The Role Of Central Ministries In A Multi-Campus Church

Written by - Pastor Joe Shafer (APC Executive Pastor)

Having been involved with our multi-campus journey for almost ten years, I have seen the benefits and challenges of having one church in multiple locations. Setting up a structure that serves multiple campuses in different areas of our region, with different demographics of people and with campus pastors that have various leadership styles is extremely complicated. However, being multi-campus allows us to impact communities that would be outside of our reach with a single location model. 

One of the most important elements of setting up a multi-campus structure is establishing “Central Ministries and Services”. These central functions are designed to remove some of the day to day tasks from our pastors which allows them to have more time to focus on people. In our structure, our campus staff is free to focus on the needs of the people because our central staff handles many of the specialized skills, systems and/or processes.

Here are several central ministries or services that we use in our multi-site model:

Growth Coaches

We recognize that some of our campuses will need to fill some key leadership roles with volunteers or part time staff. As a result, these positions are often filled with people who may not have much experience and they often need regular coaching to be able to grow in their leadership and skills. We provide a growth coach, who is an experienced staff member in a specific area of ministry, to train and coach people at all of our campuses. The primary areas at APC with growth coaches are Youth, Kids, Worship, Outreach, and Life Groups.

Centralized Programming

So much time is spent planning for the weekend worship experiences in a church. Doing all of your programming in a centralized way allows for a campus pastor to simply “run the play” that was called rather than creating the plan. We have a team of central staff members who define the weekend service schedule, create the video content, and define the talking points for each weekend. Many times we use a recorded message that is played at each location in place of live teaching. Typically all of these responsibilities can consume the work week of a pastor, but when they are handled by a central team, it allows the campus pastor to focus on the care of his/her people.

Centralized Communications

One of the key elements of leadership is communication. In a multisite environment, we are able to build processes for communications and use expertise in these communication areas. All of our primary communications, including website, app, and marketing is done through our central team. This prevents our campus staff from needing skills in web design or marketing expertise. We are able to produce high quality results at every location with strategic staffing and efforts.

Centralized Administrative Functions

Logistics and administrative functions (Database Management, HR, IT, and Finances) can consume the work hours of a pastor. Having a central team that handles many of the operational functions allows our pastors to focus on people rather than these tasks. We intentionally build a team of central staff with skills in these areas so that our pastors can focus on people.

BENEFITS OF CENTRAL MINISTRIES AND SERVICES

Increased Focus for Staff

Many smaller churches have a small staff who need to have their hands in every area of the church. Creating a centralized process to handle these specialized skills allows us to hire staff to do what they do best instead of hiring staff who are “generalists”. Each person is able to focus his/attention on what he/she does best.

Expertise in Technical or Specialized Areas

It is challenging to create a level of excellence in all areas of the church when you have limited funds to pay staff. Having a multisite model that shares centralized staff allows us to hire people who are truly experts in their area and whose expertise can be used at all of our campus locations.

Clear Expectations for Campus Staff

The overall responsibility of the ministry at a campus is on the campus pastor and his/her staff, but in our multisite model, those responsibilities are drastically reduced. Every campus pastor not only knows what he/she has to accomplish, he/she also knows what he/she does not need to accomplish. Every staff member has a defined lane within their area of expertise and they know where their responsibilities begin and where their responsibilities end.

While a multisite process is difficult to maintain and there are always areas that need improvement and attention, we have been able to reach multiple communities in our region that would otherwise not have a life giving church.