Partnering for the Gospel
As I look towards the fall and starting an Ann Arbor-focused church planting cooperative called Planting in Tree Town, one of the things that I’m starting to think about is the level of co-operation between the different churches and organizations involved. Of the people on my radar so far, I would categorize them all as broadly Evangelical, but there are differences as far as church polity, Reformed vs. Arminian understanding of salvation, and others. At some level, co-operation may be simply praying together, encouraging one another, and sharing resources. Might there be possibilities for actual co-operation in planting? Possibly, but that will require determining what are the non-negotiable issues that would prevent partnership. Tyler Jones, of Vintage21 in Raleigh, recently talked with Scott Thomas of Acts 29 about Vintage’s level of relationships with other organizations in their city. These are helpful categories and could provide a framework for our work here in Ann Arbor.
- Family
- Have the same “DNA” – agree theologically on the authority of Scripture, Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and what that accomplished, etc.
- Can plant churches together
- Highest level of sharing resources and interaction
- Friends
- Christians who clearly love Jesus.
- Have differing views on things like church polity, etc., which affect how closely they can work together.
- Some activities and resource sharing is possible.
- Partners
- Ministries that may not be Christians at all.
- Often social justice groups.
- Provides an opportunity for evangelism to happen with those who they are serving alongside as well as those they are serving directly.