Books I've Read: A Multi-Site Church Road Trip

Last weekend, I finished A Multi-Site Church Road Trip. Our staff got copies in preparation for launching our church's first "multi-site" location (I guess it would be our second site...still getting used to the lingo). I'm in a black/white, pros/cons kind of mood, so...

Pros
The book is definitely chock-full of really useful information. In each chapter, the highlight a multi-site church (thirteen in all). Each "stop" on the trip is tied to a particular strategy or issue (such as how to raise up new leadership or how to decide what type of technology to use) associated with "going multi-site." I'm sure the book could have been far longer than it was, because each church only had a handful of pages, so they get some serious kudos for keeping a high elevation on some things I'm sure they could have written many passionate pages about. It was sort of like a briefing of different multi-site issues. This approach was really useful for me, since I started at ground zero a year ago when I arrived at my church (as a church, we've articulated moving towards the multi-site model for the past two years). The authors (Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird) do not get bogged down in details. After all, most people reading this book are probably looking for more of an overview anyways.

Cons
There were times when the writing style is a little glib. I understand the authors are trying to keep a light tone, but at times they are a bit too funny, and it gets in the way. But that probably has more to do with my personal preferences than anything. The biggest complaint about the book is that it does not get into any theological issues, other than to say (paraphrasing here), "If it reaches people for Christ, we should do it." Now, in an overview-type book, I don't expect in-depth study on all the issues, but I would have liked to have more discussions centering on the theological issues of multi-site churches. For instance, they dedicate a chapter to criticisms of this particular model (which the authors advocate, but they do not take an opportunity to dive into a Scriptural argument for the multi-site model. Perhaps it's because the authors assume that it's a morally neutral model (neither right nor wrong per se, it's all in how you use it). That may be so, but they don't even touch on that argument.


As for the multi-site model, I'm excited to see how it works. I was definitely a skeptic a year ago, and the idea has grown on me quite a bit. I'm looking forward to seeing how God leads us in this area. I'm especially curious to see how youth ministry looks in the multi-site model.

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