SOURCE: Blackchristiannews.com
In recent years many congregations in the United States have seen their membership numbers drop to the point where they were forced to close down.
Two such examples were Johnston Memorial Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation, and Ebenezer Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, both located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The two congregations experienced decline due to a host of factors, according to Stacey Martin of Forest Hill Church, a multisite church based in Charlotte, in comments to The Christian Post last month.
“Both of these churches had at one time been very reflective of the communities in which they were planted. Over time, however, both dwindling and aging congregations realized that they were no longer effective in reaching or representing the communities around them,” explained Martin.
“Because of gentrification and redevelopment of the areas around these churches, the demographics had changed, and these congregations realized they did not have the ability to be nimble enough to respond to the changes.”
Martin told CP that Forest Hill had connections to the two churches and, as a result, they were invited to purchase the two properties and make them part of their network of campuses.
“Our nimbleness around organizational growth and fiscal stability gave them confidence about moving forward in partnership with us.”
And so it was that Johnston Memorial Presbyterian became Forest Hill’s NoDa Campus and Ebenezer ARP became Forest Hill’s South Boulevard Campus, becoming two of Forest Hill’s six campuses.
A rising and growing trend
The two Presbyterian congregations becoming part of Forest Hill is not a rare occurrence, but rather is an increasingly sought after solution for small dwindling churches.
“Some 42 percent of multi-sites come by way of merger. The typical merger is a mainline church in decline merging with an evangelical, often non-denominational church,” Edmondson told CP.
“Across America, nondenominational churches are now 21 percent of all Protestant churches, according to Scott Thumma’s research at the Hartford Institute.”
Warren Bird, vice president of Research at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, co-authored along with Jim Tomberlin the 2012 book Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work, which seeks to help guide congregations considering mergers.
“Mergers are occurring among churches of all sizes and types, and they are happening in urban centers, suburban neighborhoods, and rural communities,” noted the book’s Preface.
“Such mergers reflect a growing trend where two local churches at different life stages leverage their common DNA and complementary differences to generate greater synergy for a stronger regional impact.”
We are not competitors
Doing better together than apart seems to be the theme with the two congregations that joined Forest Hill, as according to statistics provided by Forest Hill, both sites have seen considerable growth following their merging with the multi-site church.
When Ebenezer ARP joined Forest Hill in 2015, they had around 25 weekly worshipers. Since then, the number has increased to over 200.
When Johnston Memorial Presbyterian joined Forest Hill last year, they had fewer than a dozen. That has since ballooned into approximately 300 attendees.
As part of the merger process, Forest Hill purchased the properties of both churches, with Martin of Forest Hill telling CP that the Johnston Memorial Presbyterian property in particular was much sought after by others.