Unsplash.com; Steve Halama
Just a decade ago, the idea of a multisite church was mostly seen as a fad embraced by a select few churches nationwide.
Now though, it seems that if a church hasn’t already opened up another site (or maybe even a second venue on its primary campus), it’s at least considering it. What once was an odd outlying fad has now become almost a rite of passage for most churches.
No church’s multisite vision can succeed without an effective plan for managing the live technical and production elements of a service, but doing so with sometimes limited resources can be a challenge.
For any church TD caught in the middle of this process (trying to manage ministry vision and the logistics of making it happen), there are always a few key concepts to consider while exploring this strategy:
1-Cost of ownership
Launching a new campus is one thing. Maintaining it week-to-week is something else entirely.
Determining the cost of buying equipment is relatively self-explanatory. But what often gets overlooked is the investment necessary to keep a system running after the initial purchase.
Generator rental (and fuel expenses) may be necessary at a venue with limited house power. Lifts may need to be rented in order to hang signage or equipment in the ceiling, and one can never forget the investment in proper training and safety equipment (harnesses, helmets, etc.) in order to operate a lift according to OSHA standards.
What often gets overlooked is the investment necessary to keep a system running after the initial purchase.
Will there be an ongoing charge to provide internet at a campus so that production content can be downloaded for service? This becomes even more critical when considering live-streaming a broadcast video feed from the primary campus. Some venues may have a viable wifi network for guest access or for downloading simple graphics, but they don’t have robust enough bandwidth to sustain a live stream with the building full of guests, possibly necessitating the install of a second (dedicated) broadcast circuit.
If people or equipment will need to be transported between campuses every week, is the church prepared to reimburse staff or volunteers for gas or mileage? What about the weekly cost of donuts or biscuits for the set-up team that arrives at 5 a.m. to load in all of the equipment?
If people or equipment will need to be transported between campuses every week, is the church prepared to reimburse staff or volunteers for gas or mileage?
On the equipment front, how many extra batteries will you need to buy each month to support all of the wireless mics? What about haze fluid and the miles of gaff tape necessary to tape down cables? And speaking of cables, the constant wear-and-tear will require spares to be kept on-hand for the inevitable times that they get kinked beyond use, or the ends get ripped off by an overzealous volunteer.
When you buy initial launch equipment for a new campus, it’s also important to consider what types of spare equipment need to be kept on-hand. Obviously, some items are more likely to require regular replacement (beyond just cables, like converters, power supplies, etc.), but there should also be consideration taken for projector lamps, computer mice/keyboards, and even wired mics (much cheaper as a replacement option than a wireless one). Plus, with the need for spare equipment to be kept close, it may be worth purchasing an extra road case or storage bin just to keep the spares in.
2-People, people, people
There are few resources in the church tech world more precious than volunteers. Probably every ministry in America wishes that it had more people. Volunteers are lifeblood.
At a new campus (especially if it’s portable), there should be extra consideration taken for how the volunteers are managed and led.
Probably every ministry in America wishes that it had more people. Volunteers are lifeblood.
When taking into account setup and load-out time, tech volunteers at portable venues tend to put in many more hours than volunteers serving in other areas, and they carry the weight of the entire worship experience’s success. So, ensuring that they’re properly appreciated is critical.
But beyond just giving them regular pats on the back, donuts, and the occasional black t-shirt, volunteer teams also need to be properly resourced. But at many offsite campuses, it’s become common to throw volunteers into the fire and hope they can figure it out as they go.
Few things are more frustrating for a volunteer than to not be given clear expectations or to not also be given the proper training on how to meet those expectations.
So, any TD must then consider how to do this effectively. Can checklists be created to document proper procedures and protocols for setting up and operating equipment? Can staff put together a troubleshooting document to walk the team through basic problems and how to fix them? Can someone shoot a few brief videos on their phone that can show a team what a proper setup should look like?
3-You'll need more leaders than you think
The easy trap is just to think that we only need to find one new leader: since I’m at the broadcast location, I only need to find a person to run the offsite location, and we’ll be good, right?
Wrong.
If I’m going to effectively do my job as a leader, I must be available to provide my presence at the new location regularly. I can’t expect that the church’s (and team’s) standards of excellence will translate if I’m never present to check and inspect them myself. Plus, as a key leader, I will always notice things that my lieutenants won’t see.
... if I’m going to commit to occasionally being present at a secondary site, that means I must have someone available to fill my shoes at the broadcast location.
Thus, if I’m going to commit to occasionally being present at a secondary site, that means I must have someone available to fill my shoes at the broadcast location.
Typically, that process takes time. Since that’s where the senior leaders are, it’s likely that they’ve grown accustomed to seeing me filling a certain role each week and they have developed a sense of comfort because of that. So, I can’t just jump ship suddenly and dump a new guy into my old seat.
I can’t just jump ship suddenly and dump a new guy into my old seat.
Chances are that I’m going to have to take time grooming my successor at the broadcast venue. They’ll need to be visible around me on a regular basis so that other ministry leaders get used to seeing them around. Then, I’ll need to hand over the reins while I’m still present so I can jump in to fix any issues that may arise.
Hopefully, over time, I can step out more regularly and the other teams can become more comfortable with my absence. That will then allow me the freedom to regularly visit and engage with other venues and sites to provide my perspective and expertise on how to operate and manage a service.
Ideally, even before a secondary site is opened, our team can have potential leaders identified so they can spend as much time as possible with me at the primary site. That will not only help me train them properly on procedures, but it will also help me infuse them with appropriate team culture necessary to build and maintain a strong volunteer team.
There are few things easy about leading tech teams in ministry, and as a church continues to grow, the expectations and responsibilities on a tech team tend to grow exponentially too. Our teams are consistently at the tip of the spear when it comes to implementing church vision and strategy, and we should be willing to embrace the challenge of being the team that makes things happen.
But without a proper plan of our own, we can end up struggling with how to begin and sustain new momentum. That’s why it’s critical to have a well-developed strategy in place to help launch our teams and ministries into the future.
