The Ken Johnson Group / August 30, 2006 Featured Article

What are your thoughts on two churches talking about merging?

by Ken Johnson

June 22, 2006

Hey Ken,

What are your thoughts on two churches talking about merging? Both are between 200 and 300.

How's everything going?

Brian

Hi Brian:

It's good to hear from you. Shirley and I send our love to you and your family. We are doing well.

Brian, before I give you my thoughts I'm sure that you realize that I am a pretty forward looking guy so when you ask me a question like this I am excited about its future potential.

Here are some of my thoughts--probably more than you want to hear--but in my opinion if more churches would combine we would more quickly win the world for Christ. We can have thousands of small churches who are unable to accomplish anything, who are struggling to survive, or fewer larger churches that with their combined forces can spread the Good News. A congregation of 200 to 300 is a good size church in America since the average church size is less than 80, but a church of 400 to 600 can do so much more. They don't have to be mega churches, more than 2000, churches of 400 to 600 who are planting churches or starting satellite churches can and are having an amazing effect on the landscape of the church in America.

Concerning your question; combining two churches can be the most wonderful thing that ever happened to the ministry or it can be the most devastating. I am always for whatever it will take to further the great commandment. 400 to 600 would allow the church to do many things that 200 to 300 won't. Also if you allow each church to bring along their special gifts then you have expanded the potential of the ministry because of strength in numbers.

I recently worked with a denomination here in town that wanted to combine two churches. The problem with these two churches was that they were both landlocked (their buildings were on corners that would house two house lots) and neither one could grow even if they wanted too. The major problem is that they have both been around for many years and have things that they won't give up even for the ministry. Another problem is that the process needed one pastor to take control and make the thing happen and neither pastor is capable of doing that. Together they would have one exciting, going church, but separately they are just two little tired families. Are either of them a problem as they are? No. But they could do so much more for the ministry of Christ and until these two pastors leave they will just be two little churches struggling to pay a pastor and keep their building in some kind of repair--not spreading the Good News.

So as you can see there are some good things that could happen but this can also create some difficult situations.

Brian, are both of these churches non-denominational? This can have an impact.

Here are a few questions that you need to ask both pastors, staffs and congregations and a positive answer to each question is vital.

What can we do together that we can't do separately?
Can we as a church take an equal role or do we have to be the church in charge? In otherwards can we allow the other church to continue using and expanding their gifts as we continue to use and expand our gifts?
What sacred cows do we have that we can't let go? This usually has to do with the length of time each church has been in existence. The longer in existence the more sacred cows and sacred cows are hard for church people to give up. Sometimes the strength in numbers can help rid the church of the sacred cows.
Can you move out of your buildings into a new building; because the sacred cows will come out of the walls if you stay in one of the two buildings? You need to sell both facilities and move to a neutral location.
Can I as a pastor become the number two person and accept the other pastor as the leader?
Can I handle the lead pastor position?
What will happen to the two youth pastors, two music directors, two children's ministry directors, two worship directors, etc--how will they fit in this new church? This is something that can cause a lot of staff/congregational heartbreak so it's important that you consider all of these situations.
Do we feel comfortable with the Core Values of the other church?
There will be some leaders in each church that will no longer be in the same leadership position, what kinds of problems will that cause?
There are a number of other questions that are germane to your situation that you will need to ask and answer and you know what those are.

What is the history of each church? How will this history impact the future of the combined churches? If one church only celebrates its past while the other celebrates the future you will not be successful. Thomas Freedman in his book The World is Flat says something like this: "Does your culture have more memories than dreams or more dreams than memories?" Both staffs and congregations have to have more "dreams" than "memories" or it won't succeed.

How many years has each church been in existence?
How many pastors has each church had?
How many people are still going to the churches that founded each church?
What is the wealth of each church? Does one church bring more money to the table--which can sometime create problems? It can also be beneficial if one church brings financial security and the other church brings other spiritual gifts.
Does one church have more strong leaders than the other? These leaders need to understand the value of the move and accept their position in the new combination.

If you decide to proceed you need to:

Check out the health of each church--there are tools out there that will help you do this. This will bring out any sacred cows that haven't been unearthed before.
Proceed slowly--not too slow, but slow enough that everyone has an understanding of what the purpose is and when it will all take place.
Educate, Educate, Educate.
If both pastors go with the move then you need to make one of them the Lead Pastor and the other an associate. Don't try the co-pastor route the people from each church will still think that their pastor is the one in charge and it makes for difficult times.

You will have people who will be unhappy with what you are doing no matter what you do and you have to allow them to be unhappy--even angry--love them through it and if need be send them to another ministry with love. These people may even be close friends, but you have to decide what God wants for the church and make that happen.

Brian, I hope this has helped you in some way. I pray for your ministry every morning in my prayer time and look forward to hearing how you are doing. Let me know what you finally decide, and if there is anything along the way that I can help you with don't hesitate to call.

In His Steps

Ken Johnson