One Church - Many Locations

  • Jeremy Erb
  • Sep 13, 2007
One church—many locations. This has been our vision for The Table from the very beginning. The multi-campus model of church is quickly gaining ground in North America for a number of reasons. I want to share some of the reasons behind our  desire to be one church in many locations.

 

First, geography is important. While some people are willing to drive long distances to attend a worship service, in the long run this only increases the complexity and confusion in our already fragmented society.  We want members of The Table to be   involved in their neighborhoods; able to invite their neighbors into the life of the church body in a local context.

 

Second, it allows local campuses to function at their evangelistic peak. Statistics have revealed that churches in the 200-250 size range are the most effective evangelistically. We want to keep our campuses in this range allowing them to reach out to as many people as possible.

 

Third, it allows us to enjoy the benefits of a smaller church campus with the resources and influence of a larger church. Many people today long for the relational security of a smaller church but desire the increased services of a larger congregation. The multi-campus model allows you to have both.

 

Campuses can remain smaller and geographically focused while being a part of a larger body. This allows us to streamline our staffing and be effective stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us.  We will have some staff that focus on   individual campuses, and others that will focus on values across all the campuses.

 

Quarterly, we will gather all the campuses together for a joint worship celebration. Our first such gathering will be on September 23rd at the Stafford Campus. Next, we will meet for a joint Christmas service on December 23rd at the Forestry Center next to the zoo.