Mergers: You get what they want.

We reached out to a few pastors on the “pulpit supply” list of our local Convention’s office – but most of these were retired men who wanted only to provide a sermon on Sunday, not full pastoral duties.   We briefly attempted to employ a former member who had been ordained to the ministry in our church, only to have him quickly decide to be a political agitator against the deacons on the matters concerning the church.  Ultimately, I reached out to a pastor friend who was at a newer multi-site church of the same denomination (SBC). 

The church that ultimately acquired us was allegedly in full cooperation with the Southern Baptists, as we were.   They had several younger congregations in the area with energy – it seemed alive.   Because we knew no better at the time, their sermons and theology seemed “similar enough”.  Because we were all in the same denomination, it seemed like a good fit to ‘merge’ with this church and hand over the reins to folks who knew how to run a proper church and needed additional campuses/space.   They would receive prime real estate in the center of town and a few faithful members.  We would receive energy, revitalization, a new pastor, a lot of know-how on running a  church in the 2020’s and “at least” 50 members from one of their nearby congregations to help reinvigorate and replant our church.       None of that happened.

Figure 1 – Church prior to merger.

Figure 2 – “As-built worship space”w

As you might be able to see from the pictures, there was no “merger” ever planned by the acquiring church.   And that is a tragedy.  Our older congregation were willing to hand over complete control and do things differently, cooperate and learn – but the acquiring organization couldn’t be bothered to accomodate any of their preferences at all.  They were ostracized and pushed out.  Ultimately all but two of the families left.  The worship style went from entirely traditional to entirely contemporary nearly overnight (despite them having brought in a stringed orchestra ensemble during the “pre-merger” phase) , with Church of Christ and Pentecostal/charismatic elements replacing orthodox Baptist theology.   The Lord’s Supper was turned into a “to-go meal” at the end of the service and while the facilities got some needed fixes (e.g. bathroom repairs) the style of the church changed so abruptly and completely that it was unrecognizable.

The new church was deeply in debt despite all their funding and forced our new pastors raise their own salaries for the first year or two of their employment.   To add to their issues, they had purchased another church building for a different which had to be condemned and demolished, costing millions on their balance sheet.   The “pastor” they sent us used expletives from the pulpit and lied about the financial health of the church to the congregation, while admitting he was both a narcissist and had never read the entire bible.   The acquiring church failed within a year and divested nearly all its properties. The “ruling elders” (that is to say, the remote executive leadership) ultimately gave our old church property to the local team/pastor and his inner circle of friends where they’ve since planted yet another church (with another name change).