How Church Mergers Are Reshaping Multisite Growth Strategies

Churches are both closing and expanding like we’ve never seen before. Since the pandemic, the church recovery has been real, but it is also reshaping the entire church landscape. For instance, while many larger churches are growing at breakneck pace, others are closing, outpacing new churches at a rate of as much as three to one. 

This dearth of churches makes the present the perfect time for growing churches to not just activate their existing real estate but establish new campuses, too. This is traditionally done by building, buying, or leasing sites near a parent church. 

But building is expensive. Buying can be, too. And leasing restricts your decisions and leaves you at the mercy of an owner. One option that is quickly becoming popular post-pandemic is to unlock church growth through mergers.

Why Church Mergers Work for Growth

Church mergers are often seen as an event where a bigger, healthier church sweeps in to “absorb” or “take over” a smaller church that can’t keep its doors open any longer. But at Ministry Solutions Group, we’re starting to see this short-sighted, stereotyped concept challenged by a newer, proactive approach.

Mergers are quickly becoming a way for an expanding church to integrate with small but healthy and effective churches in their area.

Some of the force driving this seems to come from the ongoing succession planning crisis. Data for years has shown that many churches don’t have succession plans in place. Barna reported in 2023 that despite future leadership being a “top personal priority,” 40% of pastors say they are too busy with other ministry concerns to invest in this area. Just 14% of pastors say they’ve managed to at least delegate the job to others.

Enter the church merger.

Church mergers are quickly becoming an attractive option for smaller churches without succession plans. It allows them to join a larger, mission-driven ministry that is actively expanding. There are many church merger benefits that make it an ideal option for multisite church growth, too. 

Merging with another church builds your multisite network and accelerates expansion. It also maximizes resources in a world where there are plenty of church buildings and there is little-to-no need to keep constructing new ones.

“It’s not about solving an inventory problem,” Ministry Solutions Group president and founder Nathan Artt explains. “It’s about solving a stewardship problem.” 

The church doesn’t need more church buildings. There are already a lot of those. A lot. Instead, it needs to re-center on the mission of the Gospel, even if that means rethinking the past method of “building” it out.

Nathan compares it to the Home Depot takeover that led to a halt in the building of new stores. “Research showed that the home improvement movement is in decline,” he said. “Less than 10% of consumers shopped at stores or identified with DIYers. The solution wasn’t to build more stores to reach more people. It was to use the existing stores in smarter ways.” 

Church mergers are allowing the church to do the same. Rather than invest in new structures while others stand empty, church mergers help the church, as a whole, maximize resources and maintain a geographic footprint that facilitates community and outreach across a broader area.

Tips on How to Merge Churches Successfully

While church mergers are an attractive option, you need to go about them properly. Nathan and the Ministry Solutions team have seen the ups and downs of this multisite method, and in the process, they’ve seen many church merger challenges, what to watch out for, and what best practices have the greatest effect. Here are a few key things to keep in mind:

• Invest in a clear church merger strategy: Conduct a thorough analysis and approach multisite expansion and church mergers with a holistic strategy to guide all churches involved.
• Don’t prioritize opportunities over strategy: Don’t let a free building or a desperate pastor looking for an easy succession plan draw you away from expanding where God is calling you.
• Smaller is okay: One of the most effective church merger best practices is to aim for a larger number of small campuses. The real estate market is accommodating this right now, and it makes it easier to build a broader network with more campuses.
• Plan for costs: Every multisite strategy comes with a cost. Even a merger can (and typically does) cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars once the dust settles. Work those expenses into your plans.

Navigating Church Mergers as a Multisite Expansion Strategy

It’s important to invest in a clear plan for your church leadership during a merger. Prayerfully review your church’s situation and assess your options before acting. (We can’t tell you how often churches do the complete opposite.)

Larger churches are expanding quickly at the moment, and church mergers are offering a way to accelerate and accommodate that growth while also allowing smaller, healthy churches to benefit from the momentum. The result is a greater sense of synergy that comes from a more resilient, efficient network of churches all sharing the same mission and vision. It’s a movement that makes too much sense to ignore, and we’re excited to see how God uses it next.

If you need support in the form of consulting, strategy development, or project management, the Ministry Solutions Group team is available to help. Our multisite service specializes in helping medium and large churches navigate the expansion process — including considering the option of church mergers. Contact us, and together, we can put our deep experience to work to improve your expansion strategy.