The Art of Networking

Interested in becoming or finding a Partnership Advocate?
Contact Michael McGill for more information: mmcgill@visionSynergy.net

The Problem

From the beginning to the end of the Scriptures we see God working to restore unity between all things and calling the Church to join him in this effort—reflecting the unity of the Trinity and working as one body. Yet, too often the Church around the world has a reputation of creating divisions and building silo organizations.

The Vision

We at visionSynergy (vS) have a passion to see the Church of the future known for its unity in both word and deed. As God gives people visions of how to live out his love in a broken world, we want believers to first ask, “Who else is already serving in this way? How might we be able to work together?” and “Do I have the skills to cultivate an effective partnership?” We want to support contemporary young people’s desire and aptitude toward connectedness by equipping them with the skills of how to develop and sustain effective partnerships. Our vision is that the default mode of operation of Christian ministry globally would be that of effective partnership and collaboration.

Do you share this vision? If a group sees the need for building the partnership skills of believers in its city, country, or region and decides a person with aptitude for this task could be freed up from within its ministry or network to serve in this way, visionSynergy would be happy to discuss what we could do to develop this person’s capacity.

visionSynergy recommends that the role description of this Partnership Advocate (PA) include these skills and responsibilities:

1. Seek out groups that desire custom-tailored partnership training
   and training tools offered through the existing training programs of
   organizations, networks, or other groups.
2. Advocate for the use of formal courses on kingdom partnership
   offered for credit at Christian colleges and universities.
3. Provide some partnership awareness and introductory partnership
   training.
4. Consult for a limited number of partnerships when the Partnership
   Advocate is ready to do so.
5. Encourage use of a shared database of partnership trainers,
   trainings, and networks.
6. Link individuals and groups who desire partnership training to
   existing tools, capable trainers, and coaches, particularly when the request is from a group of organizations or networks.
7. Identify new Partnership Advocate candidates and explore their
   potential availability.
8. Connect groups and individuals to existing networks and
   collaborations.
9. Cultivate a community of believers in the Partnership Advocate’s
   region who are also committed to the cause of equipping younger leaders with partnership skills.

visionSynergy can offer the following guidance and support at no cost to a Partnership Advocate:

1. Help develop the Partnership Advocate’s role description and operational strategy for his/her region in a way that synergistically connects with his/her group’s aims and with other Partnership Advocates globally.
2. Provide training for the Partnership Advocate.
3. Mentor the Partnership Advocate.
4. Connect the Partnership Advocate to visionSynergy and other
   partnership training tools, trainers, and events.
5. Help deliver new training resources, tools, and events if the Partnership Advocate identifies new resources, training tools, or training events strategic in increasing the partnership skills of younger leaders.
6. Provide ongoing introductions and referrals to leaders, networks,
   and groups working in the Partnership Advocate’s region.

To ensure that we can properly support the agreed Partnership Advocate, visionSynergy requests the following commitment from participating groups:

1. Develop a clear plan for how the Partnership Advocate and his/her related expenses will be provided. (visionSynergy does not fund Partnership Advocates.)
2. Require that the PA serve for a minimum of 18 months, offering 30% or more of his/her time (may be less for a local PA).
3. Create an agreed Partnership Advocate role description and strategy.
4. Draft a clear plan of how the Partnership Advocate will be locally supported on a day-to-day basis in a team environment.
5. Protect security sensitive information with appropriate measures .
6. Work in unity wherever possible with existing networks.
7. Participate in an annual regional or international partnership
   planning meeting to establish ongoing long-range plans to coordinate and expand a growing partnership movement.
8. Provide regular updates to visionSynergy regarding progress and
   challenges.
9. Collaborate with other Partnership Advocates to share information, resources, strategies, and if helpful, to develop cross-regional cooperative efforts.
10. Direct Partnership Advocate to measure growth by tracking these tabulations:

• Number of groups given training or partnership tools and the level of those trainings or tools
• Number and age range of people trained
• Number of partnerships these trained people establish

Filed under: coaching, collaboration, education, mentoring, partnerships, skills of collaboration on July 20th, 2010 | No Comments »

Internet evangelism around the world is a vast potential for Christians to collaborate together to build the kingdom. visionSynergy Associate Director Rev. David Hackett gives his review of Craig von Buseck’s new book, “Netcasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men.”

“People do their secret thinking on the Internet,” says John Edmiston, quoted in Craig Von Buseck’s excellent book, NetCasters. That simple but profound statement opens us to why millions are searching the Web for answers to their spiritual questions. The question for the Church, however, is whether it will embrace Internet evangelism and step up to connect with these searching individuals. And if it does, the second question remains: How?

NetCasters shows compellingly that God is behind Internet evangelism in a very real and powerful way – globally. Moreover, NetCasters will acquaint the reader with biblical rationales for doing Internet evangelism, explain the methods, techniques and tools for it, and introduce the networks and key advocates that power it. NetCasters is the easy and comprehensive introduction readers have been looking for to quickly bring them up to speed on the rich, multifaceted ministry of Internet evangelism. I wish every church and ministry leader could read it – and bring their evangelism efforts into greater fruitfulness in this digital era.

NetCasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men,
by Craig von Buseck. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, June 2010, 192 pages. On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/NetCasters-Using-Internet-Make-Fishers/dp/0805447849

Filed under: Uncategorized on June 23rd, 2010 | No Comments »

Eugene Scott, an African American journalist and missionary, recently traveled to Fiji to serve at a parachurch organization committed to rescuing victims of sex trafficking. While there, he found himself partnering with locals, helping them raise funds to support 300 Fijian missionaries around the world.

