Multisite Merger factsheet

7/29/2019 Multisite Merger factsheet

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February 23, 2013

Introduction

We have been asked by the Bible Fellowship Church to help our sister church in Walnutport reach

their community and return them to a healthy state. Early conversations began in mid-2011, but

it now looks like the time that God has for us to act on those talks. This document describes what

a collaborative arrangement would involve in general terms. The leadership of the two churcheswill be producing a final proposal to the congregations within the next few weeks and the

congregations will vote on the proposal in order to enact the proposal.

To condense the proposal in one sentence: Bethany BFC of Whitehall and Calvary BFC of

Walnutport would become one church meeting in multiple places, with one leadership team,

one vision, one budget, and one ministry.

RationaleFor many years, Bethany BFC has had a vision to plant Bible-believing churches in communities

that are unreached or under-reached with the Gospel. Knowing our future, why would we allow a

struggling sister church to close? Acting now may be the way God begins unleashing the vision He

has already laid on our church.

We are experts at overcoming what our brothers and sisters at Calvary are going through now.

When Pastor Gene Smith came to Bethany in 1992, we had fifteen worshippers on a good Sunday.

Yet, through Gods goodness, we stepped out in faith believing that God was not done with this


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church. We moved to Whitehall and grew into the church we are now. We know through our own

experience what it takes to overcome stagnation and discouragement. Its all about Gods grace;

we take courage that His grace led us through our tough days so that we are well-equipped to

help our brothers through their tough days.

Multisite strategy is great because it lowers operating costs. Staff, equipment, etc can be shared

between sites.

There are 5,000 multisite churches in the United States, with nearly half starting through a

merger of two existing churches. 10% of all US Christians attend a multisite church.

How This Will Work

The Elders of Whitehall and Trustees of Walnutport are still negotiating the details. We want to

give you as much information as possible, but if anything here doesnt make it to the final

proposal please be gracious and understand that this is a work in progress. The two churches will become one church. Worship gatherings will be held in two locations.

There will be one board of elders overseeing the two campuses. In the beginning the

Whitehall elders will eld both churches. As the campuses both grow, new qualified men from

both campuses will be nominated to serve on the one elder board.

There will be one pastoral staff shepherding the two campuses. We are working on a division

of responsibilities. However the pastoral responsibilities get divided, we intend for all the

staff to be available to the worshippers of both campuses.

You will get the same worship experience at either campus. The songs, the message, the news

and materials are all the same at either campus. The venue is different.

We have a few options on preaching at the two campuses.

(1) The pastoral staff rotates to both campuses. Example: Pastor Tim (three weeks

Whitehall, one week Walnutport). Pastor Aaron (one week Whitehall, three weeks

Walnutport)

(2) Worship times staggered, same preacher at both locations.

(3) Pastor Aaron serves as exclusive campus pastor of Walnutport until we are prepared to

call a campus pastor.

(4) other possibilities.

Longterm, we will call a campus pastor for the Walnutport campus.

Members of both congregations become members of the new church. We will have one

membership roll with one congregational voting voice. Current members of either church will


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not need to reapply for membership at the new church.

We will be putting together a campaign to invite Whitehall worshippers to begin worshipping

at Walnutport. For now, we invite everyone to prayerfully consider how you personally can

help the resurgence of the Gospel in our sister community.

There will be one budget and one combined banking solution. Offerings collected at both

campuses will go in to one operating account for the funding of ministry at both campuses.Based on current projections, we will be able to fund Whitehalls current budget and

Walnutports current budget will additional allocations for outreach. We can accomplish this

by saving on staffing and by generating rental income.

Walnutport has significant savings for relocation. That money will remain in reserve for the

future relocation of the campus. Gatherings will continue at the current location, but we will

immediately begin a search for new facilities. Elements to consider in this move will include:

ease of parking, sufficient seating for 100+ worshippers, educational space for students,

simple driving directions for worshippers to invite friends.

We will operate as one church with one public face in the community. This will be the first

step in diversifying our reach into the Lehigh Valley. Now may be the time that we consider

together renaming the church as a description of this broader outreach. We want Walnutport

to get an image makeover; a name change for them is necessary. Whitehall may also want to

consider a name change.

For Your ReadingThe Elders have done extensive research on this field of church logistics. Weve made much of

that research available at WhitehallBFC.org/multisite where you will find Pastor Tims dMin

paper, articles by servants of God in this field, and a collection of videos.

Additionally, here are three book recommendations available to borrow by the mailboxes.


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3300SeventhStreet

Whitehall,PA18052

(churchoffice) 610.434.8661

(PastorTimcell) 610.739.8008

www.WhitehallBFC.org/mulsite

The Walnutport Community

Calvary BFC (Walnutport) is in the heart of a community of more than 24,000 people, most of

whom would never drive 20-30 minutes to Bethany BFC (Whitehall). There are few churches in

the Walnutport/Slatington area. Of those churches, few are evangelical Bible-teaching churches.

There is a great need for a strong Christian witness in this community.

Documents

Multisite Merger factsheet