My Thoughts on Chruch Satellite Campuses

A comment on Video Venues: Healthy for the Church? by Brian Ayers

as an attendee and volunteer at a satellite campus, i must say, I am extremely thankful for the capability.
on the “pro” side, it does help us stay on the same page as the “main campus” and we are still connected to a church that has huge ability to impact our area for Jesus. we do get teaching from an extremely gifted [and proven] expositor of the Word. The campuses have also broken it down so there is more community on Sunday mornings-a challenge when you have 10,000 people in one setting.

on the “con” side, it does feel less “real” watching on video. I like the size of a church like Community Church, where it is still possible to interact with the pastor. We now have a “campus” pastor, but being that he doesn’t teach on Sundays it’s not exactly the same as talking to the person who just taught from the word.
I think from a staffing and financial point of view, it’s quite a challenge. I know they pulled the best of the best to head up the campuses. They also have “live worship” at each campus and set up and tear down each week, which requires more staff and volunteers.
I also see how people emphasize the name of the church (while not really participating) just because it’s a big church, but there could be just as much temptation to do that with a small church plant and take pride because of the name or pastor or size.

If I personally were making the decision about expanding to a satellite campus, I would consider all other options first.