I've looked at, studied, prayed through, attempted, failed at some, succecced at most, and seemingly bought into almost every innovative idea that has came about involving church growth.
Almost...every one.
And that one, was the concept of Multi-Site Worship.
It's just hard for me to wrap my brain around the concept of one pastor, multiple locations. Sounded good...looked good on paper....naw, just not for me.
Until now...
This past weekend I had the honor of speaking to a small group Bible Study concerning the move from high school to college. That small group, was part of Jersey Baptist Church, just outside of Columbus, OH. Jersey, offers a multi-site worship venue.
We decided to go down a little early on Sunday morning to participate in one of their worship venues. We chose 'Emerge'. Emerge is a high-electricity rock style praise & worship service, set in an auditorium whose ambiance would best be described as a cross between a concert and a club. It was extremely dark inside, except for the stage lights and the monster screen at back of the stage. The musicians were warming up, videos were playing on screen, and it was such a warm environment inside. Just outside the doors of Emerge was a small coffee kiosk (you knew I would find that!), with tons of people milling around waiting on the service to start.At the exact same time, two other services were gearing up as well at different parts of the church campus. One, 'Gospel Celebration' is a worship celebration featuring old gospel hymns. The second, 'Jersey LIVE' is a worship venue where they experience a Spirit filled worship service that utilizes the Jersey Live Praise Leaders, Choir, Band and Orchestra. The music is a mix of soft contemporary and modern choruses.
Did I mention all three of these were going on at the EXACT same time? Crazy!
Then, as each of the respective worship times draws to a close, the Senior Pastor speaks to all venues, via streaming video.Each one, having their own Venue Director/Pastor and Worship Leader, yet all belonging to the same church family, and all under the leadership of the Senior Pastor. I honestly could imagine all sorts of problems with this scenario. From the leadership structure all the way down to the exact timing of the speaking, to having all the bugs worked out and kept out of the streaming video. Yet, it worked...and it worked well!
I have to admit, as I set through the service at Emerge, I attempted to critique every little detail. Here, is my findings:
- The worship band and worship leader were not professionals...yet they shown a true heart for God and leading His people in worship. And I'm talking rock style band...even the fog machine! They strived for excellence...they almost made it. I, not only enjoyed my worship time, but enjoyed the people around me worshipping also.
- The venue itself, with the dark and mysterious ambiance, just drew me in immediately. It was like I had no other choice, I had to go to 'that one.'
- I was totally caught off guard at the audience itself. I was expecting teenagers through the twenty-somethings to be the majority of the congregation. WOW, was I in for a shock! I would say the median age would have been somewhere between 38-42! 'Not quite' middle aged couples with their teenaged children. Dude, that was crazy!
- I kept thinking as the pastor was speaking that I would look around and see many of the people, especially the younger ones, not paying attention, goofing around, you know the like. Again, polar opposite of my expectations. It was as if each one in the room was literally hanging on to every word the pastor said, anxiously awaiting what was coming next. And he was on video! Amazing!
There's a lot more great things going on at Jersey! I'm just thankful that I had an opportunity to hang out with some great students for the morning.
And I also thankful that I had an opportunity to experience something brand new in the area of church! And I liked it...so did my family...
I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks...
