When you drive your car routinely to a familiar place, you hardly notice the road signs. You don’t need them to regulate, warn or guide you to your destination. You take them for granted. However, when you are traveling somewhere new and unfamiliar, traffic signs become your best friend. Road signs help to orient you, warn you of dangers ahead and guide you to your destination.
In the new and unfamiliar world of church mergers are there any “road signs” to guide church leaders on the merger journey? Already on the rise before the pandemic, church mergers are increasing across the church landscape as a viable option for both strong as well as stuck and struggling churches.
In my coaching of numerous churches on the merger journey, here are some “road signs” I have found helpful along the way to guide church leaders in making the best decision about merging with another church.
What’s Our Mission?
The Head of the Church gave us the Mission when He told his followers 2,000 years ago to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The mission of the Church and every local expression of the Church is making disciples of Jesus.
Unfortunately, many stuck or struggling churches have confused the mission of the church with their current model of doing church. What was once a successful model in the past can become ineffective or irrelevant in the present but becomes viewed as a sacred model to be preserved. Sadly, the church our grandparents loved is not likely going to be the church our grandchildren will love.
Sometimes church people think the mission is to perpetuate the current church culture, maintain a church legacy, save a church building, preserve a church’s name or just “hang on.” None of these are the things Jesus had in mind when He said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Mark 16:18).
Prevailing churches help people find and follow Jesus. Church leaders need to remember that we are not in the “church-building” business but in the “disciple-making” business. We are not called to save buildings, but to save souls. Church legacies and church names can become monuments that get in the way of the mission. Methods and models can and must change, but the Mission never changes. Models change, culture shifts, building styles morph, legacy is fragile and church identities evolve—but the mission of the church remains the same: Make disciples!
None of the buildings the first-century Christians congregated in are still standing today, neither is the way they did church still practiced the same way today, but the impact of those churches continues to the present. Now that’s a legacy worth preserving.
What’s Our Reality?
In the 21st century the cultural value of local churches and the civic expectation of attending church has faded significantly across the American landscape. Unfortunately, most churches still operate like 20th-century churches when the overall American culture used to value going to church. As the culture shifted, most churches stayed the same.
Any conversation about merging with another church needs to begin by honestly assessing the status of your church. From our research at The Unstuck Group the 320,000 Protestant churches across America fall into one of three broad categories—strong (15%), stuck (60%) or struggling (25%).
All three categories of churches are good candidates for a merger but for different reasons:
Struggling churches can be reborn through a merger.
Stuck churches can be revitalized through a merger
Strong churches can reproduce through a merger.
The best merger outcomes are not based on a partnership of equals. Church mergers that have good outcomes are like a dance where one leads and the other follows. It’s very important that both churches understand upfront who is the lead church and who is the joining church. And the lead church is not necessarily the biggest, or wealthiest, but it is the healthiest.
To get a better understanding of your church health you can take a free Church Unstuck Assessment and receive a comprehensive report to better understand your church reality today.
Hope is not a strategy, but honestly facing reality is the first step towards a solution that can lead to hope. So, what is your church’s reality?
Is your church strong and growing?
Is it stable but stuck?
Or, is your church struggling to sustain and survive?
What’s the Win?
It’s better to start the merger journey with the destination in mind–the wins, gains and benefits in view–then address the challenges and sacrifices of getting there.
When stuck or struggling churches are considering a merger, the tendency is to focus on what they are sacrificing, giving up, losing or changing. And to be fair, the adopted or joining church makes the most sacrifice and change in a merger. The joining church typically gives up its church name, dissolves its church board, hands over its church building, ceases to exist legally and accepts a lot of changes in its ministry style. Even when they know the merger is the best thing to do, the members of the joining church experience legitimate grief over the absorption of their church into another.
What does the joining church get in return? They get life, a second chance, a rebirth or revitalization and a new chapter to their story. Decline and desperation is replaced with hope and growth. They get a new pastor who brings a whole congregation to the party. They get to choose their destiny instead of having it chosen for them by circumstances beyond their control.
The biggest challenges for the lead or adopting church typically revolves around absorbing a debt, upgrading a facility and adding additional staff. All challenging, but exciting problems for the strong, growing lead church.
So what are the wins for church mergers?
Struggling churches win. Stuck and struggling churches get a fresh start in living out God’s purpose for their church.
Strong churches win. Strong churches gain momentum as stuck or struggling churches join them in a new chapter of life.
The Body of Christ wins. The corporate witness of the local church is stronger and better able to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Local communities win. Local communities are better served by strong vibrant congregations.
The kingdom of God wins. The kingdom of God advances and grows locally, regionally and globally through vital, life-giving congregations.
Everybody wins in successful mergers.
Whose Church Is It?
The most common roadblock to a church merger occurs
when a lead pastor, senior lay leaders, or influential members of the
joining church are unable or unwilling to relinquish control of “their”
church. Control issues are usually the most difficult issues to overcome in merger deliberations. Sadly, most struggling churches would rather
hold onto the steering wheel of their sinking ship than turn the helm
over to a more effective leader who knows how to sail the ship through the turbulent waters of today. They would rather die than change—and many will do just that.
The faulty thinking we can easily fall into as church leaders is that this is “my” church.
We tend to forget that this is his church, not our church.
For those dedicated church leaders or board members who have the awesome responsibility of overseeing their church, one day we will stand before the real Owner of the Church and give an account of our stewardship as church leaders.
On that day God’s opinion is the only one that really matters. It won’t be about worship preferences, denomination affiliations, theological nuances, organizational charts, or facility ownership. The most important question will be, “Did we make the best decisions for the sake of God’s church and the advancement of his kingdom?”
As your team moves down the church merger highway, to paraphrase the Irish blessing …
“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand . . .
And may you be better together.”
Travel Mercies!
Read more from Jim Tomberlin »
WHY MERGE?
- To be better together than each church is individually
- To begin a new church life cycle
- To reach more people for Christ
- To make a greater difference for Christ
- To multiply your church’s impact
- To better serve your local community
- To leverage the legacy and good reputation of the past
- To maximize church facilities
- To be stronger as a local church
- To further expand God’s kingdom