INTERVIEW WITH JIM TOMBERLIN: CHURCH MERGERS & KINGDOM ADVANCEMENT
It is my honor to share wisdom from my good friend Jim Tomberlin. Jim is an incredibly important part of our story at Anthem Church. In 2016, he coached our two elder boards and me through the merger of Liberty Church and The Gathering Church. He has an incredibly rich history of helping churches to meet their Kingdom potential, and I know you will be blessed with his words.
Brad: In 2016, you helped the church I pastor (www.weareanthem.church) go through a merger that has impacted our city and beyond. You were an incredible guide to us, and our entire church benefited from your Godly counsel. Why are you so passionate about church mergers, and why are they an important option for churches looking to make a kingdom impact?
Jim: There are 250,000 stuck or struggling Protestant churches in the USA with underutilized facilities in desperate need of vibrant ministry, but there are 60,000 strong churches across the US with vibrant ministry in desperate need of facilities. There is a win-win for those churches that can come together as one. Church mergers can rebirth struggling churches, revitalize stuck churches, and help strong churches reproduce.
Brad: In our case, we were a church plant meeting in a school that merged with an existing congregation with an incredible location and membership. Is this a common occurrence? Should more church planters be looking at kingdom-focused church mergers as a way to find permanent facilities in their region?
Jim: Yes, the Anthem story is being repeated all over the nation. The latest ECFA church survey in 2022 revealed that 20% of church planters acquired their facility through a church merger. This will continue to increase.
Brad: What are the signs that a merger between two churches could lead to a positive outcome?
Jim: I ask four exploratory questions of church leaders who are considering a merger. If they can answer “yes” to any one or all of these questions, then there is a strong potential for a positive outcome:
Could my church be better together rather than remaining separate?
Could we accomplish more together than separate?
Could our community be better served if we joined together?
Could the kingdom of God be further enlarged by joining together?
Brad: Are there any warning signs that should make pastors think twice about a church merger?
Jim: The merging of churches is a delicate dance where one church leads and the other church follows. Every successful merger involves a Lead Church and a Joining Church. The joining church is the congregation that is absorbed by or integrated into the lead church’s mission, vision, strategy and culture. It is very important that both churches understand and accept who is the Lead Church and who is the Joining Church. If there is not agreement on this at the beginning of the merger conversation, then hit pause.
Brad: How can a church that goes through a merger (like we did at Anthem Church) measure success once the dust settles? Is there a particular set of outcomes they should be looking for?
Jim: Unfortunately, many church leaders approach merger “success” with unrealistic or faulty expectations. Many approach mergers with the hope of maintaining the status quo, that nothing will change, and that everyone will agree, stay and love it. In our book, this is how we explain what merger success is and is not:
Success is not 100% retaining of staff, church members and attenders—but success is retaining people who embrace a shared vision for the future.
Success is not 100% approval of members, but success is 100% engagement of those who approve.
Success is not saving a facility for emotional or nostalgic reasons, but success is stewarding a facility for Kingdom purposes.
Success is not preserving a church name, but success is leveraging a legacy.
Success is not maintaining the status quo, but success is beginning a new life cycle.
Brad: Post-pandemic, it seems many local churches are re-assessing their vision for the future and stepping out in faith again with projects and expansion. What are you most excited about for the future of the Church in the coming 10-20 years?
Jim: Church attendance was in decline across America in 80% of the churches before the pandemic. The pandemic not only accelerated what was already happening on the church landscape but was a wake-up call to many that they must change or die. Now is an extraordinary time to reap a great spiritual harvest with unprecedented permission to re-invent your church and break away from the old, tired, ineffective methods of the 20th century and political distractions of the 21st century. Church leaders who seize the opportunity, focus on the Gospel and think like missionaries in a foreign culture will flourish in the decade ahead. Many stuck and struggling churches will get reborn or revitalized by merging with a church planter or joining a multisite church. I am excited about helping those churches fulfill their redemptive potential in the decade ahead!
Brad’s Final Thoughts. I believe in the local church and its potential to forever impact its community for the sake of the Gospel. Although the future looks unknown, this is the perfect time for pastors and leaders to stand up and chart a clear and inspiring path forward. If you are a pastor, be bold and lead faithfully. Help your church to rally around the mission of Jesus. Invite the people of your church to join you in Kingdom work that will ripple throughout eternity. Don’t play it safe. Get on your knees (alone and with others) and ask Jesus: What’s next for your church? And then act in faith and do what God has led you to do.
Jim Tomberlin Bio: Over four decades of diverse ministry, Jim has pastored a church in Germany, grown a megachurch in Colorado, pioneered the multisite strategy for Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and served as the Chief of Staff at Christ Fellowship in Miami. In 2005, Jim founded MultiSite Solutions, a church consulting company that has assisted hundreds of churches in multiplying their impact through intensive multisite, church merger, and succession consultation.
In 2019, Jim merged MultiSite Solutions with Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group to expand its capacity to assist more churches. As the @MultiSiteGuy, Jim continues to track multisite developments and has become the nationally recognized expert on multisite church. In addition, he has become the @MergerGuru, having assisted numerous churches through the church merger process. Jim is the author of 125 Tips for MultiSite Churches, Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work—Expanded and Updated, and Church Locality: New Rules for Church Buildings in a Multisite, Church Planting, and Giga-Church World. Jim resides in Colorado Springs, CO, and holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Georgia State University in Atlanta and a Master of Theology (Th.M) from Dallas Theological Seminary. Jim and his wife, Deryl, have three grown children and eleven grandchildren.
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