Don't Do a Venue...

Don't do a venue if you think it will solve your space problem.

It won't.

Venues are great growth solutions but bad capacity solutions. If you want to grow into a new area or reach a different target audience then a venue might just be a solution to consider. But if you're out of space and are looking to move people to new service times then venues won't help much. On-site venues only increase campus attendance and increase the attractiveness of the main (or "live") venue. Any space created by moving people around will quickly back-fill with people wanting to attend the choice service time or see the pastor in person. Even off-site venues increase traffic on the main campus, thus killing the notion that launching a venue will ultimately free up space. Venues are not good capacity solutions.

So why consider a venue?

• To reach people who won't travel to your campus.
  
• To provide an alternative style of service that will broaden your current demographic and enable you to minister to another generation, etc.
  
• To launch churches and develop leaders.
• To create communities within local communities.

Launching a venue is a viable option for a number of reasons, but if your decision to launch one is driven by a capacity issue on your main campus then you will quickly find yourself back at square one - trying to find space.