Multi-site and Planting - vision overlap

I've taken the "vs." out. It gives the wrong impression about the issue. What we're talking about are pros and cons. In many ways a multi-site campus IS a plant (new target, new facility, new leaders each weekend, etc.) but there are some advantages to multi-site that most church plants will not have.

One such advantage is vision overlap. Multi-sites are able to take "what works and where we are going" and spread it around much quicker than a plant. In a plant you usually have 1 or 2 people who start the church and they spend their time trying to develop "who we are" and trying to get "buy-in". When you go multi-site it is pretty well established "who you are" and the "buy-in" happens when people can easily look to your other campuses and see where you're taking them. In a plant so many people lose a ton of their core because the people don't see where the Pastor is going until he tries to go there. No matter how articulate one may be there is still a huge advantage to a new site being able to say "we'll have a unique feel to our area but overall we're going to look like _______ (Grapevine, Charleston, OKC, etc.)

In addition you have a staff who understand the overlap between the main campus and the new church campus. There is a vibe and a way of doing things that translates. In a plant the Pastor has to guard "the vision" like it's the Holy Grail because people want to take it away... if you're starting a multi-site you may have complainers but people know that it's useless trying to get an extension campus to buy into something else completely. They aren't just taking on the church planter... they're taking on big momma (the established mother church). Many planters get beat up because people try to shake up the vision and chop at the new pastor like a parana. With a multi-site there is a built-in overlap and support that prevents the vision from getting beat up so badly.