CAMPUS & More missional ideas from my multi-campus church tour.

by Bob Whitesel D.Min., Ph.D., 6/17/18.

Today I’m analyzing a campus of #NorthviewChurch in Westfield, IN. As you know I’m often disappointed with how venues and campuses create a disconnected and inauthentic feel to their satellite locations. And this is never more true than during a video sermon.

#NorthviewChurch avoids thus misstep and fosters the feel of a live presence by having a screen on a stage that creates an image that is life-sized (not too big or too small) of the preacher on the stage. In fact, from the back of the auditorium (where I was sitting on this busy Father’s Day) it almost looked like the preacher was live.

This requires:

• A middle camera that does not change perspective during the sermon. The same shot stays on the stage, creating the feel of a live presence. The side screens however (where the lyrics for the songs are projected) can be more of a closeup image and can often change perspective. However, the central camer which is creating the feel of a live presence of the preacher should not change shots.
• The screen on the stage sits at floor level. This gives the impression that the preacher is speaking live on the stage and at its center.
• The edge of the screen is black and the stage area behind the screen is dark. This adds to the feel that you are not looking at a screen but at a person that is live on the stage.
• The sound emulates from the screen area. Some venues that have speaker arrays hanging from the ceiling may need to adjust the speakers to foster the feel is the voice emulating from the stage
• As with most campus visits, the announcements, worship, etc. works e live.

 

MULTIPLICATION & @WesleySeminary Students Have Articles Published via CONG-520 Course

Students Publish Articles as an Alternative Assignment for CONG-520: Building a Multi-generational Church

As an alternative assignment for CONG-520, Dr. Whitesel encourages students to write two articles for publication based upon what they have learned about multiplying cross cultural sub-congregations (venues, sites, campuses) in his course.

Below is an abbreviated list of students who have had the articles they wrote for this course published.

Command Magazine, a resource for Christian leaders in the military, published Shawn Cossin’s article titled Restoring Order: How To Manage the Unmanageable and is available at http://ocf.gospelcom.net/pubs/restoring_order.php  Or the entire magazine can be downloaded at http://ocf.gospelcom.net/pdf/command_05_11.pdf (just go to pages 6-8 to read Shawn’s article).

The Ooze Webzine,

• published Scott Strissel’s article “Holiday Christians” which was released online http://theooze.annex.net/articles/print.cfm?id=1397&process=pdf
• and “The Tri-Generational Church” by Jeff Hughes, available at http://www.reachinggenerationnow.com/downloads/resources/Developing%20a%20multi-generational%20church.pdf

Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox  

• published Adam Sand’s “How to build a multi-generational men’s ministry.”  Read about it at http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=9398
• published an article by Jeff Hughes.  Jeff discussed how to foster a Multi-generational Church.at http://www.pastors.com/rwmt/article.asp?ArtID=9823
• This article was also published in The Wesleyan Church Magazine (May-June 2007),

Hoosier United Methodist Magazine, titled Together, published Mike Morley’s article, Bridging the Multi-generational Gap.  The online version of this magazine has the article posted at http://www.inareaumc.org/2005/Nov-Dec/bridging_the_multi.htm

The Salvation Army Magazine called The Officer is published internationally to 111 countries, ran an article by Robyn Bridgeo titled “Third Space.” The article was birthed out of ideas discussed in this course.

Laurie Turnow had her article title “All Ages, Please Apply” about generationally staffing a crisis pregnancy center printed in At The Center magazine: http://www.atcmag.com/v9n4/article5.asp

Dr. Whitesel stated, “This is a great way for students to share insights from their Building a Multi-generational Church course with other church leaders.  And, as I recall, none of the above students expected to be published.”

ENTREPRENEURSHIP & Isn’t It at an All-Time High? Nope. Not Even Close

by Erik Sherman, Inc. Magazine, 5/8/14.

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: “Before 2008 there were more businesses started than were closed. However in 2008 the reverse became true, and more businesses were closed than launched. This would be interesting research to apply to church multiplication. Are more church plants being planted today than are closing? And how does the multi-site and multi-venue church affect this? The researchers insinuate that entrepreneurship is still alive but that entrepreneurs are seeking the stability and economy of scale of large companies. In other words entrepreneurs are staying within their companies and not creating independent start ups. Might this be the reason for the rise of the multi-site church? And could the multi-venue church be another example of this? Read this article and ask yourself if it doesn’t demand we keep better track of the longevity of our church multiplication efforts. (This research article compares the number of businesses that start with the number of businesses that close. Businesses that start are called business entries. When a business closes it’s called a business exit. This has been tracked for more than 30 years. 30 years ago there were more businesses being started than there were folding. But in 2008 the numbers converged. At that time the same number of businesses were started, as there were businesses closed.)

Read more at … http://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/brookings-us-entrepreneurship-declining.html