Better Together

Jim Tomberlin, Th.M., is an ordained minister who has served in a variety of ministries, including pioneering the multisite strategy at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. He is the founder of MultiSite Solutions, devoted to multisite and merger consultation. Warren Bird, Ph.D., an ordained minister, is the research director at Leadership Network. He has conducted numerous interviews and surveys on topics of church restarts, church planting, multisites, and mergers, and is the coauthor of twenty-three books including Culture Shift, Viral Churches, and The Other 80 Percent, all from Jossey-Bass.

• About the Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series xi Foreword xiiiCraig GroeschelPreface xvPart One: The New Merger Landscape 11. God Is Doing Something New: Biblical Basis for Mergers 32. Four Models for Healthy Mergers 213. Missional, Multisite, Multiethnic, and Other Merger Motives 35Part Two: How Healthy Church Mergers Work 614. Stages and Speed of a Merger 635. How to Measure Success 776. Why Mergers Fail 917. Financial and Legal Aspects of a Merger 1058. Personnel Changes 117Part Three: Your Next Steps 1279. Determining Whether Your Church Is a Good Merger Candidate 12910. How to Start the Merger Conversation 14911. Self-Assessment for Merger Readiness 16112. Exercise: Identifying Your Merger Issues 16713. Managing Pain and Change 17714. Where Do You Go from Here? 187AppendixesA. Merger Process Checklist 195B. Example of Merger Issues to Resolve 198C. FAQs Example from Bethany–Sun Valley Churches 206D. FAQs Example from Ginghamsburg Church 216E. FAQs Example from Woodside Bible Church 220F . FAQs on Preparing for a Merger Vote 223G. Churches Named 225H. Merger Research 229Acknowledgments 231Notes 233The Authors 241Index 243