How Do Conference Mergers Affect Member Satisfaction, Giving, and Growth in the Merged Entity?

Executive summary

Conference mergers have been a recurring feature of Adventist organizational life, particularly during periods of economic pressure or membership decline. The most significant wave occurred in 1980–1981 when the newly formed Mid-America Union Conference consolidated several smaller conferences: North and South Dakota merged into the Dakota Conference, Colorado and Wyoming formed the Rocky Mountain Conference, and Nebraska and Kansas combined into the Kansas-Nebraska Conference. These mergers wer...