(CP) It is no longer news that thousands of churches are closing on an annual basis around the globe. If this trend is not stopped, many believers are in danger of losing the spiritual lifeline that churches offer.
Many churches and ministries have not recovered since the beginning of COVID-19. Some have never opened again. The most unfortunate thing is that some of the churches that are closing down have sound biblical doctrines but have no financial and numerical strength. Many Christian leaders who do not want to compromise the teachings of Christ usually struggle, and often, some of them get tired and quit.
Sometimes God allows unpleasant situations to make us realize our errors and obey His command and fulfill His desire. One of these desires is "That [we] may be one" (John 17:21). I believe that if thousands of churches would have merged or been adopted by bigger congregations, they would have survived.
The sad part about this is that many of the churches that are closing down are genuine Bible-believing ones, but due to the financial difficulties in a post-COVID world, they simply can't grow anymore. Oftentimes leaders of such churches find it difficult to believe Christ's promises about Him dwelling with His people at all times (Mathew 18:20).
Is there a way for churches to combine forces and symbiotically draw strength from each other to become more formidable and thrive in challenging times, threats, and persecutions? The merging of churches and the adoption of weaker churches by stronger churches could be of help to the body of Christ in a time like this. Genuine churches that are on the verge of closing down should start asking this question: "What other churches have the same vision and mission as us?"
Likewise, stronger churches that want to expand, instead of starting afresh in new environments, can search for weaker churches with the same heart and goal and adopt them. In this case, the lead church provides spiritual and material support to the adopted church, and the adopted church expands the coverage of the lead church. Although this requires a lot of sacrifices, the adopted church in its own small capacity plays an important role in saving costs for the lead church and localizing its ministry with ease.
Ignited Church, based in Lavonia, Georgia, recently adopted Antioch Christian Centre, from Abuja in Nigeria. The mandate of Ignited Church is to bring five million souls to the saving knowledge of Christ before Christ returns, and Antioch Christian Centre in its small capacity is laboring to take the Gospel and the love of Christ to the unreached and unengaged people groups in Nigeria. The coming together of these two churches will no doubt drive the message of Christ forward.
The stronger churches are privileged to push the Gospel to the uttermost part of the earth by synergizing with small local churches that are genuinely desiring to evangelize for the Kingdom of God but lack the wherewithal to do so. Church mergers and adoptions are good options for a stronger Christian body. Bigger churches generally have more resources, and struggling churches survive through their association with them.
It is important to note that no two churches are exactly the same. Mergers of this kind are like a marriage between a man and a woman who are different from each other yet bind together in love to produce a family. Agreement on the major points of Christian doctrine and a shared vision for mission work is often good enough. I strongly believe that churches coming together will inevitably save small churches from extinction and advance the expansion of the Gospel worldwide.
Oscar Amaechina is the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network, Abuja, Nigeria. His calling is to take the gospel to where no one has neither preached nor heard about Jesus. He is the author of the book Mystery Of The Cross Revealed.
