Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• By
• Dr. Tom Cheyney
• Dr. Rodney Harrison

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The materials for the first sponsoring church
  conference I led included a session on the dos
  and donts of the partnering church relationship.
  As I reviewed these materials, I almost omitted
  this session from the conference as I felt the
  dos and donts were somewhat trivial and
  rather redundant. However, time did not allow me
  to reprint the already copied materials, so the
  session remained in the conference. To my
  surprise, several participants at that first
  conference commented positively on this short
  session.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• Although I am still not sure if their acclaim was
  due to the sessions brevity or if stemmed from
  genuine significance, the session on dos and
  donts continues to be a popular element of
  these conferences. Therefore, I have chosen to
  include them in this manual.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Dos
• Do pray. One of the key ministries of the
  partnering church is prayer. Prayer should
  permeate each phase of the new church
  development. Have missionary prayer cards printed
  with the picture and a short description of the
  church planting family to encourage prayer.
  Prayer is worth the investment in time and
  effort.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Dos
• Do create (not copy) a Partnering Church
  Covenant. It is great to know what others have
  done, but no-one has ever started this particular
  new work before. Even if the mission is meeting
  in the same location as a previous group, the
  team and times have changed. So go to the local
  coffee house and work out a covenant that
  communicates what each party will commit to doing.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Dos
• Do communicate frequently with the mission.
  Communicate both formally and informally. Do not
  view your weekly or monthly meetings with the
  church planter as secondary to your other
  responsibilities. This is Kingdom work that is
  going on here! And dont forget the importance of
  an occasional phone call, e-mail or letter. All
  of these communicate the message I care.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Dos
• Do all you can do, not as little as you can do.
  When you catch yourself trying to figure out how
  you can cut the new work budget, avoid another
  meeting with the mission pastor or find yourself
  backing out of a commitment you have made to the
  new work REPENT. Be generous. Remember God loves
  a cheerful giver.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Dos
• Do celebrate successes. Just because youre so
  old that birthdays dont mean much to you does
  not mean the mission has lost its enthusiasm for
  each milestone completed. Celebrate each and
  every success with them. You might even find you
  have fun while youre at it. Share these
  successes with your congregation.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Donts
• Dont grow weary in doing good. Just as Paul
  wrote these words to the churches in Galatia,
  sometimes we too tire of doing good. Keep
  praying, keep loving and keep in contact. As Paul
  continues, for in due time we will reap if we do
  not grow weary.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Donts
• Dont expect the mission to be just like mom.
  When the mission fails to sing the same song your
  church sings each and every Lords Supper, dont
  worry. God really does love diversity. Hey, Im
  glad my kids dont look like me. So let the new
  church develop its own identity and personality.
  I am sure others would agree that one of you is
  enough!

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Donts
• Dont avoid contact with the Church Planting
  Missionary and Associational Team. These are some
  of your biggest supporters. A call or visit, or
  maybe even an invitation to preach, will ensure
  that communication takes place between the
  denominational team, the church planter and the
  partnering church. Many a great resource has come
  from such a contact.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Donts
• Dont pull the plug before seeking council.
  Emotions can be deceiving. When the time comes to
  pull in the troops, seek council from your church
  planting missionary, associational missionary or
  others who are equally concerned for the health
  and well-being of the churches of the Kingdom. If
  the plug does need to be pulled, there is a right
  way and a wrong way to do it. Remember that when
  emotions run wild, very few of us are able to
  discern the right way to handle a crises and
  more than likely youre not one of them.

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Dos and Donts for the Partnering Church

• The Donts
• Do not hold on to the mission too long. If you
  dont let go, most mission churches will gladly
  continue to accept your money. I have personally
  seen missions that were over 40 years old! That
  is not God's plan for His church. Dont hinder
  the church by allowing their faith to shift from
  the Lord of the harvest to the partnering church.