Welcome to this online tool for local church collaboration created by Avery Stafford. This model for collaboration is a viable method for local churches to practice unity – the kind of unity that mirrors the Triunity of God. It was produced out of a conviction that local church collaboration in every city must be committed to diverse inclusion that is anchored in relational trust. Pastor Avery produced this model in hopes of a) guiding church leaders to think more Kingdom-minded and less clan-minded, b) gathering visionaries and pragmatists to collaboratively strategize ways to gospelize our cities, and c) giving the next generation of Christian leaders a tool to use in building and planting 21st century churches.

This type of collaboration has four crucial elements: relationship, trust, diversity, and inclusion.

These same four elements wonderfully depict the eternal nature of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this tool will help you to create the kind of local church collaboration that mirrors the Trinity. Local churches cannot fully be God’s Church as siloed, autonomous entities. Kingdom collaboration that mirrors the Trinity is a significant public demonstration of the gospel. We are praying for local church leaders to initiate new Kingdom relationships, build new narratives of trust, and leverage those narratives to pursue the gospel in their cities. Every church will not be able to collaborate with everyone, but every church can collaborate with someone! This is the main objective for this diagnostic model.

We believe that local church collaboration must begin with a foundation of “relationship.” Ideally, visionary leaders model collaboration for their churches. Their relationship is a critical initial step on the path toward collaboration.

One definition of the word Relationship is “the way in which two or more people or things are connected or the state of being connected.” It also means “the way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave towards each other.”[1] The connection between prospective collaborating leaders serves as the primer for effective Kingdom collaboration.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Collaboration built on “relationship” is solid and attractive. Collaboration without relationship is flighty and unsustainable for gospel mission.

When considering local church collaboration, look for church leaders who want to know you better as fellow believers in Christ. There are some things that should connect you relationally.

Examples include:
-  gospel mission (sharing the redemptive news of Christ)
-  love for your city (desire to see your community be a better place to live)
-  protecting and caring for children (education, nutrition, safety, etc.)
-  feeding the poor (connecting people to where they can receive help)
-  justice (standing up for the oppressed and abused)
-  pastoral heart (loving the people of your church)

Here is a “Choir Analogy” for Local Church Collaboration

Every choir need friends who spend time together outside of the choir rehearsals

WARNING: “Relationship” is NOT a means to an end!
Genuine relationships seed potential Kingdom partnerships. Building a friendship, solely for the purpose of doing a project together, is highly disingenuous and counterproductive. In other words, now you have a fellow believer to have weekly coffee and dream together in Jesus’ name. Praise God … but don’t get it twisted. You are a long way away from collaboration that mirrors the Trinity.

CRITICAL QUESTION: Is it possible to collaborate without taking the time to build relationships?

ANSWER: Yes … but only at the beginning. Churches and organizations partner with each other all the time without first building relationships. But relationships help enable collaboration for long-term, sustainable partnerships that mirror the Trinity.  Remember Jesus in Gethsemane? Without the relationship He had with the Father, how could He have genuinely prayed the tough, raw, honest prayer he prayed (if there is ANY other way… but in the end…Thy will be done!).  Collaborations that will thrive, survive and grow need honest, genuine relationships too. We are teaching these principles of collaboration because it reflects the nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Their relational triunity is never bypassed because of a deadline for an upcoming project. If all else fails with humanity, their triune relationship never fails. And that is the point.

[1] “Definition of Relationship in English,” Lexico, accessed November 15, 2019, https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/relationship.

We believe that local church collaboration must flow from narratives of trust. As church leaders build consistency in their authentic relationships, trust is produced. The same holds true for communities of faith. Local churches with a track record of relational fellowship are well-positioned to be Kingdom collaborators because of the trust they develop over time.

One definition of the word Trust is “to rely on the integrity of someone who is being true to you (you can't have one without the other, at least not for very long); ‘true’ meaning both honest (i.e. speaking the truth) and faithful (i.e. being ‘true blue’).”[2]

THE BOTTOM LINE: The more you trust a potential collaborator, the more you will be willing to consider collaboration. Your history of consistent relational fellowship will ease your mind; you will know that their word is their bond. Trust helps to mitigate fear over the issues that sabotage and destroy Kingdom collaboration. This is why trust must grow out of a relationship.

When considering local church collaboration, look for church leaders who have built a cache of trust with you. When challenges or disagreements arise, you will be better positioned to weather those situations together. Satan will use fear to jeopardize your “Kingdom” efforts.

Examples of fear include:
-  stealing church members (members might join a collaborating church)
-  pastor envy (members might like the collaborating pastor better than you)
-  usurping our identity (collaboration may become too influential in our decisions)
-  theology/doctrine differences (“non-essentials” may become a test of fellowship)
-  groupthink (collaboration might hijack your church’s vision, not enhance it)
-  setting a precedent (when collaboration becomes a “have to” rather than a “want to”)

Here is a “Choir Analogy” for Local Church Collaboration

A choir should have confidence that every vocalist will consistently sing their part with excellence

WARNING: Trust ALWAYS takes time! The more trust is developed, the more effective and sustainable collaboration will be. This will be true during the joyous times and the not-so-joyous times. In other words, your weekly coffee meeting will be with someone you are rooting for. You will have confidence that you are rooting for each other! Praise God … but notice how small your café table is. The kind of collaboration that mirrors the Trinity is going to require a much bigger table!

CRITICAL QUESTION: Are we saying church leaders have to be best friends in order to be effective collaborators? This sounds completely unrealistic.

