Because half the existing North American Protestant churches average fewer than 75 at worship [ see ** Note, below ], and because two-thirds to three-fourths of existing churches are in decline, many churches see survival as their major concern. Many who seek a church merger expect to alleviate crushing financial pressures. Unfortunately, most church mergers, instead of improving the situation, produce great internal friction, confusion and disappointment, without improving the financial picture at all.
Research into denominational, academic, corporate and church mergers uncovers factors common to all mergers. These factors both contribute to church merger success or failure, and also lead to the more probable benefits and drawbacks. Five extended case studies illustrate these.
Factors contributing to church merger success include high dissatisfaction with the organization, merging at key transitional points in the organizational life cycle, displacing present leadership, and other factors. Factors contributing to church merger failure include satisfaction with the organization, organizational stability, retaining of leadership, a long institutional life, and other factors.
Benefits that church mergers can provide include displacing present ineffective leadership, taking the optimal next step in the organizational life-cycle, adding value to services provided, and acquiring hard assets at greatly reduced cost. Unfortunately, these are not the benefits that congregations generally hope to obtain, and these benefits come at a much higher financial cost than organizations anticipate, and provide a much lower and slower financial gain than expected. Worse, organizations are seldom prepared for the high, negative impact of church mergers on their constituencies and mission.
Those considering merger must evaluate whether the congregations are capable of succeeding in a merger, whether they are willing to accept the high cost of merger, both for people and the organization, whether the potential benefits truly outweigh the drawbacks, and whether the alternatives to merger have been fully explored. Those who attempt a successful congregational merger must evaluate the actual situation and its alternatives, negotiate every detail before making the final decision whether to implement, carefully prepare the congregations, initiate the church merger carefully, and manage the rough five-year transition through the stages of change.
** Note: Schaller's research included both Canada and the United States, and reported that half the existing North American Protestant churches average fewer than 75 at worship. Barna's research, limited to the United States, found that 60% of US Protestant churches numbered fewer than 100, 50% numbered fewer than 90, and the average US Protestant church numbered 89.