Have you seen a successful church merger?

The idea of church mergers (two or more churches coming together as one church) goes by lots of names. The ones I hear most are "merger," "restart," and "friendly acquisition."

I'm convinced that when mergers occur, they tend to be more successful than in the past. The ones that still rarely work are when two long- established, long-declining churches come together without a major change in vision, culture or leadership. The ones that work best are when a struggling church approaches a healthy, growing church and asks to become part of the larger church's momentum, affirming a willingness to undergo the necessary transitions to get there.

I'll be doing a major research project on mergers in 2009 and would love your advice, based on models you've seen, on how mergers can work best.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. 

Comments

[Mike]

Warren -
I'm not sure if these would be considered mergers in the traditional sense, but we've had 2 experiences where churches approached us to essentially merge with them like what you mentioned. both churches we shut down for a period of time, and they re-opened as another campus of our church. One with video and the other with a new live preacher. They agreed that their church as it was known would cease to exist and that they would not exist completely under our church's name, leadership, and vision. and they've been fairly successful.

[Eric]

Yes, I'm privileged to serve in such a setting. The pastor and congregation of a dying church recognized that after almost four decades of operation, their ministry model was no longer sustainable. They offered their facility, dissolved their corporation and joined our new work--now a vibrant community of well over two hundred. When outdated methods are recognized and pride is set aside for the greater good, we allow God to set the agenda in a new and fresh way.

[Kevin]

We've done 6 merge/restarts. Each time we retain, adopt and celebrate the history of the existing church and relaunch it under a new name with fresh leadership. The response has been largely positive for the declining church and its members. Our biggest cheerleader is the man who opened the door to our first merge/restart. (New Life, Chicago)

[David Raymond]

I'll add another term or defination for "merger" from the mainline. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America uses "merger" when two or more congregations join together but maintain their basic identity. Merged churches often hyphenate their names or pick a name like "united" and they continue to use the corporate structure of one of the merging congregations. "Consolidaton" occures when two or more congregations decide to legally dissolve their corporate charters in order to form a new congregation with a new identitiy and name. The consolidaiton process involves some degree of transformation and intentional redirection. Consolidated churches often pick non-conventional names like "River of Life" or "Northeast Community Lutheran Church".

[Insoo]

I was part of a church plant that absorbed an older established church which was small in size but owned property. Few of the original congregation did not like the idea of merging so they left the church. The most remarkable thing in all of this was that the senior pastor of the church that was absorbed simply gave up his role and submitted to the new senior pastor. He felt like God wanted these two churches to merge and that the new senior pastor was to lead the church, so he simply obeyed. And I believe that this pastor's humble submission is one of the reasons why the church is thriving now.

[David Rogers]

I am interested if anyone is aware of two churches that collaborate together on things they each do well to form a new work. Think about the metaphor of a healthy marriage. A healthy marriage has two people coming together with both strengths and weaknesses. For example, suppose CHURCH A is really strong in corporate worship and teaching, but may not be as strong in small group ministries. At the same time, CHURCH B in the same general location may be strong in small group ministry while not as strong as CHURCH A in corporate worship and preaching. Are there any examples of CHURCH A and CHURCH B collaborating on what they each seem to be strongest in order to form a new work or model for ministry?

[Todd Hudnall]

In 1989 I was part of church merger with another church in Topeka, Kansas. Both churches had been planted within the previous five years. My congregation merged into the other and it was a positive experience for both church bodies and provided the momentum to propel the church forward toward building its first facility. The congregation is now a strong congregation of around 1,000.

[Alan Amavisca]

You should check out Santa Barbara Community and Trinity Baptist in Santa Barbara, Ca. They merged about a year ago (a church of 1500 and no property with a church of 100 (?) and lots of property) and the process was very gracious and affirming.

[Brent Hudson]

I am right in the middle of what was described ealier by David as a "consolidation". We've been calling it a merger. Both churches are relatively the same size. One of about 150 and the other about 200. We have extremely similar visions and ways of doing ministry. Our strengths are very complimentary.
I haven't found much on successful "consolidations". Just mergers with a big church, saving a little one. Are there examples or statistics on "consolidations"?

[Steve D]

Wow, this has been helpful. I'm in the process right now of talking with another pastor about merging our churches. The approached us. The situation is unique in that they are larger in numbers (100 people) yet have serious property issues that is going to force them to move. We are smaller (50 people) but were generously given 17 acres of land and 1.7 million dollars to build a building. So they would merge into us, keeping our name, but bringing their leadership and maturity. I would stay on as lead pastor in charge of preaching and vision, and the other pastor would become an "associate" type of pastor focusing more on small groups and discipleship. The titles haven't been determined yet. I'd appreciate any advise you guys might be able to give.

[matthew hansen]

not only have i seen a successful church merger, my church is one...

Matthew Hansen
512.652.8793
mdh1199@gmail.com

[Warren Bird]

Thanks Matthew. Do tell us about it -- and please include your church's website.

[Brent]

I am the pastor of an Emerging Indie-Rock church of about 200 that is merging with an old independent baptist congregation in which we will then get about 2 million dollars worth of property. It has been a gruelling process over that last 7 months, but by God's grace we should have our first united service the beginning of September. I'll let you know how it goes. It is one pew, organ, Christian flag at a time.

[Warren Bird]

Brent, yes, please do come back in September and let us know how it goes.

Suggestion: perhaps in their heyday, they were the cultural equivalent of an indie-rock church, and they need to hear again and again how much you value what they did.

[Fuller Ming]

Our small church (about 60, The Lord's Church - http://www.tlcmd.org) has been approached by a slightly larger church (about 100, Bowie Church of Christ - http://www.bowiechurchofchrist.com/) and they asked us to merge with them. Our minister (hired 1.5 years ago) was the approached by their minister (hired 2 years ago). They are predominantly white, we are mixed (60% black), they are suburban working class, we are urban professionals, they have a building, we do not. Our leaders all met and they were very gracious and enthusiastic - especially their minister. Our region is the DC metro area, suburban Maryland. I don't know what to do - any thoughts? We are planning to "get to know them" but I would rather spend my time on evangelistic outreach. We are spending our savings and need to grow or do something else. We only have funds to pay our minister until at least June 2010. Also, of the four core leaders (think “elders”) of our church, two have stepped down because our the minister, and one is stepping down in January 2010, leaving me alone. I am willing to merge, but I want a clear sign from God. Any thoughts? And, Dr. Warren Bird, if it is not too late, IF we do merge, would you want information for your study? As for everyone else, any advice, prayers, or signs from God would be helpful. Email me directly at: fming@tlcmd.org