Since there is just one single parking area, the earliest service would have to empty out by a prescribed time. The second service attendees would be required to time their entry so as not to conflict with the closure of the first meeting.
Therefore, after thinking about the options, we chose to look towards two meetings in two locations. The most obvious challenge with a subsequent service in a different location is getting a second meeting building location. The expense goes way up, but the possibility for growing two services faster provides an offset for the added expense.
The second most difficult obstacle is offsetting the meeting times so that the same ministers can oversee both services. Having another pastor available, and rotating ministry personnel made this obstacle easy to face. Most of the time, there would be shared ministry resources.
Just in case, we also have a second pastor and a second worship team in place, and another plan to relieve the pressure of just one person who could do both locations.
Because of the plan in place, we located a second building a few miles away from our original building, in a slightly larger community.
The end result is that the 440 original members from the original church, one year later, totals about 500 members between the two services. This represents a rise of about 20%, which happens to be what we set out to achieve when we first looked at expanding our church services.
One more good thing came as a consequence of our decision to go to two locations. We now have a strategy in place for doing the same thing at more locations in the future.
About the Author:
What is the next step? Read this article on church management software by PowerChurch to gain a thorough understanding of what is driving church growth, and the need to properly manage that growth.
