New Multisite Study Maps 1,800 Churches and 6,000 Campuses Nationwide

Multisite churches have moved from an unusual ministry experiment to a recognizable part of American congregational life, according to a new national report covered by Religion News Service on October 22, 2026. The study, titled Multisite Revealed and produced by the evangelical leadership organization The Ascent Leader, drew responses from more than 1,000 church leaders. It estimates that roughly 1,800 multisite churches now operate about 6,000 campuses, with at least 5 million people attending. The report identified campuses in every state except Wyoming, giving the findings national relevance rather than limiting them to a few large metropolitan regions. The churches represented in the research were not confined to urban megachurch settings: 57 percent described their setting as suburban, 25 percent as rural, and 18 percent as urban. The average participating church reported 3.4 campuses, while 52 percent had two or three and only 3 percent had ten or more. The median attendance at a multisite campus was 395, compared with a cited median of about 70 for U.S. congregations generally. Those figures suggest that a multisite model is usually less about building a sprawling national brand than about one church establishing a small number of locally rooted ministry locations. The report also found average annual growth of 9 percent, rising to 16 percent during the first five years after a church becomes multisite. Together, these findings give pastors, elders, planters, and denominational leaders a clearer picture of the scale, geography, and organizational patterns shaping this segment of American church life.

The study also complicates the idea that multisite ministry simply means broadcasting one celebrity preacher to multiple rooms. Twenty-seven percent of surveyed churches said they never use video preaching, another 18 percent do so fewer than ten times a year, and 92 percent reported using a preaching team. About 30 to 40 percent of campuses were connected to church mergers, showing how expansion can involve receiving an existing congregation and property rather than starting only from the ground up. At the same time, the report puts important stewardship questions in front of church boards: the average startup cost was approximately $1,250 per worshiper, and just over half of new campuses became financially self-sustaining within three years. Those numbers do not provide a biblical verdict on the model, but they do identify decisions that require prayer, transparent governance, realistic budgets, theological alignment, and accountable local leadership. A church considering another campus should ask whether the new location will deepen discipleship, pastoral care, evangelism, and community presence instead of merely extending a platform. It should also clarify who shepherds the congregation week by week, how teaching responsibility is shared, what happens when attendance or giving falls short, and whether a merger honors the people and history of the joining church. For existing multisite congregations, the report offers benchmarks for reviewing campus health without treating growth as the only measure of faithfulness. Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work – Expanded and Updated by Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird is a fitting companion because it examines the leadership, mission, culture, and process questions that arise when congregations combine. The practical takeaway is clear: multiplication is strongest when local ministry, sound governance, and sustainable stewardship grow together.