What s New About Church Networks

Church Doctrine - One's body of Christ is great and also within the Christian faith there is a lot of diversity in beliefs, practices and cultural norms. Most of the differences do not have anything to do with the deity of Jesus but you can find doctrinal differences that sometimes creates conflict. For example, how does each church view controversial issues such as abortion, gay marriage, or gifts of the spirit? Being on the same page doctrinally will be important.

Church Culture - The culture of a church dictates social norms. Blending two different cultures can sometimes create conflict because social norms, even slightly different, can affect how a church community makes decisions, communicates and behaves. Questions to ask could be, will the church be contemporary or conservative? What will the worship experience like? Are there different demographic audiences? These kinds of differences could be a source of conflict making it very important to define the culture before the merger.

Church Governance - Governance over the merged churches should be considered and rewriting bylaws and articles of incorporation should be specifically considered. Questions to ask could possibly be, how will the 2 governing boards merge, how will leadership roles be determined, what will the new hierarchy look like? Figuring out the governing model will considerably influence the merger and set the leadership direction and decision making authority for the church.

Church Assets - Both churches should consider if there will be an overall total merger of all assets or if each maintains their very own financial identify. There can be problems with either scenario but coming to terms on how assets will be handled is crucial. This step would require bringing in outside help to objectively assess and value assets.

Church Mission and Vision - People who are called into ministry are operating out of a vision and mission from God. This mission provides the specific direction for precisely what the church is to do, who they can be to reach and the approach to spreading the gospel. simply click the following website page because visions are different does not make one right and one wrong but it does create a tension for which mission will be followed in the event the two churches join together.

Church Leadership - It is vital to determine whom shall assume leadership of the joined churches. Someone has to take lead responsibility and determining who which will be and precisely what the role of others will be is definitely an important discussion. Volunteer leadership must also be considered. If you will find strong leaders within the volunteer realm, how will those positions be considered and the way do you decide who takes lead? Basically what will the new selection process appear like and whom shall end up being the identified leader.

Employee Compensation - Merging compensation models is definitely a source of tension in a merger. It should be determined ahead of the merger precisely what the combined approach will be for compensation and advantages of church employees. Using a third party to wade through issues can provide some objectivity through best practices.

Church Communication - The way church communication is handled is a cultural thing and determining an decided upon communication process is critical to smooth operations. How a church culture communicates may vary substantially so take the church communication process under consideration when you sort through issues.

Church Vote - Do church members get a vote inside this, or is this a board decision? This certainly will be considered very carefully because you want to bring everybody on board and do not want to lose members along the way. You will need to remember that individuals that support a church often feel like they should have a say in major decisions. Having a process to discuss and debate with members may be culturally healthy and worth the time investment.

Church Location - Will the churches move to one or perhaps the other campus or will the two churches combine assets and move to a completely new campus? What could be the facility requirement of the joined congregations and would either of the current church campuses meet those needs? Will moving to a whole new campus bring about losing church members as a result of distance? Are both groups in agreement on resource allocations to makes it possible for? For example is a designated youth facility an investment both parties want to make?

There are actually definite benefits and disadvantages to both small and big churches. Small churches permit the pastor to understand the congregants well and is able to shepherd them upon an individual basis. Larger churches have more resources that may provide programs and services that might not be able to be funded by a small church. Either way - time, consideration, counsel and a lot of prayer should go in to a major decision such as a merger between two churches.