Church Merger

Every merger involves a lead church and a joining church. of the church merger movement, but it's becoming a strategy for church planters.
Table of contents

Questions to Ask

How did your congregation initially respond to the merger proposal? The majority of the congregation liked things as they were. What percentage of your congregation voted for the merger and remained post-merger? While our bylaws did not require a congregational vote, there were two occasions when we took a survey of levels of support for the merger. The first was six weeks after the announcement. At the time of the second survey, about 10 weeks into the process, the positive and unopposed responses totaled 73 percent.

What did LCBC do right in making a successful merger?


  • 2. Patience actually is a virtue?
  • Some Common Mistakes in Failed Church Mergers.
  • Church Mergers Are a Growing Trend!
  • Management der Zuliefererbeziehungen: Einflussfaktoren der zwischenbetrieblichen Zusammenarbeit in D.
  • Acey Deucy (The J. Cltrane Calhoun Experience Book 1).
  • Church Mergers: The Complicated Business of Combining Congregations!

They were sensitive to the pain and sense of loss many felt at BranchCreek. Their staff, ministry leaders and congregants often joined us on our campus. This helped build trust. Given that the two campuses are about 75 miles apart, this was no small sacrifice. In addition, the faith and vision of the LCBC board led to a multimillion dollar investment in the BranchCreek campus, bringing our ministries and facilities to a higher level of quality and setting them up to match theirs. LCBC sent us a campus pastor and worship leader that were a great match for our congregation and well-received.

And most importantly, there was an effort to show the consistency of the vision. The match between our past and our new future was frequently highlighted. In California, for example, a South Bay church merged in with a dying church in Bellflower, whose attendance had dropped below Within five years, the two congregations had split up, leaving bad feelings and unfinished plans. Across the United States, church mergers have become more common.

Church Merger Outline

Large churches are taking over struggling, smaller ones. A church will have its own unique reasons for joining with another church, but every merger is the same in one respect. These always involve an intermingling of property.


  1. Option 3: Blending by Continuation Merger.
  2. Children and Traumatic Incident Reduction: Creative and Cognitive Approaches (TIR Applications Serie.
  3. Church Mergers: Legal and Financial Matters.
  4. A congregation may move out of its existing building, leaving surplus property to sell. Two churches may unify and decide to build a new church.

    Church Mergers: Legal and Financial Matters

    All of these are sophisticated real estate deals. That is why the story of the successful merger in Seattle gave us pause.


    • Confessions of a Church Merger Pastor;
    • Church Mergers: Legal and Financial Matters – XPastor®.
    • Portobello: Three I dont dig loud noises, man!;
    • Church Merger in Your Future? 4 Merger Questions | MultiSite Solutions!
    • Desktopvirtualisierung: Definitionen - Architekturen - Business-Nutzen (German Edition).
    • Church Mergers: The Complicated Business of Combining Congregations | DCG Strategies;

    Even though one church gifted all its property to the other church, it was still a major commercial real estate transaction. With two different groups coming together and valuable properties involved, we can see many ways this merger could have gone wrong.

    Church Mergers

    A church can make many mistakes when merging with another church. Who will be calling the shots?

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    The charts below show that Rebirth Mergers have a stronger track record than Continuation Mergers and that Absorption Mergers have the strongest record of the three. The charts are based on a church sample of the almost mergers and consolidations in the ELCA since in was formed in Home 9 Ways to Cooperate: Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church is the product of three continuation mergers involving four predecessor churches.

    It started in as Memorial Lutheran Church, which merged three times and eventually became St. Today it is a thriving center city congregation.