4 Tensions Every Multisite Church Must Manage - Part 1

Leading in a multisite church is like playing that old arcade game Whack-A-Mole. Little problems keep popping up over and over. Just when you think you squashed them at one location, they pop up over there at another. There are some issues that just seem to come up over and over, no matter how much you wish they wouldn’t or how thoroughly you might have dealt with them last time.

Instead of whacking the mole over and over, we should try to figure out why the same mole keeps coming back? I’ve noticed some unique challenges and characteristics that that seem to keep popping up in different multisite churches. What I’ve also seen is the ability to flex and bend (i.e. “manage the tension”) both on the part of individual leaders and the organization as a whole, is often the difference between healthy and unhealthy multisite ministry.Perhaps these are not problems to be solved but ongoing tensions to be managed. To be sure, I’m the beneficiary of others who have navigated these waters and already identified some of these same dynamics. Most notably for me is Kadi Cole who has been a great coach and source of insight and direction as I developed my own approach to multisite ministry.

The dynamics of any growing church are constantly changing and this is especially true when you add the complexity that results from multisite church. What you were doing five years ago — maybe even one year ago — just may not work anymore. In my experience both leading in and working with multisite churches, I have identified some of those recurring issues that just won’t go away. Here are four tensions that every multisite church must manage:

#1 Autonomy vs Alignment

#2 Global vs Local

#3 Present vs Future

#4 Us vs Them

#1 - Autonomy vs Alignment

I’ve written elsewhere about how critical it is for multisite churches to define the level of autonomy for campuses. A commitment to multisite must include a commitment to provide clarity about what will be standardized at every campus, what will not and the reason why. This can include things as essential as the preaching model, staffing plan or small groups model. But it sometimes even includes specific details like paint colors and snacks for preschoolers. My own philosophy here is that there are only three reasons to maintain alignment and centralize the functions of a campus: identity, quality or scalability. Otherwise, it may be best to allow campuses some discretion.

Managing the tension between autonomy and alignment is perhaps the biggest challenge of any multisite church. Alignment standards may make campuses feel like they are being micromanaged with top-down mandates and bureaucratic processes -- but it doesn’t have to be that way. Ministry actually tends to be simpler and more scalable in churches with a high-alignment system so there is freedom in simplicity. Ministry tends to take on a more contextualized feel in a high-autonomy system which may seem more authentic to some, though it’s harder to maintain alignment and there’s a higher likelihood for there to be a lot more disparities between similarly sized campuses. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to where you should fall on this spectrum but it does require effort to discern and decide what works best.

If the campus pastor and campus staff have any inclinations or gifting as leaders, their natural tendency will be to test these boundaries from time to time. Within reason, that could actually be healthy. If there is constant testing, you missed a step somewhere either in crafting your strategy or hiring your staff. If there’s never any testing, you could have achieved perfection in your multisite model or – more likely – it’s happening but your multisite model is so unclear that you can’t even tell.

Some ways to manage the tension of autonomy vs control are:

• Establish a multisite model that has clear, written boundaries related to campus autonomy and alignment. Without that, there are no standards to enforce.

• Hire a staff with passions and gifts that fit your system. A highly creative leader won’t flourish in a high-alignment system. Click here to read more about this.

• Establish frequent communication between campuses and central leadership about expectations, frustrations and opportunities.

Failure to manage this tension can be catastrophic. Many of the horror stories of rogue campus pastors or unsuccessful campus launches can be traced to this dynamic. How well the church addresses the first tension of autonomy vs alignment has a cascading effect on the other three.

#2 - Global vs Local

In the epic movie of the 1982 movie Start Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (worst opening sentence ever! Stay with me now...), there is a famous scene where Spock sacrifices himself in order to save the rest of the crew. As he was slowly dying, he mumbles to Captain Kirk, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Let’s hope navigating multisite challenges aren’t nearly as dramatic as that! Yet these kinds of decisions for the greater good happen all the time in a multisite setting. Sometimes you can’t do something that would benefit one campus because it will interfere or prevent something else that would benefit the entire church. When I say that these decisions are necessary and a key part of leadership, it probably resonates with the person making the churchwide decision but it makes little sense to those at the campus level who are impacted by it.

This tension is usually about money because it surrounds the allocation and distribution of staff and resources. From the viewpoint of the campus, we never seem to get as much of a budget increase as we would like or the next staff position we need seems to take too long to get funded. But it may go deeper than that. The tension may come from the perception at the campus level that the decision makers are too detached from the day to day ministry needs. If this boils over and turns toxic, it becomes a lack of trust in leadership’s judgment and the quality of their decisions.

The hard truth is that what’s best for a particular campus may not be best for the church as a whole. An essential trait of a campus pastor is the ability to transcend the local context to think globally on behalf of the whole church. When the entire multisite church is healthy, it is a benefit to every multisite campus. In other words, a rising tide floats all boats. It should never be a zero sum game where “success” here means “failure” there or the gain of one campus is a threat to the others. A mark of a healthy multisite church is the ability to see a win for one as a win for all.

Some ways to manage the tension of Global vs Local are:

• Create an intentional pathway for campus pastors to be fully heard in key decisions like budgeting and staffing. When decisions are handed down, make sure to explain the rationale so they understand the “why” behind it. If they feel like they had a part in the process and were respected as leaders, it softens the blow when they don’t get everything they requested.

• Create a culture where you celebrate each other’s “wins” rather than begrudge them. A rising tide floats all boats.

• Whenever the full staff is gathered, emphasize and reinforce the identity of the whole church over the identity of individual campuses. The global/churchwide mission and vision of the church is a powerful tool to create unity. Rather than a hard decision appearing arbitrary, knowing that it advances the church at large makes it more concrete and easier to understand.

The last two tensions every multisite church must manage will be featured in the next post coming soon:

#3 Present vs Future

#4 Us vs Them

How have you seen churches manage these tensions? Is there one you're dealing with that I didn't include? I would love to hear what you're learning. Send a quick note to mv@michaelvolbeda.com.