PROPOSED MERGER OF THROOP & NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCHES *** FIFTH DRAFT *** Opposing Arguments by David S. Lawyer (Throop member) The merger resolution would combine the two existing UU Churches in Pasadena into one with the new church being located at the site of Neighborhood Church at 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd. The Throop Church Building would of course then become surplus and would likely be sold. It might then be torn down and replaced with a large building. In other words the merger would abolish Throop Memorial Church with its long history and stained glass windows. Throop members would then move to Neighborhood Church (which would likely be given a new name) along with Throop's minister, who would become a co-minister of the new Church. With the money realized from the sale, a new church might be constructed at the neighborhood site. Joint committees are to be set up with equal representation from both churches to plan the new church and its programs. Both existing churches are of about the same physical size, but the active membership of Neighborhood is several times larger than Throop which suffers from a shortage of members. The motivation for merger at Throop is partly due to supposed economies of scale (board members of Throop will be relieved of their present work, etc). Also in a larger church a wider variety of activities are supposedly available than presently exists at Throop. But the above arguments for merger may be challenged. There are also diseconomies of scale. In a large organization there tends to be more severe communication problems, more bureaucracy, and more conflicts of interest. For example consider the case of a small church where one minister does everything including building maintenance. Here there is no need for board meetings since one person manages everything. There are no misunderstandings due to faulty communication. There is not the conflict of interest which occurs when a church hires someone to make a repair and the workman does a job that will not last very long since it will take him less time (and he will thus make more money per hour). Churches deal with people interactively. If one wants non-interactive involvement one may simply watch television or video tapes. Such interactive involvement does not have many economies of scale. The ratio of active members to staff should not be much different in a small church than in a large church. One way to have a wide variety of activities without destroying Throop Church is for both Throop and Neighborhood to announce their activities to both congregations. The activities at Throop should be different than those of neighborhood. There are many books on church administration and church growth. Within them must be many ideas which could be of use to Throop. In the book "Effective Church Planning (1979) it states (p.51) "In recent years, however, an impressive amount of research has been accumulating that suggests that in person-centered organizations, smaller may be better." In "Ten Steps of Church Growth" (1977) it states (p.95): "How do you account for churches of the same denomination, located in close proximity, growing so rapidly?" The answer is that they ministered to somewhat different kinds of people. Throop is in a fortunate position with rental income from the rental of the church facilities, including a few apartments next door. It has over $100,000 in its endowment fund. In spite of low membership it is still barely able to balance its budget and thus there is no pressing financial need to merge. I have contacted a number of people who have quit Throop and I asked why? Some did not think that the sermons given by the minister weer worth their time listening to. From my own observations I have found that there is nothing much going on at Throop to attract new members. In order to grow Throop needs to make drastic changes. An important one is to strive for excellence in the Sunday services instead of the present below average performance. Many UU people will not come to church just to listen to someone read something from the pulpit (as often occurs). All too often one cannot hear what is being said due to a failure to use a microphone or to adjust the volume correctly etc. During the childrens' story time one cannot even see the children or the person reading the story. It should come as no surprise Throop has been called a dying church. Throop needs to change in such a way that it offers programs quite different than that of Neighborhood. Then people in the Pasadena area would be able to have a choice of which type of church to attend. The combined attendance would be better than the case where there is only one church (if the merger passes) and no choice of which church to attend. How should Throop change? Here are a few ideas but there are obvious many others: Sing popular songs in Church? Jazz? Singles groups for various age ranges? Weekly outings involving strenuous physical exercise such as hiking, uphill skiing, etc.? More emphasis on humanitarian concerns and politics? Peer counseling for personal crisis situations such as divorce, etc.? These activities need to be widely publicized to draw in new members. It has been alleged that a new merged church can offer an innovative program, but the program which will be developed by joint merger committees is more likely to be just a program based on compromise and not innovative at all. If the merger passes and Throop Church is sold it is lost forever. Even if one wanted to obtain another church site in this area in the future, it would be difficult to do so due to high property prices. It is claimed that the real estate market is now depressed. The merger would tend to force a sale of Throop since if it is not used as a church it would be subject to high property taxes. Thus Throop may be sold for too low a value. If it were kept, the possible future increase in the property value might make holding on to it a better investment than what would otherwise be done with the money resulting from its sale. With the long term trend in the US towards more liberal religious beliefs there are many prospective members for Throop Church provided that it get its act together and offer more and better programs and activities. Then two full UU churches in Pasadena would be better for the UU cause than just one as advocated by the merger resolution.