Connected Kingdom (21): Multi-site churches

October 6, 2010  David Murray   2 comments



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This week Tim and I talk about multi-site churches and pastoring. The fundamental question for multi-site churches and mega-churches is: “Can you properly be called a person’s pastor when you don’t know the people you preach to, and they don’t know you?” (John 10:14). Or put it another way: “How can you be someone’s pastor when you don’t know their names?” (John 10:3).

Our discussion morphs into the unique spiritual nature of Gospel preaching (as opposed to merely teaching or lecturing), preaching without notes, and listening without notes. Quite a lot to cram into 20 minutes!

Here’s the video discussion on multi-site churches that we referred to:

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for this focused discussion. I say Amen!

  • Peter Reynolds

    Our pastor jokes that he is (to quote his wife’s blog) “senior pastor of a multicampus church here in Scotland (-: and preaches three times on a Sunday”. This situation of multiple locations, sometimes meeting separately, sometimes together, was the same at the last church we were at, and, to an extent, in Lochcarron too, and is, as you know, very frequent in the Highlands (not to mention the many places where there is no pastor and often multiple somewhat similar denominations). So one kind of wonders whether one “belongs” to the church in place X or in places X + Y – and one can imagine the pastor may feel a bit the same. In some ways it’s good, because one gets to meet with a wider variety of people, but I think there are probably downsides too. Of course in some denominations (especially FP and, with a slightly different emphasis, FC) there is a strong sense of “belonging” to their national “church”, and one feels, rightly or wrongly, that, in the case of the FPs, the local “congregation” is relatively unimportant.Best wishesPeter http://www.peterreynoldsbooks.com/