Thread: USA Today: Multi-site churches-pastors reach thousands

Multi-site churches mean pastors reach thousands - USATODAY.com

Not sure of copyright, so I'll only put snips. Article features Keller, Driscoll, Groeschel ( Methodist).

This seems so, well, modern in a bad way to me to be honest. I'm still trying to think it through. It reminds me of quick bottles of formula to babies instead of the tedium of nursing for hours- but nursing is what makes healthier well bonded babies, emotionally and physically. Maybe with lots of small groups and undershepherds it works?

"We're just not looking for that kind of relationship with a pastor anymore. Today, it's all about a personal relationship with God, not the culture of a church. And a megachurch or a multisite church can still offer this. If you are there to hear a message and it's a powerful one, it shouldn't matter how it's delivered."

........

Thumma says, "sociologically, the multisite model goes against every instinct about religious commitment to a church. But so far as we know, a larger network can do more for a community, and re-create intimate worship experiences in accessible places where people live, and create more opportunities for volunteerism and service."

Interesting article. The pastor-present-via-video-link model seems particularly impersonal to me, even with someone like Driscoll who comes across well on the screen.

The Keller model, where he actually shows up at each site, seems better. It may be even more personal than, say, Spurgeon preaching to 10,000 people all in one place. Large churches always struggle to make the lead pastor accessible and involved in everyday shepherding, whether they use a multi-site model or not.

The local multi-site here has a separate rock band for each site, and then pipes in the sermon on a big screen.

Originally Posted by Edward

The local multi-site here has a separate rock band for each site, and then pipes in the sermon on a big screen.

How warm and fuzzy. The shepherding must be incredible.

Originally Posted by Curt

Originally Posted by Edward

The local multi-site here has a separate rock band for each site, and then pipes in the sermon on a big screen.

How warm and fuzzy. The shepherding must be incredible.

Well, as long as each site has its own rock band...what could go wrong?!

Many large churches try to utilize small groups to keep a sense of intimate cohesiveness, and many churches have elders overseeing these small groups.

It does seem vital, however, for a shephard to know his flock.

This model gets in the way of that. Though, in some smaller churches the pastor primarily preaches and some pastors are not very pastoral - doing very little besides delivering a sermon or two per week. So...if many pastors do very little personal shepharding anyhow, a jumbo-tron isn't too much of a decline.



P.s. I like the energy shown by Keller. Four services every Sunday at 4 different locations helps to motivate me to want to do more.

Originally Posted by Ivan

Originally Posted by Curt

Originally Posted by Edward

The local multi-site here has a separate rock band for each site, and then pipes in the sermon on a big screen.

How warm and fuzzy. The shepherding must be incredible.

Well, as long as each site has its own rock band...what could go wrong?!

Big fan of the multi-site (or multi-congregational, or multi-campus) model. Not at all a fan of the sermon-via-video thing.

The latter doesn't necessitate the former, fortunately.

Originally Posted by Pergamum

P.s. I like the energy shown by Keller. Four services every Sunday at 4 different locations helps to motivate me to want to do more.

He ought to spend less time chasing back and forth across town, and more time mentoring his staff.

A pastor causes embarrassment by having the congregation vow to submit to a deaconess - the mistake of a newer pastor

A pastor repeatedly didn't follow the BCO formulation for Baptism (no questions asked of the parents) - it's the mistake of a pastor.

Tim Keller’s Response to the YouTube Video Green Baggins
Redeemer explains its ordination of women: a big, but innocent, mistake... - BaylyBlog: Out of our minds, too...

I think there is much commendable in what Tim Keller is doing. He seems to teach and mentor all that is possible and he has quite the work ethic, but limited time to meet lotsof needs. Many of us could do well to emulate some of his patterns.

Is he "chasing back and forth across town" or is he aggressively ministering and working hard? I think your phrasing is overly negative.

A small church does not always mean there is any more pastoral care than there is at a mega church.

Few would argue for a blanket statement such as "a small church always means there is more pastoral care than there is at a mega church." It seems obvious to me, however, that a smaller church has a greater opportunity for the lead pastor to be intimately involved in the lives of his members. What the OP presents is not, in my view, a "mega-church versus smaller church" debate, but "a mega-church going the wrong way" concern.

What concerns me with the multi-site churches where the pastor preaches via video is that it fails to allow interaction between the preacher and his congregation during the sermon. Why not just forget the pastor altogether and show videos of gifted and charismatic preachers? And, yes, that has been promoted.

Bill

Someone close to Redeemer we know and asked about this, made these points last night:

Itinerant preachers go way back. The puritans used them, and even DML-J preached in multiple places on occasion. There is a difference between being there, and big screen. Keller tries to be there.

Polity matters. At Redeemer, they are very intentional about how to care for and minister to the folks at those sites. They don’t have the model just to be bigger, but to really disciple more folks.

The article completely failed to capture what Redeemer hopes to do, which is start more churches! The plan at Redeemer is to eventually have individual, “workable size” churches which are self-sustaining… but that would undercut/complicate the whole point of the article, which is that this is happening everywhere.

I hope that helps with any misunderstandings!