Partnership for Leadership- Enabling a Person of Confluence

Matthew 10 talks about utilizing a person of influence and Luke 10 speaks to finding a person of peace, but what about partnerships beyond entry and evangelism? Is there a biblical basis for partnership in church planting and leadership development? Actually, in Phil. 1:4-5 Paul expresses his thankfulness for having co-laborers or partners in the gospel ministry. It could be argued that Barnabas, Silas, Luke, and Timothy were Paul’s partners in church planting and later leadership development. I would call these guys “persons of confluence”. It’s wonderful when you can find a certain juncture in your ministry that others have a joint vision, a confluence of mission, and begin to walk with you toward that end. After new believers have been gathered, it’s a good thing to have partners to share the load of training them for becoming a church. But let me ask you 3 questions: is it a good idea? Is it theologically sound? Are there any parameters for partnering?

Is Partnering for Leadership a good idea?

Back in the 1990s, Dr. Jim Herrington was the Executive Director of the Union Baptist Association in Houston, TX, at that time having over 500 congregations that were growing by leaps and bounds through strategic networking and building effective partnerships. In an interview with City Partnerships, Jim said "we view strategic planning with churches as an adjustment to God's activity. We want churches to be crystal clear about end results which a church feels God calling them…
We have started 2 year leader development process in learning and changing behavior. It is a coaching process." This process was called LeadersEdge; a Russian pastor and I personally were invited to come be a part of it, and what we experienced in that coaching community was amazing! (Here is a link to the LeadersEdge resources that UBA Houston uses).
Jim explains that "a part of that process is creating networks across denominational lines in order to disciple the city. We have worked closely with DAWN… We believe these 4 principles help explain our process in Houston. We think of these as concentric circles beginning with the inside circle and working outward...”
1. "Leaders - We want them to experience functional unity. We do this through a commitment to pray for one another in a real and personal way. We want to reach the elders of the city to mobilize the resources of prayer."
2. "The second circle contains intercessors - gifted and called people who pray for the city."
3. "The third circle is Information of the harvest force and harvest field. The harvest force information measures the strength of the churches while the harvest field information measures the needs of the cities."
4. "The final circle is mobilization. This is where churches and leaders attach an area of need."
"These go on simultaneously but we work inside to outside. If you start with mobilization you may lose your Christian focus," Jim said.

NAMB has produced a good worksheet/study for considering what it takes to develop an effective partnership. Click here!
Pay particular attention to page 5 about the role of the partnering church.
Ok, so if partnering is important, with whom do you partner for church planting and leadership development? Do you just try to go it alone, or

Is there a theological basis for having these partners?

In May of 2006 at Dallas Theological Seminary, a young Russian scholar named Vasily Dimitrievsky explored this question of partnership in his ThM thesis entitled “Church Partnerships Among Russian Baptists: Theological and Missiological Analysis”. In this 84-page document, Dimitrievsky proposes a theological basis for partnership found in the relationships within the Trinity as well as within the community of believers. His also suggests the biblical purposes of partnership are to unify, to edify, and to evangelize. I’d highly recommend your reading his thesis. Dimitrievsky says Russian Baptists have historically tended to partner with like-minded evangelicals but have also maintained a high level of control of the partnership. Even so, Russian Baptists are changing in their attitudes about partnership, with whom they’ll partner and who they will trust. Just doing a brief survey of Russian Baptist history will reveal several areas where partnerships were developed with “brotherhood Mennonites,” other “Baptists,” other “Christians baptized by faith,” with “Petersburg believers,” or with other “evangelical believers,” and yet I’ve personally seen where a mistrust can develop when there is an unfortunate breach of trust in a partnership. Famous names like Voronin, Pavlov, Ryboshapka, Prohanov, and Pashkov flash across the screen of Russian Baptist history in developing partnerships, so any good Russian missionary should be aware of these heroes of the faith. All of this to say that now more than ever, Russian churches and Russian missionaries need to learn with whom they can really partner.
Sometimes it seems that potential persons of confluence are everywhere; at other times, it seems lonely on the missions trail. But, is there anyone you shouldn’t partner with?

Is there some set of parameters for partnering for leadership development?

IMB has published a hierarchy of levels for partnership (see Rankin, J. To the Ends of the Earth: Churches Fulfilling the Great Commission, pp. 165-69).

Level 1- Access/Entry to Population Segment (partner with persons of influence, ie. government organizations, private institutions).
Level 2- Prayer & Humanitarian Aid (partner with other denominations & agencies).
Level 3- General Evangelism (partner with persons of peace & other evangelicals)
Level 4- Church Planting (partner with other Baptists, Baptist Conventions, Baptist churches).
Level 5- Church Leadership Development (partner with Baptist seminaries)

When I was in Bryansk, I partnered with Kentucky Baptist Convention, the Bryansk Bible Institute, the Alliance for Saturation Church Planting, and some local Baptist church leaders to produce some training for potential church planters on developing small groups and leading leaders. In St. Petersburg, I found the joy of partnering with Luther Rice Seminary, many SBC pastors and professors, the St. Petersburg Baptist Association, St. Petersburg Christian University, and some key Georgia Baptist Convention churches to develop an official quarterly informal training program for pastors, youth pastors, church planters and leaders of women’s ministries. It’s good when you can trust those who will be training to hold to sound doctrine and yet explore untapped ways for expanding ministry.

So, if it is a good idea, if it’s theologically sound with biblical precedence, and if there is some structure for partnership, with whom do you partner? Or do you really think you can do it all yourself?