Broad Street UMC had a building that needed extensive work, and after much discussion, the two congregations decided to merge into one at West End UMC. Pastor Lynda Moore was the pastor at West End and she became the new pastor at Crossroads UMC.
The District Superintendent, Rev. Wayne Snead, told West End that Broad Street UMC had been dwindling and they decided that West End was the place for them. All of this happened on November 26, 2017. A merger committee was appointed, which included six members and the pastor from each church.
The committee started with relationship building and established a group to work on expectations, which included mapping out a plan, creating a vision team and joint trustees. To maintain transparency, they held Town Hall meetings to discuss plans and answer questions.
The two churches presented a draft of the merger agreement at meeting on Sunday, March 11, The Church Conference was held on April 22, 2018, and the vote was in favor of merging the two churches. The Conference was followed by a Fellowship Dinner. Afterwards, the two churches met back and forth until July 1, 2018, when the merger became official.
Attendance at Crossroads UMC is now between 70 and 75. As of January 1, 2019, the combined church has one set of officers. Broad Street UMC is currently on the market and the Crossroads Finance Committee is working on finances while establishing an Endowment Committee.
In the Virginia Annual Conference, we have several churches dealing with poor attendance with buildings that are too expensive to maintain. Neighborhoods change and churches sometimes need to change too. This merger between West End UMC and Broad Street UMC is a good example of how we can work together as United Methodists.
The Virginia United Methodist Foundation and the Development Company are working alongside these churches and will continue to offer our assistance as they mold together. We are able to facilitate long-term investments (Endowments) through the Foundation, and through DevCo, we are able to make loans to churches, as well as manage short-term investments for churches and United Methodist members. If we can be of assistance, call 804-521-1121 and ask for Randy Shelton or Tommy Herndon.