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Broadway UMC Tries Multi-Site Approach with Greenwood Campus

Written: 10/31/2007

In June 2006, two Bowling Green United Methodist churches—Broadway and Greenwood—merged.  The new merged Broadway UMC is approaching ministry in Warren County with a multi-site strategy. It is now one church operating in multiple locations. 

Many churches across the U.S. are taking the multi-site approach to church growth. It lets congregations reach out to different areas within their communities and gives the opportunity for smaller, more intimate worship times while providing the resources of a larger church.  Broadway Senior Pastor Rick Bard said of the church’s multi-site model, “It allows us to offer a new outpost of hope to a new community while retaining our current ties and relationships with our neighbors.”

The Greenwood facility has undergone extensive renovation in the past year. Broadway was able to cut costs by using volunteer labor throughout the church.  The entire renovation of the existing structure was done in house, and elements of the addition were done by Broadway members. Major changes were made to the sanctuary, which now features state-of-the-art audio and video equipment. The basement has been transformed into an aquatic-themed Kid’s Zone, complete with a sea turtle mural by Debbie Bard. A 1250-square-foot addition includes a Welcome Center, coffee bar, and storage.

On September 9, Broadway launched its Greenwood campus with a 9:00 a.m. contemporary worship service. Rev. Bard preached at this service and will commute between the Melrose Street and Greenwood locations as he leads worship at both Broadway campuses each Sunday.

Ben Kickert, Broadway’s Greenwood Campus Minister, describes the Greenwood launch.

At our launch, we had 273 people on our campus. There were 210 adults and 63 children. We only have 150 chairs so that means there were over 60 people standing in the Welcome Center. Worship was incredible despite the crunch. Rick has had no problem commuting between campuses and actually feels more comfortable in the smaller setting where he can be conversational. The connection between people was awesome as well. We had some families visiting from our Melrose Campus as we expected, but there was actually a huge response from the community. Many people stated the reason they came was because of the mailers we sent out. Others were so excited to see what was happening after passing the construction over the past several months on their way to work. We had some people who had left Broadway, but were interested in worshiping at the Greenwood Campus.

Everyone I talked to was amazed at the launch - not just because of numbers, but also because of the quality of worship and the connection. Most people I talked to love what a large church can provide, especially as it relates to their children, but actually prefer a smaller worship setting. I think that is the amazing quality of multi-site. All of our volunteers went above and beyond to make this a success. We had over 250 people directly involved in the process. Here are some other statistics for you:

·         Over 5000 screws and over 2500 nails

·         249 sheets of drywall

·         Over 1 mile of new wire

·         84 gallons of paint

·         966 volunteer work hours

·         522 hours of planning by volunteers and staff

·         over 100 pages of publications and reports

·         810 Cubic feet of trash

·         Over $50,000 saved by using volunteers

If you want to learn more about Broadway’s multi-site approach and what’s happening at the Greenwood campus, contact Rev. Kickert at bkickert@broadwayunited.org or visit the Broadway UMC web site, www.broadwayunited.org.

See photos of Greenwood here.

-Beth Dixon

This news story is related to:
Broadway (BG) church
Bowling Green district