Why do churches merge?

Our local mobile church leadership has proposed a merger with another local church. Reasons cited were a) pandemic meant they couldn't meet at the public school they had been using for 8 years so we would "get a permanent church home" b) we are young families; they are older c) we are better together than apart What are some best practices to follow, especially that avoid respondent bias? Such as, what if people are loyal to the pastor, or feel left out of the conversation, or want to ask disruptive questions, or feel surprised, or excited, etc. I have observed a church merger go poorly in the past because it was not handled well. It was a generational split. The reason by the younger leaders was that "the neighborhood is not like us" because of diversity so we "can't be effective in our outreach." The older generation wanted to stay. The merged church received the money from the sale of the mergee building. The church merged after a split vote, and the younger leaders left to join larger churches, the older stayed or left. Now a few remain 20 years later. My current nondenominational church in question, an elder model, began seeking this out 6 months ago, but didn't tell the congregation, wants to merge, and would take on the other church's denomination, Southern Baptist Convention. My sense is that though they say we welcome questions, and "our values are aligned," we are "likeminded," that they are muting critique with code words for in-group. The Pastor of my church will become lead pastor, and the new name will be our church's name. Both are financially solvent. The location will change to a different city, but about 15 minutes away. We originally joined partly because the pastor "felt called" to serve our current city. My question is for why do churches merge? Thank you for your time!