The question: "Larger or smaller…will the church that thrives in the postmodern transition be larger or smaller?"

The answer: "Yes!…the church of tomorrow will be both larger and smaller" (Len Sweet, do you hear the double ring?)

That was the question from a Gen-X church planter. And that was the response from the church consulting guru, Lyle Schaller. Dr. Schaller, (possibly the smartest man on the planet…at least where I live?) went on to explain what I believe to be a prophetic vision of the church of tomorrow…a church that is both larger and smaller!

The thriving church in the postmodern transition will be larger - like a Roger Bannister four-minute mile we will soon see one church after another race past 10,000 in attendance. Also in our lifetime churches on this continent will breeze past 100,000 like those in Asia and South America. At the same time the thriving church in the postmodern transition will also be smaller - like a Starbucks on every corner - the church of tomorrow will offer salvation but specialize in community; one store at a time.

In Discontinuity and Hope, Radical Change And The Path To The Future Schaller describes yesterday and then today:

Yesterday - "A long time resident showing an old friend around town: ‘That’s the First National Bank at the corner of Main and Washington, and directly across from it is First Church, where we have been members since we moved here thirty years ago. The college is four blocks to the east up on the hill, our hospital is about a half mile to the west, and our doctor has his office in that building over there’"

Today - "A long time resident showing an old friend around town: ‘That’s the First National Bank, but I haven’t been there for years. We do all our banking at a branch supermarket where we buy groceries. We’re members of First Church, but we go to their east-side campus, which is within walking distance of our house. We have one congregation, one staff, one budget, and one treasury, but three meeting places - a small one on the north side of town, the big one out where we live, and the old building downtown here. The old college up on the hill is now a university. This is their main campus, but they also offer classes at three other locations. We’re members of an HMO that has doctors in five locations, but my primary-care physician is in a branch about a mile from where we live. Her office is next to a branch of the main hospital, so I’ve never been in the main hospital except to visit a couple of friends. Our older daughter is enrolled in a theological school out in California, but she is able to take all her classes on the east-side campus of First Church. That enables her to live with us and saves her a lot of money. We also look after her two children while she’s in class or in the library.’"

In 1998 Community Christian Church of Naperville, Illinois went multi-site and officially became one church with two locations. This eight-year-old church who had already grown to over 800 attendees took this proactive step to launch a second site twenty minutes away in the Romeoville/Plainfield area that would reach people that were not being reached. Two and half years later, the churches outreach has more than doubled with an average attendance of more than 1700 and 80% of these new attendees being unchurched. They are currently building at both locations and plan to add two more sites in the next year!

Over the last few years as a multi-site church we have discovered at least nine "Genius of the AND - the paradoxical view that allows one to pursue both A AND B at the same time". So here under the categories of marketing, resources and diversity are some of our "Genius of the AND:

MARKETING: Brand New AND A Trusted Brand

Krispy Kreme donuts came to Chicago last year. Sure it’s still an hour a way, but I drive it. When Krispy Kreme opens a store in Naperville, I will never go to Dunkin Donuts again. Why? Because they have developed a brand that I trust. Heck, trust? I love’em!!

We all have brands that we trust - Nike, Caribou, Honda…you fill in the blank. That is the idea behind marketing - the development of a trust relationship between the product and the customer. The Willow Creek Association (perhaps unaware through implicit marketing) is developing a brand. In 1997, a WCA church, Heartland Community Church of Rockford, Illinois was birthed. They are now running over 1,400 in attendance and they have no teaching pastor! They are using videos on loan from WillowCreek Community Church of Bill Hybels and company. Some of the people came to the church because it was brand new. But one of the reasons (in addition to great music, a compelling vision and a great infrastructure of small groups) that so many people are coming is because they can get a taste of the WillowCreek brand without driving two hours It’s a trusted brand!

At Community Christian Church we experienced the same phenomenon. People who where inactive, became active when we moved to their neighborhood. People who had heard about us, but it was too far away, now gave us a visit. People who loved the church, told neighbors when we moved nearby. The multi-site church has the upside of what used to be denominational loyalty (something that existed yesterday)…it’s now called congregational loyalty.

RESOURCES: Cost Less AND Greater Outreach

In the last ten years we have started both a new church and a new campus. We have found that starting a new campus both costs significantly less and reaches more people. We started Community Christian Church for about $150,000. That was the money we raised knowing we had to be self-supporting before it all ran out. When we started our second campus, we spent less money and the outreach of our new campus after two only years is at a level that took our first location six years to reach! Bottom line - to start a new campus costs less and results in greater outreach.

I love the multi-campus church because it holds the potential to eliminate the struggle over the homogenous principle. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Aurora, Illinois is a multi-campus church. This old downtown church used the multi-campus approach as away to remain in the heart of a changing urban center while at the same time move toward the growing fringe. The multi-site church allows people to come and worship with a group of people a lot like them, but still be a part of a church the has a diverse ethnic and socio-economic population. The multi-site church allows people to worship in a context that is culturally relevant and still be a part of a church that gives us a glimpse of Heaven.

The multi-campus church allows the seeker to clear the ecclesiastical hurdle of jumping from unchurched to churched and then later clear the sociological hurdle, whether it is ethnic or economical next. This allows us to reach more people within a homogenous setting but still over time allow them to be a part of heterogeneous church that represents the dream of God.

Will the church in the post-modern transition be larger or smaller? Yes!