Frequently Asked Questions
God has led us to start a campus in Robbinsville. One church, a second campus. It has it’s own live worship team and the teaching comes through video that originates at Calvary Chapel Mercer County’s Ewing Campus.
Why we started another campus?
1) Reaching all of Mercer County is Calvary Chapel’s objective and having another fellowship on the other side of Mercer County provides an additional vehicle for reaching people that we are not currently reaching. We’ve already seen people come to Christ, leadership gifts used in new ways and people sharing their faith with others in the second campus as well.
2) A new church provides significant energy and opportunity for people to use gifts and come to know the Lord. Just the newness is an attraction for some to develop a greater sensitivity to God’s direction. With the emergence of many young leaders, this new work will provide outlets for these leaders to exercise their spiritual gifts in significant ways.
3) Calvary Chapel Mercer County is rich with leadership who can provide counsel and wisdom for the various ministries that will develop in a new work.
4) Another location has the potential of enlarging the church in a cost effective way essentially starting a third service at optimal attendance hours in a different location.
5) The current central support staff of Calvary Chapel will provide resources and services for a new work, allowing those on site to concentrate on ministry and outreach. It is cost effective to maintain the use of one central support staff.
6) CCMC Robbinsville is not a new church, but a new campus allowing us to bypass various state and legal requirements (which are costly and tedious).
Will Scott and Gregg split up, one leading one church and the other leading the other?
No. Scott and Gregg will continue to pastor Calvary Chapel Mercer County on both campuses. Key leaders will assist in both locations. Although teaching will take place at the Ewing campus and be provided by enhanced video to the Robbinsville campus, visits by Scott and Gregg to the satellite campus will help facilitate ministry, relationships, and pastoral care.
Furthermore, Scott and Gregg are committed to equipping the church to effectively minister and care for people on both campuses. Elders and lay leaders will assist the pastors in providing significant ministry and pastoral care to both campuses. Both Scott and Gregg will be onsite in Robbinsville on a regular basis.
Why start another campus instead of just another small group fellowship in that area?
Actually starting a church moves the epicenter of activity to that location. Although a small group fellowship is a great way to build community and use spiritual gifts, a typical small group fellowship doesn’t have the complete mission that a church has. The new campus will actually start as a Bible Study but as it grows, it will take on the arms and legs of a body. An actual church looks different than a small group fellowship and provides greater expectation for care, outreach, nurture, and growth.
Can you have a church where the pastors are not weekly on location?
First of all, Scott or Gregg will often be at the Robbinsville campus. However, local leadership has developed and oversight takes place through capable leaders. In addition, Gregg and Scott will regularly meet with leaders from Robbinsville to plan, care for, and oversee the church. Teaching via enhanced video provides a consistent level of nurture from pastors. Gregg and Scott will be directly involved in ministry during the week.
Are there other churches that are doing this?
There are over 1500 churches with a multiple campus ministry. Several Calvary Chapels use a multiple campus approach, many of them large like Calvary Fort Lauderdale and Harvest Christian Fellowship, but there are some smaller Calvarys like Reality Church that has six campuses with about 1000 total attendance and Calvary Chapel Kendall (Miami, Fl area) that opened a satellite campus while they built their building but now decided to keep the satellite church going. Their total attendance is about 600 members.
What motivations prompt this idea?
At Calvary Chapel we have two services, meet in a limited size building, have many leaders, have a desire to do outreach, mentor people well, and have a lot of newer people that could take on ministries if they were made more available. We have a passion for outreach, a focus on Mercer County, and a great support staff. We are meeting in a facility at a low cost and enjoying a healthy church together. In short, we have the people resources to expand and, given the options, starting another campus for our existing fellowship seems to be the direction the Lord is leading us. It’s a bold move. And we are willing to take the first steps and watch God open more doors and provide more direction.
Aren’t video presentations of teaching wrong because the pastor isn’t present?
God’s Word leaves a lot of freedom in how a church might operate. Some choose to sing hymns, others contemporary worship songs. Some use a full orchestra in the worship leaders, others a band, and some use no musical instruments at all. Some churches today meet in homes and others in a Community Center. There’s no set way to do “church.”
In the New Testament, the apostles used the technology available to them (writing epistles) to convey a message to churches where they were not physically present.
Furthermore, today we are in the age where people are used to getting video messages on screens ranging from mobile devices to TV’s to theaters. Although it might be unusual for some to get used to, others will flow with it without any problem.
If people are unhappy with the enhanced video venue, they can always drive to the Ewing campus. No doubt some people will be turned off by the video presentation of the teaching. They will say, “That just isn’t church.” But that’s what people say now coming to a community center or a school. That doesn’t prevent us from moving forward and being the church in our community. Interestingly enough, some people who visit both campuses prefer the Robbinsville campus.
Won’t watching a pastor on a screen contribute to a consumer mentality of that church instead of participatory transformation?
Every church faces the danger of participants attending as consumers instead of participating in the full life of the church. It’s possible that watching a pastor teach on a screen might contribute to a spiritual detachment and that’s why it’s important for the body of believers to encourage sharing, support, accountability and training. Many other opportunities for growth, service, and fellowship will enhance the life of the church and it will grow into a fully functioning body of believers.
Isn’t our church too small to do something like this?
Calvary Chapel Mercer County is rich with leadership and untapped potential. Unlike other churches Calvary Chapel Mercer County has drawn a considerable number of mature believers. In many ways our church is too small to provide opportunities for leadership for all who have joined with us. Starting another campus will give many opportunities to serve who haven’t been able to do so at present.
This doesn’t seem like traditional church to me. In fact, I’m not sure I could go to a satellite church and feel like I went to church.
Here’s an interesting quote that reveals the common mentality of the day and demonstrates how the multi-campus model will find acceptance among many.
“A long time resident showing an old friend around town: ‘That’s the First National Bank, but I haven’t been there for years. We do all our banking at a branch supermarket where we buy groceries. We’re members of First Church, but we go to their east-side campus, which is within walking distance of our house.
We have one congregation, one staff, one budget, and one treasury, but three meeting places – a small one on the north side of town, the big one out where we live, and the old building downtown here. The old college up on the hill is now a university. This is their main campus, but they also offer classes at three other locations. We’re members of an HMO that has doctors in five locations, but my primary-care physician is in a branch about a mile from where we live. Her office is next to a branch of the main hospital, so I’ve never been in the main hospital except to visit a couple of friends.
Our older daughter is enrolled in a theological school out in California, but she is able to take all her classes on the east-side campus of First Church. That enables her to live with us and saves her a lot of money. We also look after her two children while she’s in class or in the library.’”
Would you join with us?
We are on a mission. We need all the help we can get. If God is stirring your heart to be a part of this work with us, would you please let us know. We would love to get to know you quickly and get you involved at the level that’s best for you. Life is short. Let’s work together to serve God to the fullest.