As an advocate of both church planting and starting new campuses as a way to bring faith, love, and hope to others, I have been in a conversation many times over the years about the advantages of the two.
Here are some distinctions for a campus vs. a church plant as I have seen:
A campus embraces the core convictions of the main campus.
A campus embraces the core values of the main campus.
The elders of the main campus oversee and invest in the campus pastor. (This includes budget approval and financial oversight).
Strategic decision-making made in conjunction with the executive pastors and/or lead pastor of the main campus which includes selection of campus pastor and all paid staff).
Leadership development includes going through the same process as the main campus.
The campus pastor teams with the rest of the paid staff for training, idea sharing, and mutual encouragement.
The campus pastor is involved in regular meetings and communication with executive pastors and/or lead pastor of the main campus.
The campus joins the other campuses for message series (exceptions can be made).
In essence, the campus pastor can focus on building relationships, communicating, and counseling (the people aspects) rather than the administrative arenas. What are some other advantages and disadvantages of each that you’ve experienced?
Mosaic Chattanooga has been experiencing some remarkable challenges and breakthroughs. In addition to a new project where they make burlap bags and sell them to raise money for an orphanage in Mexico (check out www.iknowhope.com), Tim sent the following update:
“The last weekend of August in 2009 last year our Sunday paper’s front page read “Mayor Vows to Close Mosaic” . It’s now the last weekend in August 2010 exactly one year later and the front page paper on Sunday is going to read “Mayor Has Been Recalled”. Over 15,000 people signed a petition to recall the Mayor and it all begin with Mosaic. There were other issues such as taxes, over spending, but it really began with us. I have refused any of the petitions to be placed at Mosaic or any outreach activities we are connected with. I even publicly refused to sign the petition myself as an example that Mosaic does not want to be involved with politics. The Mayor has not put his mouth on us since last September and of-course his attempt to shut us down has failed. Be praying for Mayor Littlefield and his church that believes we are the antichrist. I’ve tried to reach out to them numerous ways but had no success. We have tripled in size since all the news coverage last year and have seen our urban youth ministry baptize 342 kids this summer. It was our urban youth ministry and night club outreach that was the main controversy. Thank you guys for your prayers!”
As part of the Mosaic Alliance, the core leaders (levels 2 and 3) get together monthly for a conference call with effective practitioners. If you are already a part of the Mosaic Alliance (levels 2 and 3), be sure to join us. To find out more about connecting with us, go to www.mosaicalliance.com.
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March 31 at 1pm (PST) with Rick Yamamoto and Neil Nakamoto Topic: Maximizing Your Strengths and Your Church
Strengths Profile: Ideation, Strategic, Relator, Input, Belief Rick Yamamoto has the unique ability of looking through data, extracting the critical elements, developing the best alternative or new alternative for action. He has applied this ability for more than three decades in the financial industry. He currently helps the world’s largest pension funds discover hidden investment talent. Rick’s passion is to help organizations understand and realize the potential of their leaders and members. Rick has developed the perception matrix, operational preference and talent spelunking tools to help people uncover their unique abilities and understand their exceptional performance patterns.
Strengths Profile: Individualization, Maximizer, Relator, Responsibility, Woo Neil Nakamoto has the unique ability of understanding the distinctive qualities of each person, discovering their interests and passions and then connecting them with someone else in the world that will help them on their journey to greatness. He focuses on unleashing the talents of others through his leadership of Mosaic’s mentoring process.
April 14th at 10am (PST) with Jon Tyson Topic: Church Planting in Urban Centers
Jon Tyson is lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in New York City. Trinity Grace is a network of neighborhood parish churches committed to joining God in the renewal of all things, currently with churches on the Upper West and Upper East Sides, in Chelsea and in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Jon lives in Manhattan with his wife Christy and their two children.
May (details coming soon) with Erwin McManus Topic: Q&A Erwin Raphael McManus is an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator who specializes in the field of developing and unleashing personal and organizational creativity, uniqueness, innovation and diversity. Erwin also serves as the primary communicator and cultural architect of Mosaic in Los Angeles. Erwin is a native of El Salvador, and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Southwestern Theological Seminary. He and his wife Kim live in Los Angeles have two children, Aaron and Mariah, and a foster daughter Paty.
