Something struck me as odd when I read the news that Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., has become a satellite campus of First Baptist Church of Woodstock in far north suburban Atlanta.
Nelson Price
Back in the day, Roswell Street was one of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. Its longtime pastor, Nelson Price, was a key figure in the SBC’s “conservative resurgence.” He was pastor there from 1968 to 2002.
According to Baptist Press, the church reported about 9,500 members in 1992 and weekly worship attendance of 4,000. Before Price’s retirement, membership dropped to 7,044 in 2000 — definitely smaller but still one of the largest churches in the nation.
Ernest Easley succeeded Price as pastor, and membership rebounded to about 9,000 but worship attendance averaged 1,250 — about a third of the peak years. After other leadership changes, the church most recently has hired a “transitional pastor.”
BP reports worship attendance had fallen to 818 by 2019. And last year, the church averaged 424 in weekly worship. Undesignated giving dropped from $5 million in 2005 to $2.3 million in 2024.
Yes, those are dramatic changes. But here’s what caught my eye: Even at its new and smaller size, Roswell Street remained far above the average size of a Protestant congregation in the United States, which is about 100.
“It is not the normal pattern for a church with 400 people in weekly attendance to subsume its identity into a larger neighboring church.”
It is not the normal pattern for a church with 400 people in weekly attendance to subsume its identity into a larger neighboring church. Typically, that happens when congregations are much smaller and much weaker.
Although I don’t know the exact reasoning of the leadership at Roswell Street, I can assume two motivators for the vote to become a satellite location of another church. First, even 400 people rattling around in a building intended for thousands can be disheartening. And second, no doubt the trendline was headed downward for a church founded in 1943 and located in a suburban community with massive demographic change. Oh, and according to church leaders, COVID hit the congregation hard.
All this brings us to a discussion about the phenomenon of multisite congregations in the U.S.
Andy Stanley
Multisite models
First, what is a multisite church? It’s exactly what the name implies, a church with multiple campuses that relate to a hub. In this case, Woodstock is the mother ship. This will become the megachurch’s first satellite location. The Roswell location is about 15 miles away from the Woodstock location.
Metro Atlanta already is home to one of the pioneers of the multisite approach: North Point Church, led by Andy Stanley. North Point has seven satellite locations that all go by different names. These satellite churches were intentional church starts that always have been satellites and that launched with huge numbers. That’s an important distinction for one model of multisite.
In Dallas, Lakepointe Church was an early adopter of the multisite approach and now has seven locations beyond its original campus in Rockwall, an eastern suburb of Dallas.
Unlike the North Point model, Lakepointe has expanded its footprint by acquiring locations of other churches in decline. Two of those are located near where I live in Dallas. In each case, a once-vibrant church had declined to the point of no longer being viable. But rather than closing, they merged into the megachurch, which invested millions of dollars in renovations and upgrades and rebranding. And, believe it not, people started coming to the rebranded locations in droves.
Typically, a multisite model provides live music at each location but one sermon broadcast from the central location. Satellite campuses typically have a campus pastor who serves the pastoral care needs of the branch.
Architect’s rendering of renovations and expansion of Lakepointe’s White Rock campus in Dallas, former home of Lakeside Baptist Church.
A growing trend
No one knows for certain how many multisite churches exist in the U.S. because many of them do not report to denominational bodies.
What we do know is that multisite church models are experiencing significant growth and popularity, with perhaps 10,000 such churches in the U.S. today. And typically, these satellite locations bring in more people, engage more people in leadership and report higher numbers of baptisms than traditional churches.
Overall, this is a new phenomenon, with fewer than 200 multisite churches documented before 1999.
According to the 2024 Unstuck Church Report:
- Multisite churches are seeing an average 15% increase in weekly in-person attendance
- They have a stronger volunteer-to-attendee ratio (1:9) compared to single-location churches (1:17)
- Multisite churches are experiencing higher baptism rates, averaging 219 baptisms in the past year, representing 8% of their average weekly attendance
But why?
To traditional pastors and churchgoers, all this may appear puzzling. Why would people want to go to a church where the sermon is delivered by video from someone you’re not likely ever to meet? Why can becoming a satellite location of a megachurch turn a dying church location into a boomtown?
The answer to the first question is that multisite churches typically do not reach traditional churchgoers. They often engage people who have little experience with a pastor-in-pulpit model but who have a lot of experience with watching events on large screens.
“For a former megachurch to be taken over by another more successful megachurch offers lessons we all ought to watch.”
A more troubling question is this: Are some megachurch pastors so compelling in their preaching that they have the star power to draw in congregants when onsite pastors cannot?
Personally, I don’t think that’s the case. It may be a factor, yes, but it cannot be the only factor. What seems more likely is that success breeds success and people are drawn to churches that give the impression of vitality. There is an undeniable flywheel effect to the megachurch experience that gets amplified in multisite approaches.
What’s curious about the Roswell Street story is that it used to be a megachurch on its own. For a former megachurch to be taken over by another more successful megachurch offers lessons we all ought to watch.
One thing that will be different at Roswell Street is most services will feature an in-person preacher.
The same text and theme will be preached at Roswell Street and Woodstock, Pastor Jeremy Morton told Baptist Press, with him being piped in to preach on the screen only in rare occasions.
“We are fortunate to have a strong team of preachers, and I am fully committed to having live preaching at both locations,” he said.
Whatever you think of megachurches and multisite churches, the rebranded Roswell Street will be a fascinating case study for years.
Related articles:
Where does a multi-site megachurch find a new pastor? | Analysis by Mark Wingfield