9 Principles for Partnership: An Intentional Process for Local Churches

Local churches, we are not sports fans who watch the game from the comfort of our living rooms while stuffing our faces with snacks of choice. We are commanded to suit up, train hard, and get in the game. That doesn’t mean everyone will charge during the kickoff, but it does mean everyone will be on the field—alert, with an active and intentional role to play on the team.

Local churches, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you to make disciples and to teach them all that the Lord has commanded. You have been given a great opportunity, responsibility, and authority to carry out the Great Commission. Every day, 157,690 people die without the hope of the gospel.

The need is great, and the urgency is real. Local churches must remain committed to both the Great Commission and the faithful stewardship of their resources. Yet, the reality is that a single local church cannot support every need of every believer, missionary, or agency. Each local church must choose how to steward its resources wisely.

Historically, my local church and I did not do this well. At first, we only gave money to a sending agency so that they would take care of everything. To train, equip, care for, and sustain the missionaries. The problem is that we completely and totally outsourced our responsibility as a whole church to intentionally and actively be in the game. (Here is a helpful article for how a local church can partner with a sending agency). Over time, we have grown to both give faithfully to this sending agency and to intentionally partner with the work being done.

Ideally, local churches are training, equipping, assessing, and then sending their members—people from their own congregations. Local churches ought to prioritize supporting these faithful members whom they have intentionally and strategically sent out. This builds relational depth between the congregation and the missionary, creates alignment between the local church and the field’s ministry philosophies, fosters a deeper sense of accountability, and so much more.

My local church has been working to more intentionally steward its resources in order to better co-labor alongside missionaries, church plants, and sending agencies. We’ve developed nine principles to help us in this work. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but it has been helpful for us, and I hope it may be helpful to you as well.

Nine principles to help think through potential cross-cultural partnerships:

1. The Local Church is looking… to invest more in fewer. 

Go deep, go all in with those who you are committing to. The local church can invest a little in many people; however, it’s hard on missionaries when local churches spread themselves too thin and are unable to sufficiently care for those they’ve committed to support. Let us, as local churches, commit to going all in with those we have pledged to stand behind. When the ties are strong—financially, spiritually, and relationally—the partnership is strengthened.

Can your local church sufficiently care for your current missionaries?

2. The Local Church is looking for… someone who demonstrates faithfulness.

If your local church is evaluating a new partner, it is very important to look into their history and seek out references to discern whether they currently demonstrate faithfulness, integrity, and perseverance in ministry.

Does this worker have proven character and a track record that can be verified?

3. The Local Church is looking for… someone who demonstrates fruitfulness.

The goal is not for the worker or the local church to present a long list of conversions, baptisms, or churches planted. The fruitfulness local churches should look for is seen in the worker’s acquisition of language, their ability to become established in the community and intentionally build relationships, and their growing understanding of the culture, context, and needs where they are serving. Local churches should look for faithfulness and growth in both the worker and their ministry.

How is this potential partner growing?

4. The Local Church is looking… for like-mindedness.

Commit to partnering with those who share the same convictions and aspirations. Our church is committed to the authority of Scripture, as well as a variety of other convictions. Therefore, local churches should seek to partner with and support missionaries who share those convictions.

What convictions does your church prioritize? Does this potential partner share the same convictions? 

5. The Local Church is looking… at methodology. 

There are many plans, strategies, and initiatives being carried out cross-culturally. Some potential partners will be more thoughtful and effective in how they bring the gospel into the hearts and hands of their culture and context.

Is the work sustainable or working towards sustainability? 

6. The Local Church is looking… for a vision and plan for national ownership in the work.

Strive to partner with those who are learners of the local culture. Look for cross-cultural workers who labor alongside national believers and their vision rather than seeking to implement foreign plans and strategies. Ask the worker about their exit strategy.

How are they training and equipping mature believers to faithfully persevere in the work of the ministry?

7.  The Local Church is looking… at the presented needs and potential fit for our church.

Work to understand their financial and personal needs, as well as the gaps in their vision and strategy. Some of those needs your church may be able to meet, while others you may not. For example, if a husband and wife want a monthly call to check in and support their marriage, great—you can probably make time for that. But if their local ministry strategy requires men with PhDs to teach Hebrew, maybe that’s your church, or maybe it simply isn’t the right fit.

What are the missionaries’ needs and can your church practically meet those?

8. The Local Church is looking for… someone who is accessible and open to communication.

Support partners who maintain regular updates and communication. Look for those who are open to accountability and a mutually beneficial relationship. Your local church has the authority to speak into the worker’s life and ministry, and in establishing a partnership, your local church is also inviting the worker to speak into yours.

Does your church and this worker have the humility to be held mutually accountable?

9. The Local Church is looking… to pursue partnerships over one-way relationships.

A partnership is mutual, not a one-way transaction. The local church could financially give and pray for certain missionaries and leave it at that. But I would encourage your local church to ask for more from the relationship. This is not a one-way investment into someone else’s ministry, but an opportunity for your church to develop a true two-way partnership. In partnering, your local church is seeking to encourage, spur on, and build up the work being done cross-culturally—and at the same time, you are inviting that worker to encourage, spur on, and build up your church as well.

How can your local church meet the workers needs and how can they meet your church’s needs?

The goal of these principles is to help churches steward their resources well by intentionally and deeply partnering for the sake of the gospel. Praise God that the Great Commission is not a task for a single local church, but that we are able to partner alongside like-minded brothers and sisters from around the world to strategically and intentionally labor for the sake of His name among the nations.

Each local church has the responsibility to get in the game—to be active participants in bringing honor and glory to God in their neighborhoods and to the nations. Let us be found faithful in how we steward our time, people, and financial resources.

How will you steward your resources and partnerships for His glory?