ANSWER: No. Churches and organizations partner all the time without prior narratives of trust. However, we have noticed that once their partnership ends, so does their fellowship. Churches in the same community come together as strangers to do good works. And months later, those same churches remain strangers. Yes, they partnered together in ministry. No one is knocking that. However, we are advocating for a type of partnership that grows from a foundation of relational trust. And THAT is what we are calling collaboration. Not only will the community celebrate your combined efforts, but they will also celebrate the love that believers have exhibited for one another. Church leaders do not have to become BFF to accomplish this. But the greater their relationships are, the greater their trust for one another will be. And their collaboration will flow out of that trust. Their public display of love will become the evidence proving that they are the followers of Jesus Christ. And that is the point.

[2] Wayne Blank, “Definition of Trust,” Daily Study Bible, accessed November 15, 2019, http://www.keyway.ca/htm2004/20040604.htm.

We believe that local church collaboration must model and, in fact, be diverse. The nature of the triune God is diverse with the Father (God who is “for us”), the Son (God who is “with us”), and the Holy Spirit (God who is “in us”). Since the premise of this model is that local church collaboration is a practice of unity that mirrors the Trinity, our collaboration must then be diverse.

One definition of the word Diversity is “heterogeneity within a group.” Examples of heterogeneity within a group include …

• informational (professional background, education, skills)

• visible (race, age, ethnicity)

• value-based differences (ethic, motivation)[3]

THE BOTTOM LINE: Seek collaboration with Christian churches who CLEARLY are different than your church.
When considering local church collaboration, look for churches that look different to the casual observer.

Examples include:
- ethnicity (White church and Hispanic church)
-  city location (rural church and inner-city church)
-  sociodemographic (upper-middle-class church and middle-class church)
-  denomination (Reformed church and UMC)
-  worship style (piano-driven vs. full band)
-  membership size (house church and large church)

Here is a “Choir Analogy” for Local Church Collaboration

A diverse choir has members who have varying musical styles, preferences, levels of competence, and experience.

WARNING: Diversity is NOT the goal!
Diversity is only one step towards the goal. In other words, now you have different types of people sitting around the same meal table. Praise God … but you have a lot more work to do if you want to mirror the love of God. Now, you have to let other voices decide what is on the menu!

CRITICAL QUESTION: Why must collaborating churches be diverse? Can we not collaborate with churches similar to our church?

ANSWER: Yes. Church affinity networks work together to accomplish great things all over the world. This model is not condemning cooperation among homogeneity churches. However, the world’s multicultural coalition has learned a lesson that many evangelical churches have yet to learn. That is, diverse collaboration is powerful, attractive, and appealing to 21st-century culture. Diversity is culturally normative; non-diversity is odd. More importantly, just look at the diverse nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are cheerleading the kind of collaboration whose diversity demands attention in this world. There should be real, improved outcomes when diversity exists – broad spectrum of gifts, experiences and perspectives; relationships in many directions to grow the collaboration as it progresses; appeal to a larger audience in the world that is watching (ex. when a Hispanic believer sees a Hispanic church collaborating with XYZ group, he/she takes notice just like XYZ folks do; when a rural or full band church now joins in, then the rural community and other full band churches can’t help but stop and take notice as well… and so on). No wonder Pentatonix is such a worldwide success!

[3] Definition comes from Brian Leander, “7 Key Characteristics of Diversity-Oriented Churches,” Leading Ideas (blog), Lewis Center for Church Leadership, June 14, 2017, https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/7-key-characteristics-diversity-oriented-churches/

We believe that local church collaboration ignites potential when it embraces the spirit of inclusion. One definition of Inclusion is “an organisational effort and practices in which different groups or individuals having different backgrounds are culturally and socially accepted and welcomed, and equally treated.” It is also “a sense of belonging. Inclusive cultures make people feel respected and valued for who they are as an individual or group. People feel a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that they can do their best at work.”[4]

THE BOTTOM LINE: Kingdom collaboration transforms MY idea into OUR idea for the sake of the gospel. And OUR idea will never be fully accomplished without ALL OF US working together. In other words, different people in the room produces diversity; different ideas from diverse people produce inclusion.

When considering local church collaboration, look for churches who insist that everyone involved will contribute to the success of the “Kingdom” idea. Thus, the overused phrase is true: we are better together.

Examples, where inclusion is needed, include:
-  initial ideas (taking good ideas and making them great for a city)
-  leadership teams (those championing collaboration)
-  support teams (those leading the work efforts)
-  promotional material (visually communicate who you are and who you want to serve)
-  prayer covering (calling on the name of the Lord to blessed Kingdom efforts)
-  worship events (multiple styles from multiple faith traditions)

Here is a “Choir Analogy” for Local Church Collaboration

An inclusive choir has diverse members who help choose the music

WARNING: Inclusion does NOT ignore or dismiss spiritual gifts and abilities! Inclusion leverages those gifts and abilities to nurture and benefit the collaboration. In other words, everyone sitting around the same meal table helps create the menu. Praise God … because “diverse inclusion that is anchored in relational trust” is the target for Kingdom collaboration. You are well on your way to living out Jesus’ prayer “…that they be one!”

CRITICAL QUESTION: Does inclusion mean we must invite every church in our city to join our collaboration?

ANSWER: No. We know that every church will not be able to collaborate with everyone, but we also know that every church can collaborate with someone! Inclusion is not only about who you invite to collaborate but also desiring every collaborator to significantly contribute to the collaboration – from initial idea to finished project. Once again, there are plenty of church and organization partnerships that combine forces to help accomplish other people’s ideas. It happens all the time, and great work is accomplished using that model. We are promoting a different model. We want you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to transform YOUR idea into OUR idea for the sake of the gospel. It is more difficult, takes more time, and involves more people. And that is the point!

[4] “What Is Diversity and Inclusion?” Global Diversity Practice, accessed November 15, 2019, https://globaldiversitypractice.com/what-is-diversity-inclusion/.

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Avery Stafford