When Families Are At Odds

I'm not talking about my biological family, although at times it seems like they're constantly at odds. This time I'm talking about my other family, my church family. We had a meeting tonight to discuss, among other things, consolidating all of the congregations into one large congregation. All of the congregations, ours including, have seen a major decline in recent years, so combining seems logical. However, when faced with changing things about "MY CHURCH", things aren't always logical. I know in the past, they've discussed combining, and discussions haven't gone over well. No matter what the decision -- to combine, to stay separate, or to combine one or two -- feelings are going to be hurt & people are going to get upset.

Unfortunately, I had to work, so I didn't get to stay & hear what was said. I'm hoping that everything went smoothly, that everyone involved will take this under prayerful consideration & focus on "what would be the best way for us to minister to our members and non-members?" rather than on "what will we lose by combining with another congregation?"