The Gospel Coalition

(Below is the update letter I sent our church earlier this morning, providing a brief report on our inaugural “merger team” meeting last night.) 

Dear New City,

As you know, last night was the inaugural meeting of the “merger team.” Three represenatives from Coral Ridge and three represenatives from New City, along with me, met at Mark Kreisel’s office from 7 to 10:30.

We began with all of the men sharing their testimonies and a little bit about themselves. We spent, in other words, the first hour just getting to know one another. From there we walked through a rather detailed agenda that our side put together yesterday afternoon. We talked about structural things, philosophical things, and issues surrounding style, leadership, etc. The reps from the Coral Ridge side provided us with their by-laws, financials, organizational chart, and many more documents that our CPA and attorney will be going through. We are grateful for just how cooperative Coral Ridge has been so far. I can promise you this, given the laid out process we have committed to go through, there will be no stones left unturned.

Thank you, New City, for praying that God would provide clear direction and fierce protection as we seek His plan for both congregations. Nothing is committed other than our desire to follow God. Seriously!

We are currently planning times to gather together and pray at the church office, set-aside days for corporate fasting, and a town-hall meeting (time and place TBD) once we have a clearer idea of what’s going on. Again, we will keep all of you completely in the loop. There are no secrets.

This Sunday we will most likely have a number of guests in the worship service. Please be patient and kind, but realize that the guests, media included, will have lots of questions. Remember that we also have questions, and we are seeking God’s answers through the work of his appointed servants. If asked, here are some things we do know, and which would be appropriate to share:

• I am called to be the pastor at New City and we as a church are prayerfully considering a merger. As the Sun-Sentinel reported, “it’s either all of us or none of us.”
• The intricacies of putting this merger together are going to require a time of due diligence where representatives from both sides will sit down and work out the terms of a merger for approval by both sessions. Legal matters, financial matters, ministerial matters, structural matters, and philosophical matters, will be among the list of things needing to be discussed and hammered out. Only if agreeable terms on all of these fronts can be reached and those terms approved by both church sessions would the two become one.
• This due dilligence process is not simply a formality to “close a deal” that’s already been made. All of us are willing to walk away at a moments notice if God says “stop!”

As I wrote to you the other day, please be praying that if this is what God wants he will work things out. And if it’s not what God wants, he will shut it down. Pray that God will protect both churches from vain speculation. Because both churches are willing to follow God’s lead on this, we can expect great opposition. Take courage, my friends. If God is for us, who can be against us. Press on. Strain forward. It is an honor to be your pastor!

Tullian