September 25, 2026
In 2007 I boarded a plane along with other staff members of White Oak and flew to San Diego. Our purpose was to attend a multi-site church conference. That was a new concept and phrase which I had just been exposed to. We spent the week listening to church leaders from South Carolina, Chicago, and California talk about what it meant to be a multi-site church. Soon after, White Oak made the decision to embrace multi-site as a strategy for reaching more people with the Gospel of Jesus. We were one of the first churches to do so in the Cincinnati area. Fast forward two years later, and I had stepped into the role of Campus Pastor as White Oak’s first multi-site location.
What does it mean for a church to be “multi-site” and why does it matter? Those were questions I had to learn the answers to over the course of time and experience. I want to share those answers with you because White Oak is a multi-site church and we desire to continue to embrace that as a high-impact strategy for connecting more people in our city to full life in Jesus! I want to share those answers with you because multi-site is more than a strategy, it’s a personal calling for each of us who partner with White Oak in ministry.
Multi-Site means that we operate as ONE church which meets in multiple locations. This means that White Oak shares one leadership team (elders and staff), one budget, one vision, and one mission. Because of this we can leverage the strength of our resources and assets to impact a broader scope of ministry. We can also reach different communities around our city with much greater effectiveness. I have seen the implications of our work both in Colerain and Ross and I thank God that he has asked us to multiply Kingdom impact and he’s empowered us to do it. Multi-site certainly comes with its challenges. Keeping our two current locations moving forward with great momentum with multiple staff requires us to continue to hone our vision, communications, and strategies. We remain committed to multiplication.
In Matthew 25 Jesus teaches on the value of multiplication.
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Jesus goes on to say that the servant who was given two bags also doubled his master’s money. However, the servant who was entrusted with one bag of gold dug a hole in the ground and buried the money. He returned what was entrusted to his master with no gains. The servant is expelled from his master’s presence for his lack of stewardship.
This is where you find Jesus’s heart for multiplication. He intends for his followers to steward his resources with generous and vigorous abandon! We work hard, give extravagantly, and advance God’s mission. This is what he expects. White Oak, we must be a five-bag-of-gold church! We cannot afford to be a one-bag church. I want to be a church that doesn’t just add… but multiplies Full Life in our city and around the world.
This is why White Oak’s value of multi-site matters. It matters to all of us. God hasn’t just asked his Church to multiply impact. He’s asked it of each of those men and women (his sons and daughters) who make up his Body. Each of us. Multiplication, then, is a personal core value for each of Jesus’s apprentices. What we practice individually we value corporately. God has multiplied His love and grace in your life; how will you live out the value of multiplication for Him? What would it look like for you to steward your gifts and resources to multiply Jesus’s mission in your home, relationships, workplace, school, or our city? By his provision and grace, let us step into our master’s happiness together.
Thankfully,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor
