Having satellite campuses has been a vision I have had for Westside since I accepted the position of senior pastor here almost six years ago. As I mentioned via video in March, during the worship services, in an email and on social media, we have been approached by another church that desires to join us as a satellite campus.
 
Chapel by the Sea is a Southern Baptist Church on Hutchinson Island. The board of Chapel by the Sea has met with Westside’s board a few times to discuss this possibility. I have shared the vision of what it would look like for Chapel by the Sea to become part of Westside as a satellite campus with both boards. The leadership of Chapel by the Sea attended our worship services a few times to ensure they understood what the spirit and vision of Westside was. They loved it. This is a small church that desires for us to adopt them in order to revitalize the congregation.
 
Current Timeline (the timeline may change as we move forward):

• March – A finance team and facility/construction team investigated the finances and property. Their task was to estimate where the finances and facility were health-wise and what would be needed to operate optimally as a campus.
• Westside has stepped in to provide preaching and worship leading, as well as technical help on Sunday mornings. The church has already grown just from these efforts.
• April 18 – Chapel by the Sea plans to vote to join Westside Church.
• May 2 – Westside Church will hold an informational meeting concerning this vision and process for the Westside congregation.
• May 10 – The Westside Church board will vote to recommend our congregation receive Chapel by the Sea as a satellite campus.
• May 16 – The congregation of Westside Church will vote on receiving Chapel by the Sea as a satellite campus.
• Westside will continue to support the new campus by supplying worship and preaching ministries while planning to have a grand-opening down the road. 
  • The grand-opening is at least months away. We will need to raise funds and plan to do some minimal renovations (restrooms expanded, kids’ area, etc.) in order to provide a robust ministry at this new location.
• Late 2021 – We plan to have a soft-opening for a month prior to the grand-opening.
• End of 2021 – Have a grand-opening.
• One of the biggest mistakes other churches told us they made when adopting a new church was moving too quickly. We want to ensure we are shepherding the new satellite campus well.

 Important information: 

• Chapel by the Sea is DEBT FREE.
• Chapel by the Sea has over $60,000 in the bank.
• The Chapel by the Sea property is worth about $1.5 million.
• Westside plans to raise the funds needed to kickoff this new endeavor. 
  • Some funds have already come in from some generous donors.
• We do not plan to increase our general budget for this endeavor in 2021.
• Our plan is for Pastor Chris Jackson to be the Campus Pastor.
• We will support this campus with current staff and not hire additional staff until the need arises and funds are available.

Vision:

• Westside will become one church in multiple locations. The Westside Church elders will have authority over all of our campuses.
• The reason for this new campus is NOT to increase our financial net worth, but to reach Hutchinson Island and beyond with the gospel. It is about the only physical church on the island with a population beyond 5,500 residents.
• We currently plan to provide worship that is appropriate and excellent for the space. The worship center only seats 100+ people. The worship will have more of a “beachy” feel in that the instrumentation will be a bit less than we have at our Jenkins Road campus. We plan to utilize keyboard, acoustic guitar, percussion, electric guitar, bass guitar, and vocalists. We will adapt as needed.
• The sermon will be via video most weekends. The campus pastor will preach live six times a year but follow the same series as the Jenkins Road campus.
• The worship time will line up with our modern worship service (10:30am). Lord willing, as the church grows, we will add more service times.
• Life groups will be provided.
• Kids ministry for babies through 5th grade will be provided.
• Youth ministry and college ministry will be connected between the campuses.
• We will recruit Westside attenders to serve and attend the new campus.
• We will advertise, promote, invest and invite in order to grow this new campus.
• Our goal would be to grow to 75 in attendance in the first year.
• Eventually, we want to add services and grow beyond 150, which would likely have the campus be self-sustaining financially.
• Our long-term goal is to grow beyond 300 in average worship attendance. Who knows where God will take this.
• Based upon our March 2021 Congregational Questionnaire, 21.7% of those surveyed were new within the past year. That is great news. We are reaching many new people and desire to have that kind of impact at both campuses.
• Our desire is to increase both the budget and staffing at the satellite campus as the church grows.

  How can you help?

• Pray. Pray for God to lead us, provide for us, and help us to reach many for Jesus.
• Give. You can give financially to this endeavor as an offering above and beyond your tithe. 
• Volunteer. You can commit to serving and attending the new campus for at least one year.
• Share. Let people know about this great opportunity to grow God’s kingdom.
• Celebrate. Praise God for His work in and through us.