What Is Multi-Site FAQ
On Monday, June 14, an informational meeting was held at Hope Ankeny to field questions from the congregation about “multi-site” and how that impacts ministry. The following FAQ is an attempt to summarize the discussion of that meeting. If you have further questions, please contact Pastor Scott Rains (scott.rains@hopeankeny.org or 515.964.5586)
What’s the difference between a satellite and a new church or “church plant?”
Hope’s satellites are considered “one church, multiple locations,” meaning that they carry out the mission, vision and values of Lutheran Church of Hope under Hope’s governing structure. Satellites are different than “church plants” in that, unless a satellite congregation desired to be independent of Hope’s structure and support, they will remain part of Hope’s Kingdom Expansion Ministry and part of the Lutheran Church of Hope congregation.
Some of the features of a “satellite” include shared resources such as preaching (via video or rotating preaching staff), close partnering in ministry areas, and the fact that a main site (in our case, Hope West Des Moines) is still the hub for major elements of business and authority/accountability. Satellite directors/pastors report to the Kingdom Expansion Pastor at Hope.
Is Hope Ankeny a satellite or a “church plant?”
Hope Ankeny is a hybrid! From the beginning the purpose of Hope Ankeny has been to carry out the Mission of Hope: “Reach out to the world around us and share the everlasting love of Jesus Christ.” To the extent that functioning as a satellite helps reach the community of Ankeny, Hope Ankeny acts like a satellite. When there are unique ministry opportunities in Ankeny there are times that Hope Ankeny functions more like a church plant.
There is no “master book” that tells us how to be a satellite. It’s an on-going, ever-changing process!
Does Hope Ankeny have a church council?
Yes. The Council of Lutheran Church of Hope is also the Council for all the satellites.
Why doesn’t Hope Ankeny have it’s own church council?
This is one of the areas where the satellite model is working. Part of what it means to say Hope is “one church multiple locations” is that there is one council for all the locations.
Is there someone who regularly worships at Hope Ankeny on the Council?
Not currently. When Hope Ankeny began in 2006 Eric Idehen was on the council and was a part of the Hope Ankeny launch team. After his initial commitment to help Hope Ankeny get started, Eric and his family returned to worshiping at Hope WDM. There is no “rule” stating a satellite will automatically have a representative on council. Primarily this is because we believe by God’s grace there will be a day when Hope has more satellites than council members! At the same time, as Hope Ankeny has continued to grow it makes sense that there be a Hope Ankeny representative on the Hope council this year. At the annual congregational meeting in September this will happen.
What is the Pipeline?
There are several ministry teams at Hope Ankeny. Each team has a leader. Once a month each of those team leaders (whether volunteers or paid staff) meet as the “Pipeline.” These meetings are two hours long. Part of the time is devoted to spiritual formation and leadership development. The rest of the time is dedicated to conversation about what’s happening in each ministry areas and particularly to help teams communicate when there are things happening in their ministry that might impact or require the assistance of another ministry area.
The group discussed how some sort of advisory or vision team could work with Pastor Scott on big decisions about Hope Ankeny. What’s happening with that?
This is a great idea and it makes a lot of sense for people at Hope Ankeny to know that key leaders in the congregation are helping shape the vision for Hope Ankeny. Pastor Mike, Pastor Molly and I are talking about what it would look like to form such at team within the next couple of months. Hopefully this team will allow people to share ideas and be an access point for all of Ankeny to be heard. Etc…
Do the leadership and staff of Hope West Des Moines dictate what ministry happens at Hope Ankeny and how that ministry is carried out?
The value of the ministry is more important than the implementation of the ministry. For example, the nursery at Hope West Des Moines has paid staff. At Hope Ankeny the nursery is run by volunteers (with the exception of one weekday evening a week). The value is that nursery aged children will be well cared for while in the nursery – whether by volunteers or paid staff.
In all ministry areas the question that gets asked is what the most effective way of carrying out our mission. Alpha has been an incredibly effective ministry at Hope Ankeny. When Hope Ankeny began a team of volunteers drove to Hope West Des Moines each week to pick up the food for the meal. The staff at Hope West Des Moines prepared the meals for the people taking Alpha in West Des Moines and then made additional meals for Hope Ankeny. Teaching at Alpha is sometimes live and sometimes on a DVD from the teaching team at Hope.
In summary, because Ankeny is a satellite there exists the possibility of sharing resources. No one at Hope West Des Moines ever has said, “You must do it this way…”
There have been times when Scott Rains – as the pastoral leader of Hope Ankeny – has said, “I believe the best way for us to do this ministry is to do it with greater and greater levels of partnership with Hope West Des Moines.”
