By Patti Hoffman — Volunteer Contributor

What happens when two churches with aging populations, from very different backgrounds but very similar values decide to “move in” together? They go from a mindset of scarcity, to one of abundance. 

On Sunday, Jan. 4, New Life Presbyterian Church of Roseville will be officially embarking on a joint life venture with Falcon Heights United Church of Christ (UCC).

The newly formed church will meet in the Falcon Heights location at 1795 Holton St. with worship service at 10:15 a.m. on Sundays. 

More energy, more active members, and more financial stability also comes with joy and lament as there is a leave-taking of the old and a welcoming of the new. The time choice is a small example of some of the compromise needed as one church met at 10 a.m. and the other at 10:30 a.m.

The church is in the process of selecting a new name, which will be decided Feb. 1 at the first annual meeting of the merged congregation. At that meeting, the congregation will officially vote on the vision, mission, core values and by-laws as well as pass the first joint budget. 

This merger was first suggested by the New Life congregation as they realized their church had vastly more space to manage than the members could afford. 

After failed discussions with the city of Roseville to convert the church into apartments, they decided to look for a partner church so that the New Life space could be put to better use. 

At the same time, Falcon Heights was questioning its own sustainability as years of deferred maintenance of the building was requiring solutions. While very different in organizational structure, the two congregations shared similar social justice values and ministry outreach, which planted the seed for the merger.

For the past two years, these two congregations have been building a relationship that started with periodic joint worship services and merging the youth groups. From there, a joint board was elected that began working on their plan of union, which will retain affiliations in both the Presbyterian and United Church of Christ national organizations. This was a detailed process filled with creative tension as the more structured Presbyterian requirements were balanced with the autonomous, self-governing organizational style of the UCC. 

The final worship service at New Life on December 28 was a service of remembrance where a friendship quilt joining the two congregations was part of the celebration. 

New Life will no longer be a worship site, but the church building will be reimagined with the help of some community partners.

“We are not closing the church; rather, we are combining ministries and creating a new vision for our shared faith community to live into,” said Riz Prakasim, pastor of New Life.