An update on the plan of merger
May 15, 2025
By Rev. Rick King
When our joint Merger Steering Committee met on May 6, I remember being surprised when I realized that we were setting the date of the congregational vote to officially merge with New Life Presbyterian Church.
“Wow!” I said to the group: “We’re really doing this thing.” It’s going to happen July 13 in a special congregational meeting after worship. YES—we’re there! Or we will be, this summer.
For some in both our congregations, the coming vote may feel sudden. Even though we’ve been developing the Plan of Merger for several months, and have been involved in the overall discussion of merger for a year now (remember our unanimous congregational vote on May 18, 2024, in favor of pursuing a merger with New Life?).
For others, it may feel long overdue: “Finally, we’re going to vote on this. What took so long?” This merger has lots of moving parts to coordinate: the Plan, deciding what to do with facility spaces, possessions of both churches, merging worship and program life, governance, and more. AND, since we belong to denominations and are accountable to our members, there are three rounds of approval to this process:
- Approval by the Executive Board and New Life’s Session;
- Approval by the two congregations;
- Denominational affirmation by the Minnesota Conference UCC and approval by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.
The deliberate slowness of each of these steps is in keeping with the thorough manner in which both our congregations discerned the merger path we eventually chose. It’s important to bring as many of our congregants along as possible, and to move as a group. (Think of how a good leader of a hike in the woods makes sure the group doesn’t leave anyone behind.)
The timetable going forward? Right now, we’re preparing for the vote. A Special Bulletin went out yesterday to all of you who get the TAB, and it includes all the details, along with the Plan of Union. Our Executive Board has a month to review it between its May 20 meeting and voting on the Plan at its June 17 meeting.
After having thoroughly considered the Plan of Union, each congregation holds a Special Congregational Meeting on Sunday, July 13, to approve it as a congregation. Up till now, we’ve been what you might call “merged in practice”; the vote will render us “merged in fact.”
After the July 13 vote, we inform the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ of the outcome, and the Minnesota Conference Board of Directors simply affirms our congregation’s vote at their regular meeting on Aug. 9. This is one of the differences between the way the UCC churches govern themselves and the way the Presbytery approves local church decisions. The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area needs to approve New Life’s July 13 vote to approve our Plan of Merger when they meet September 11. They’ll actually be voting on two separate motions: one is the merger itself, the other is the sale of their building.
Throughout the fall, we’ll continue carrying out the Plan of Union’s steps and tasks and, hopefully in January, we’ll celebrate the new church born of this merger.
The most important thing is that everyone looks at the Plan to be clear about what we’re doing in the months ahead. What questions do YOU have about the merger process? You can send them to [email protected].