Christ Community Satellite Campus - Omaha, NE

This past weekend, I traveled with members of the Leadership Board to Christ Community Church in Omaha, NE. In the past, they planted churches. Today, they are using a satellite campus approach. Their main satellite campus in Bellevue has operated for three years. We hoped to learn from their experience, see their satellite campus in action and pick up good ideas along the way.

Saturday evening we spent at The Wing Stop. A great little restaurant for fries and hot wings. Our special guest was Steve Walters. He is the campus pastor of the satellite campus in Bellevue. We peppered him with questions all evening. We also enjoyed time with Robert Hoekstra’s son, Joel. Can you tell they are related?

Why did this church of 3,000 begin a satellite campus? It was driven by their mission to reach their region. They discovered families living more than 20 minutes from the main campus would attend the main campus but they were not successful in inviting their friends. After studying the demographics of their region, they learned the Bellevue area was the fastest growing and least reached region for Christ in the area. The idea of a separate campus with similar programs, was born.

How was this presented to the congregation? It was presented as a mission trip to a neighboring community. 200 members of the main campus volunteered to make an 18 month commitment to attend the satellite campus and do the hard work of launching it. It was their mission trip to the Bellevue community. From talking with some of the leaders, we learned this type of campus takes lots of work and organization. This is one of the things we need to keep in mind as we consider this type of ministry in the future.

How has it gone? To their surprise, people from the community showed up for the dress rehearsal week before the church opened! The church grew and currently half the members come from the new community. The other half are from the main campus. One of the challenges they face is the highly transient nature of the community. Many of the young families work for the military and are in the community only two or three years.

Where do they meet? To keep costs to a minimum, they chose to meet in a local middle school.

It was a great experience that helped us understand the complexities and strengths of a satellite campus. Thanks for the time away! We look forward to seeing everyone again on Sunday.

Tags: Satellite Campus

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