Multi-Site: Rock Bridge Calhoun

This past Sunday was a great day at Rock Bridge Calhoun with ~100 coming to worship!!There are lots of great questions that people have about multi-site so here are some answers (this is a long entry):

WHAT IS MULTI-SITE?
One church meeting in multiple locations but with a common vision, budget, and leadership.
Multi-site is not a new concept. The church at Corinth and several other first century churches were multi-site. They consisted of several house churches that were part of one city-wide church.
--9 of the 10 largest churches in America are multi-site.
--7 of the 10 fastest growing churches in America are multi-site.
At Rock Bridge we believe that 'church' is not a specific building or location. Church is a group of believers connected to other groups of believers by a common mission!!

WHY IS ROCK BRIDGE TAKING A MULTI-SITE APPROACH?
To make more disciples for Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8) by bringing the church closer to where people are.
We have noticed a trend at Rock Bridge: people are driving from several communities outside of the Dalton-Whitfield area, including Calhoun. We are commanded by Christ to "go and make disciples" ... multi-site is part of us being obedient and not being afraid to take risks for the cause of Christ.

HOW DID ROCK BRIDGE CHOOSE CALHOUN?
The short-answer is: it was a 'God-thing'.
One our teaching Elders, John McIntosh, was asked to preach for a church called CrossPoint. The church had been without a pastor for several months and John really enjoyed his time with the people there.
At the same time, myself and others had been praying about planting new churches and/or starting new sites as a way to reach more people for Christ.
From there the idea of merging together to have greater influence was born. After much prayer and discussion, CrossPoint asked to be adopted by Rock Bridge.
--In 2004, 1500 churches were multi-site. 30% of those 'sites' were adoptions/mergers like what Rock Bridge is doing in Calhoun.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR ROCK BRIDGE CALHOUN?
On Easter Sunday, Rock Bridge assumed teaching responsibilities for the new site. Additionally, our two sites now share the same type of bulletin.
The biggest first step is to prayerfully locate a Campus Pastor to lead the charge in Calhoun (we are very close).
After that we'll begin organizing ministry teams, locating a meeting facility, and getting ready for the official launch in the Fall of 2007.

WHERE WILL ROCK BRIDGE CALHOUN MEET?
To be determined.

HOW WILL THE TEACHING BE HANDLED?
As of now, the Calhoun site will either watch a video of the 9:00 am message from the Dalton campus or there will be a 'live' teacher.
We believe that the power of God's Word is not limited by the medium through which it is communicated and that through excellent technology both Dalton & Calhoun will experience the same teaching.

WHAT ABOUT WORSHIP?
The worship will be with a live band and worship pastor like at Dalton.
Children & Youth programming will also be similar once the site is officially launched.

WHAT DOES THE CAMPUS PASTOR DO?
He will lead the ministry efforts in Calhoun and pastor the people. He will be responsible for everything but the Sunday morning message. That means he has to organize and coordinate small groups, children's ministry, worship planning, student ministry, pastoral care, community care & outreach, church operations/administration, and supervise the staff & ministry team leaders.
And he will teach from time to time as well.

WHAT WILL CHANGE? WHAT WILL BE THE SAME?
In Dalton, not much will change.
In Calhoun, there will be a Rock Bridge.

This is kind of like the opening of 2 new Starbucks here in Whitfield County (one in Kroger and the other by the North Bypass). They are in two locations. One has a drive-thru and one does not. One is already open; one will open soon. One will own its building; one rents/leases its facility.
Both have the same goal, the same leadership structure, and both offer the same thing -- great coffee.
Rock Bridge Dalton & Calhoun will have some differences, but both will still communicate Christ in creative and relevant ways done with excellence!!