April 25, 2012

Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work (Part 2)

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Recently, I connected with Warren Bird and Jim Tomberlin to discuss their new book, “Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work.” The book provides a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a “second life.”

Here is my interview with Jim:

TONY: What are the pros and cons of mergers?

JIM: Mergers can be a fast-track way to multisite in a well-matched context. A successful merger results in healthy congregations, increased attendance, volunteers, financial sustainability, multiplied impact and ultimately a multiplied number of churches – more than when the merger first occurred. Mergers can also be a huge diversion of time, money and energy when they are not right for each other.

TONY: What trends are you seeing in church mergers?

JIM: We are seeing a new kind of successful church merger that is more mission-driven and future-focused than the old failed church mergers that were more survival-driven and focused on preserving the past. Even though multisite churches are driving many of today’s current mergers, mergers are by no means confined to the multisite movement. These mission-driven church mergers have tremendous potential to exponentially expand the impact of strong, vibrant churches as well as revitalize plateaued and declining churches. Progressive denominational workers are increasingly seeing these kinds of mergers as a way to add more vibrant congregations.

TONY: Can you share a story of a successful merger?

JIM: We share over 30 examples of successful mergers in our book but the one that stands out is the reconciliation merger in Ruston, Louisiana. After an 18-year split, the two churches had a reconciliation that resulted in a “re-union,” a new name “The Bridge Community Church,” a re-energized base and an overall increase in attendance at the two campuses. They now have a re-organized leadership team and a vision of multi-siting more across their region. This is a merger that began with a reconciliation and it is now bringing community transformation. Gotta love it!

TONY: You say that most successful mergers have a lead church and a joining church rather than viewing each other as equals. What does that mean?

JIM: Very few church mergers are between two equals, most are vastly unequal in size and health. Our sense is that every church merger involves a lead church and a joining church. The merging of churches is a delicate dance in which one leads and the other follows. We see successful mergers when both congregations understand who leads and who follows.

TONY: You say that mergers are on the rise and that the new approach overcomes the failure-prone approach of the past. Can you further explain this concept?

JIM: The successful mergers of today have a kingdom of God mindset that is looking for the win-win relationship. Both churches benefit when mergers are successful. The local community is better served and the Kingdom of God is expanded. What’s not to like about that?

You can follow more of Jim’s thoughts and updates from his ministry on Twitter.

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