Churches Adopting Churches

Churches Adopting Churches: New Life for Healthy and Struggling Churches is a practical, step-by-step guide designed for churches interested in revitalizing other struggling congregations and for churches that can benefit from the resources and support of a healthy church. In this model, healthier and more vibrant churches intentionally adopt struggling or smaller churches with the aim of renewing and revitalizing them. This adoption results in a multi-site congregation, or one church in two locations.

Overview of the Book’s Core Concepts

In today’s culture, many churches are experiencing declining membership, aging congregations, and financial difficulties. Many churches are on the brink of closure. Churches Adopting Churches addresses this challenge by encouraging healthy, stable churches to come alongside these struggling congregations to give them a new lease on life.

The book explores the benefits of the adoption model for both the adopting (or parent) churches and adopted (or joining) churches. For the parent church, the process offers opportunities to grow in outreach, build leadership, and expand the mission of the congregation. For the joining church, it provides much-needed resources, leadership, vision, and renewed purpose, which can help prevent closure and bring about revitalization.

Key Components of Church Adoption

Several essential components that make the adoption process successful are:

• Vision: Both the parent and joining churches must share a common vision for the future, with the joining church accepting and implementing the parent church’s vision. The parent church must be willing to invest time, energy, and resources into helping the struggling congregation. On the other hand, the joining church needs to be open to change and willing to take bold steps toward transformation.
• Leadership: Strong leadership is crucial in church adoption. The parent church provides leadership to the struggling church through mentoring, training, and sharing staff. This includes a campus pastor and leadership team who come alongside the joining church to provide guidance and oversight. Throughout the process, trust and cooperation are built between both congregations.
• Financial Support and Resources: A key aspect of the adoption strategy is that the parent church often provides financial and material support. This usually includes sharing resources like technology, music, staffing, leadership training, and volunteers. The goal is to empower the joining church with what it needs to thrive.
• Long-Term Commitment: Adopting a church is not a quick fix but a long-term commitment. The process requires patience and persistence. The parent church must be prepared for a lengthy journey, often years long, of guiding the joining church through renewal.

The Process of Adoption

Churches Adopting Churches provides a detailed step-by-step outline of the adoption process and is organized around five stages:

• The Exploring Stage begins with a period of discernment where both churches pray and discuss the possibilities of adoption, while growing in their understanding of what an adoption involves. During this stage, both congregations engage in conversation about the vision and mission of the adoption, assess their own readiness, and explore the benefits and challenges that might come.
• The second stage is Getting Along. As the two congregations continue exploring the feasibility of the adoption, they must determine if they are compatible with each other. It is important that they spend time communicating honestly and building trust. They also discuss areas that are non-negotiable. During this stage of the adoption process the two congregations spend time getting to know each other.
• Preparing for Adoption is the third stage. The merger team creates a formal covenant outlining the expectations of both churches, establishing benchmarks and goals for the adoption. This document serves as a guide for both churches, ensuring that all parties are clear about what the process entails and what each church is responsible for.
• The next stage is Finalizing the Adoption. This stage involves strategic planning and resource sharing. During this stage the parent church begins to send resources, staff, and volunteers to the joining church to help facilitate the transition into one church in two locations. Some of the specific activities might include training volunteers, starting new ministries, or even redesigning worship services. Quite often it also requires upgrading the facilities of the joining campus. All of this is preparing the church for the launch of the new campus.
• The final stage of the adoption process is Bonding as One Church Family. The joining church is relaunched and begins to function as a part of the parent church.

Success Stories

Throughout the book, success stories from churches that have gone through the adoption process are highlighted. These stories illustrate how struggling congregations have been revitalized, how new ministries have flourished, and how congregations have grown both spiritually and numerically. These examples provide hope and inspiration for churches considering adopting or being adopted.

Also included are stories about where things did not go as expected and the lessons learned from these churches. The final chapter lists “Dos and Don’ts” to be considered when exploring an adoption.

Conclusion

Churches Adopting Churches offers a practical and hopeful approach to addressing the challenges faced by many struggling congregations today. Through the adoption model, healthier churches can partner with struggling ones, bringing new life and vitality to communities in need. Churches Adopting Churches provides a clear roadmap for churches interested in this process, emphasizing that with vision, leadership, resources, and commitment, congregations can reverse the trend of decline and instead grow stronger together.

Churches Adopting Churches: A 40-Day Prayer Guide is a supplement for churches to use to direct their prayer focus as they prepare for an adoption.

Both of these books can be found on Amazon or most online book sellers.

Dirk Elliott is an ordained minister and served as a congregational developer for 22 years. Dirk is a member of the Path 1 Strategy Team. He is a certified coach (PCC) and consultant, working with numerous churches, pastors and church planters throughout the US. Dirk is the author of Churches Adopting Churches: New Life for Healthy and Struggling Churches and Vital Merger: A New Church Start Approach that Joins Church Families Together. Dirk is founder of Healthy Leadership Coaching. healthyleadershipcoaching.net or churchesadoptingchurches.net.