10 Most Innovative (1 of 3)

I finished going through the first 10 of Outreach Magazine's 25 Most Innovative Churches last week. Yes, it's been out for close to a month, but I use a very fine-toothed comb. So let's review as a people more interested in buildings than microsites and webcasts.

Nine of the 10 most innovative churches are multi-site.
The exception is Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. Granger is, however, still reproducing itself through WiredChurches.

What is this telling us?

• Even though multi-site has been around for 20 years, it's still a relatively radical, innovative step for a church to take.
• Innovative churches seem to know they have something to offer the world. Remember, most churches go multi-site to inspire growth, not as a solution to a lack-of-space problem. These ministry leaders don't need to add campuses, but they do in order to better distribute their message.

Does this mean multi-site is the new mega? It may be too early to tell. These churches, remember, are innovative, which does not necessarily mean they're the most popular. In fact, only one of the 10 most innovative also made Outreach Magazine's 10 fastest-growing U.S. churches, and of the 10 fastest-growing churches, only six are multi-site.

(Which is not to say those on the Innovative list are not growing. LifeChurch.tv is #1 for Innovative, and #31 for Fastest-growing. Mars Hill is #2 for Innovative, and #23 for Fastest-growing. Seacoast is #5 for Innovative, and #66 for Fastest-growing. Etc.)