Last week I helped lead the third installment of the Coast-to-Coast Multi-site Church conference. This time we were at North Coast Church in Vista, CA. Over 700 people attended bring the grand total for the three identical conferences to somewhere around 2000 leaders from all over America and several foreign countries. It was fun once again to see three churches with very different approaches to multi-site come together to help other churches who are considering going down this road. Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle brought a fourth perspective. (You can watch video of Mark's presentation here)
Now that the movement is starting to gain steam it is gathering controversy as well. Stephen Bond of Summit Christian Church in Sparks, Nevada has a well written explanation of why multi-site did not work for his church here. Rick Meigs has an interesting discussion going on at The Blind Beggar about the pros and cons (mostly cons) of multi-site churches. And finally John Hammett in his review of The Multi-site Church Revolution challenges the theological basis for churches expanding beyond one location.
So where do you land in the discussion? Is multi-site a theologically sound way for a church to expand? Is it viable for a wide range of churches? Does it "rub you the wrong way"? I've invested the last five years of my life pursuing a multi-site vision, I'd love to hear from all sides of the discussion.
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