I am the branch church overseer for Cedar Park Church in Metro Seattle. We have adopted several smaller struggling congregations and allowed them to keep their unique culture, buildings, identity (in varying degrees) and leadership in some cases. Most (but not all) of the branches saw immediate growth and increasing health when they became a part of what we call a “Cathedral Church.” It is not the typical multi-site model in which a large church seeks to replicate its culture and style and spread its influence at different locations. However, the Cathedral approach works great for a smaller church that wants the support and benefits of a larger church while retaining its unique identity and culture. Visit cedarpark.org for a description.

I came back home and put together a presentation for the other elders during our next meeting. I did the whole Internet campus live video feed to my big-screen TV thing, had the bullet points ready, and had polished my LifeChurch.tv spiel to a high sheen. After all was said and done, they looked at me like cows at a passing train. These other elders were unbelievable men of God, so how could I have possibly missed His voice on this one?

It turns out that I didn’t mistake His calling, but God wanted me to get out of the way and let Him drive. I grudgingly submitted, and three months later–through a series of remarkable events too long to recap on this blog–LifeChurch.tv popped up on the radar again. This time, the question was brought to the elder team with simple humility–rather than polish and glitz–and with one visit to OKC we had unanimous confirmation that this was what God wanted us to do.

TXmom, Maybe one day…

MRB and Mandi, I am so glad this is helpful discussion for you both.

Unbelievable timing. I just told our team that we needed to travel to OKC and sit down with someone on your staff to get advice on church mergers. We have a couple of “opportunities” before us and this is great stuff. — We still may need to take a trip. Thanks for the insight.

Craig, It’s awesome for you to share your experiences in this area so others can benefit from what you and your team have already figured out!

1. Culture, Culture, Culture- Never underestimate the time it will take to merge two existing cultures regardless of how close they initially seem to be. This is huge because you can obtain a suface based success while simultaneously having a storm brewing just under the surface. There needs to be a prevailing culture with clear distinctives that both churches agree to in the beginning. LifeChurch.tv has some of the clearest cultural distictives I know and it still can be a struggle so beware!

2. The “Vote” is only the first of many tough leadership decisions. Some pastors falsely believe that if they can just get through the official vote to merge then life is sweet on the other side. The truth is that there will be some who will vote for the merge but will be unable to make the cultural adjustments necessary to lead in the new environment. Its a fact that you will have to ask some people to leave after they were your biggest allies and supporters during the actual merger/adoption. Talk about tough!

3. Wait out the Wash- Some of those in the beginning who are for the merger will leave two or three months later and those who hated the merge and left will return two or three months later. We have even seen people who left for a year return and being completely sold out to the new vision. Dont spend a lot of leadership energy trying to “manage the wash”. You will find yourself chasing undecided people all over the city and that will drain needed leadership enery. Change is external and transition is internal. People need time to transition through these types of changes and many will return. My experience is that the wash takes about 12-18 months. It was once said that you have enough tears to cry for those who are walking towards you or those walking away from you but not enough for both.

I look forward to sharing more this week on a great topic! The benefits of such relationships can change cities! Don’t hesitate to give me a shout if I can help out in anyway.