Is your church considering going multisite? Maybe you already have another location or two and are thinking about launching more campuses in the future. Or is your church a single location that’s not at all interested in multiplying into new locations?

The multisite movement has profoundly impacted the church across America over the last 20 years. In fact, it could be said that this movement, more than anything else, has had the largest impact on the local church in the last 50 years. In the most recent study of the multisite church movement by Leadership Network, it was found that:

* 82% of the churches surveyed reported they are growing.* 14% said they are considering launching three to eight campuses in the next 24 months.

This movement continues to gain momentum, which is remarkable considering the fact that 85% of all churches in North America are either in plateau or decline. 

Regardless of whether or not you’re considering going multisite, if you’re interested in reaching more people and making a deeper impact, you should examine this movement to draw out some meaningful lessons to implement at your church. Today we’ll explore five insights from the multisite movement. Any church, regardless of size and direction, can apply these concepts and hopefully make a significant impact on their community.

Releasing Volunteers Drives Church Growth 

The greatest success factor of a multisite campus launch is the size and health of the volunteer core. 

When you look under the hood of any multisite church, you’ll find a church that has figured out how to recruit, release, reward, and retain a growing volunteer base. 

All churches can get better in this area of multiplication. Releasing new volunteers is a core church growth tactic because a natural byproduct of new volunteers is that they become more talkative in their personal relationships about your church. When we bring someone new onto our volunteer team, that person likely changes various aspects of their personal life, which leads them to tell their friends and family about what led them to become more engaged with their church. Acquiring volunteers means more people are talking about your church which in turn leads to further growth.

In terms of volunteers within the multisite movement, two-thirds of the volunteers at new campuses are brand new to serving at the church. In my own leadership, I haven’t seen anything more effective at both finding and releasing new volunteers than launching new campuses. 

What could your church do in the coming 12 months that would release 100 new volunteers? 

Churches Multiplying Churches

Healthy churches multiply, take new ground, expand their reach, and ultimately launch new churches. A fully formed church really isn’t a fully formed church unless it multiplies because healthy things multiply.  

One of the most encouraging recent statistics from the Leadership Network is that 37% of multisite churches surveyed reported having “grandchild campuses.” Their new locations spawned another location, and this is a major step in the development of the multisite movement and in the life of the church.

Our churches should find ways to replicate themselves. More than that though, we need to replicate the things that replicate more churches. If we’re going to have an exponential impac...