Would you consider a Church Merger with another PCG church??
Would you consider a Church merger with another church that is not PCG??
What are some of the things you are doing now to Parnter with other churches in your community??
What is the one thing that you think keeps us (PCG) from Merger??
Wow, talk about potential controversy! Let's dive in. I'm only going to comment on question #4 for the moment. In my opinion (aren't all blogs opinions anyway?) the thing that keeps us from pursuing mergers can be summed up in one word: FEAR. We are afraid of losing what is ours whether it be people, property, or power. The other day I was pondering how small our world is becoming with technology and communication capability and then in the same thread I pondered how in many ways our thinking has shrunk with the world instead of embracing the endless wonder of God's Kingdom. How much stronger would the body of Christ be and how much more influence would we have in our cities if churches did what was best for the community which could mean a merger?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read the follow ups to these questions.
1)Yes I would.....however, I would also consider pastoring 2 churches I.E. another campus. Some of our smaller and unhelathy churches who have good men who may be out of their gifting should consider being a campus pastor under the leadership of a more influentil visionary pastor...just a thought.
ReplyDelete3) We are partnering with an A/G church (no I am not backslid)in many outreaches and other endeavors to reach more people. They are on the East side of town with abiut 80 and we are on the West side of town with about 200+ so working together on some projects has helped with costs and follow up info is given according to location un less person requested a certain church to follow up.
4) Jon said it, I have heard it in our board meetings....some are afraid of downsizing or selling off properties. If the money is used wisely, reinvested and / or used to launch new church plants how can that be a bad thing. We may not own the property but stats show that a majority of churches that are growing and impacting are church plants and /or operate outside of a "traditional" church buildings.
*This kind of dialogue concerns some, but WE NEED TO TALK and then research and make tough choices.