Church Doctrine - One's body of Christ is great and even in the Christian faith there is a lot of diversity in beliefs, practices and cultural norms. A lot of the differences do not have anything to do with the deity of Jesus but there are actually doctrinal differences that sometimes creates conflict. As an example, how does each church view controversial issues for example abortion, gay marriage, or gifts of the spirit? Being on the same page doctrinally is actually important.
church resources 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 may be a source of conflict making it essential to define the culture prior to 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 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 significantly influence the merger and set the leadership direction and selection authority for the church.
Church Assets - Both churches should consider if there will be an overall merger of all assets or if perhaps each maintains their own financial identify. There may be issues with either scenario but coming to terms on how assets will be handled is important. This step would require bringing in outside help to objectively assess and value assets.
Church Mission and Vision - Those who are called into ministry are operating out of a vision and mission from God. This mission provides the specific direction for what the church is to do, who they can be to reach as well as the approach to spreading the gospel. Simply because visions are different does not make one right and one wrong but it does create a tension for which mission will be followed when the two churches join together.
Church Leadership - It is important to determine whom shall assume leadership of the joined churches. Someone has to take lead responsibility and determining who that will be and just what the role of others will be is 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 how do you decide who takes lead? Basically what will the new decision making process appear like and which will end up being the identified leader.
Employee Compensation - Merging compensation models is always a source of tension in a merger. It should be determined ahead of the merger what the combined approach will be for compensation and benefits 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 agreed upon communication process is critical to smooth operations. How a church culture communicates will vary significantly so take the church communication process under consideration as you sort through issues.
Church Vote - Do church members get a vote in 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 during the process. You need to take into account that folks who support a church often feel like they should have a say in major decisions. Having a process to talk about and debate with members may be culturally healthy and worth the time investment.
Church Location - Will the churches move to one or even the other campus or will the 2 churches combine assets and move to a totally new campus? What could be the facility requirement of the joined congregations and would either of the present church campuses meet those needs? Will moving to a whole new campus bring about losing church members due to 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?
You will discover definite advantages and disadvantages to both small and big churches. Small churches enable the pastor to know the congregants well and is able to shepherd them on an individual basis. Larger churches have more resources that may provide programs and services that may not be able to be funded by a small church. Either way - time, consideration, counsel and a lot of prayer should go into a major decision for example a merger between two churches.