Is two really better than one?

"Rich: Not that I understand much
about this but, regarding the tech issues, wouldn't it be easier to
start out in one location and then branch out to multiple sites?"

–>
Great question Rob!   I think you've hit on a key issue that we need to talk a little bit about.  In some ways adding a location in Barrie and Orillia is twice as much work . . . setting up two of every volunteer teams.  In other ways setting up the two locations is exponentially more work . . . adding new functionality like the ability to produce video in Barrie that would be sent to Orillia the following week.  Are two sites really better than one? It's a totally legitimate question!

First of all, we meet in the largest building in Oro.  If we end up moving out of the facility on Line 7 it's going to mean a move in some direction.  We're faced with the reality that finding a home for our community means that people are going to have to change their driving patterns on a Sunday morning.

Our church is privileged to have people from all over Central Ontario that attend.  When most of our people are inviting their friends to church they have to explain that it is a 20+ minute drive out to Line 7 to attend a Sunday service.  The incredible part of this reality is that people are willing to make this drive and keep doing so every week.  Because there isn't a viable option for us to continue meeting in Oro we are forced to explore facilities in both Barrie and Orillia as great next steps.

If we were to choose one location over the other we are turning that twenty minute drive into a forty minute drive for the friends of a large percentage of our community.  So . . . we've been working on finding a solution that would allow us to bring the church closer to the majority of our people making it easier for us to invite our friends.   Another key factor is that we want to position ourselves well to launch more locations down the road.  The reason behind the transition we find ourselves in is because of wanting to move into being a multisite church in the future.  We don't want to alienate those people in Muskoka and the north end of the GTA that travel to church currently.

We are exploring the option of opening two locations because it allows us to move the ministry into the heart of more densely populated areas which we believe will give us the ability to engage more people with incredible story of Jesus.   This move would also allow us to serve the people that are currently apart of our community better!

So Rob, to answer you question directly . . . yes . . . it would be easier to launch in one location to start and then branch out in the future.  But the elders and leadership believe that the stretch of launching two locations is worth the cost to reach more people.  Does that make sense?  What do you think?

Rich Birch
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church

p.s. We were in some of the facilities that we are evaluating as potential locations in Barrie and Orillia this week . . .  I am pumped to talk with everyone about these potential meeting spaces.  I think they would serve us VERY well.  The excitement with the people who were touring the facilities was electric!  (More about this stuff in future posts!)