This approach to missionary work was unique to Scott. Growing up in predominantly black urban churches in Washington, DC, Scott was involved in missions work but the missions philosophy of these black churches is “very local.” These communities “are less likely to be consistently involved in international missions than predominantly white and/or suburban churches–and when they are, that involvement rarely includes actually sending missionaries abroad from their local congregations.”

He first concluded that a localized missions philosophy made the most sense for black churches. “It just seemed ethically wrong to step over a neighbor in need to get on a plane to go help someone else.” But Fijians he encountered told him he was the first African American missionary they had met and wondered why more missionaries of color hadn’t come to their homeland. His explanation was met with confusion: Why did there have to be an either/or?

David Goatley, who coordinates the African American Baptist Mission Collaboration, an initiative of five major African American Baptist organizations united to pledge $50 million to Haiti relief, believes to “be involved globally, to do it most effectively, you need to do it in collaboration, because local congregations often don’t have the scale, the resources to make a major impact alone. And even some of the larger membership churches can benefit from collaborations.”

Goatley said he understands and supports local missions, yet he encourages urban and ethnic churches to expand their missions philosophy: “If we’re going to be relevant today as you should be, you have to be global….[A] gospel that doesn’t go everywhere doesn’t go anywhere. It’s not enough to be exclusively localized.”

However, Goatley does reject a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy to missions work: “Ministry priorities should be based on the context they serve….As long as we continue…to place stress upon churches about where they ought to be and what they ought to be doing, we deny the idea that churches have to determine what they are called to be and to do based on the context and challenges they face.”

Read the full article

Find Related Networks

Filed under: Global collaboration on June 21st, 2010 | No Comments »

Church World Service (CWS) and Christian Aid, two humanitarian agencies that have been working in Haiti long before, during, and now after the devastating January 12 earthquake, publicized several recommendations for Haiti’s recovery on the eve of the International Donors’ Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti at the United Nations Headquarters on March 31.

Besides the not unexpected list of short- and long-term priorities, i.e., food and nutrition security, agriculture investment and diversification, business and job development, women’s rights, child welfare and education, the two NGOs stressed inclusiveness and collaboration between Haiti and international donors, Haiti and neighboring Dominican Republic, Haiti and members of the Haitian Diaspora, and within the Haitian society itself as this nation begins its “Plan of Action” toward reconstruction and recovery.

CWS and Christian Aid strongly urged that any reconstruction plans include the active support of and coordination with “local Haitian civil society, members of the Haitian Diaspora, and the international community” and that Haiti and the Haitian people “lead the reconstruction of their country.” To “ensure efficient, effective collaboration and coordination, we [CWS and Christian Aid] encourage the creation of a core commission of respected Haitian citizens to oversee all work and ensure that the plan of action stays on course. The commission would represent a wide spectrum of civil society, with members who are seen as committed to the whole of Haitian society and not just individual sectors….” 

Binational work between Haiti and the Dominican Republic “should be encouraged” to build on the extraordinary solidarity and public support given to Haiti by its neighbor following the earthquake, a response that has reduced the historically strained relations between these two countries.

These recommendations appear to have fallen on receptive ears. During the conference, over 150 UN member states and international organizations pledged 5.3 billion dollars for the next 18 months to begin implementing the Government of Haiti’s Action Plan for National Recovery and Development, a document outlining its priorities, cost estimates, and strategies for short- and long-term reconstruction. The document also states the desire of the Haitian Government to involve “all sectors of Haitian society where everyone is called upon to play a role in searching for the collective interest that is ultimately the best guarantee of individual interests in an inclusive society” (6).

With this Plan of Action, Haitian officials and international donors are touting a new paradigm of economic development in Haiti: rather than funding aid through foreign NGOs, donors will look to the Haitian government to determine priorities and plans and pledge to channel aid through the public sector.

“The leaders of Haiti must take responsibility for their country’s reconstruction,” agreed Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, pledging $1.15 billion for Haiti’s long-term reconstruction. “And we in the global community must also do things differently. It will be tempting to fall back on old habits–to work around the government rather than to work with them as partners….”

What an auspicious beginning to this unprecedented global collaborative effort to help this Caribbean nation.

Filed under: Haiti, collaboration on April 14th, 2010 | No Comments »

International evangelist Luis Palau, in partnership with Spanish television network Enlace, will launch an Easter Holy Week mission aimed to reach millions of Spanish-speaking people with the Good News. The Luis Palau Association (LPA) will produce six nights of continent-wide, one-hour long interactive TV broadcasts during Easter week (March 28 through April 2, 2010). Each nightly program (6:00 PM, CST) will be simulcast over a network of partner radio stations and the Internet. About 7000 churches are partnering with the Continente effort to launch their own outreach events.

The Monday through Friday telecasts offer a live call-in format, where call screeners in 23 countries will connect callers with Palau or another live counselor. Following each of these telecasts will be a post-show Webcast discussion in which Palau and others discuss caller questions. The post-show discussions “will emphasize important principles that can help viewers better understand how to experience greater joy and satisfaction in life.”

On Easter Sunday (April 4) Continente 2010 will conclude with a special afternoon service (aired live by Enlace) at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. The three-hour service will feature Palau, worship leader Marcos Witt, and a number of guest artists and Latin leaders.

Read the full article

Filed under: Internet, Internet evangelism, evangelism, media outreach on March 19th, 2010 | No Comments »

The relatively new but noteworthy Global Christian Forum continues its efforts to create an open, respect-filled platform so that representatives from a broad range of Christian churches and interchurch organizations–Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal and the African Instituted Churches–can gather to explore, discuss, and address together common challenges and interests.

At its historic November 2007 global gathering in Kenya (the culmination of a nine-year process), over 230 leaders of all the main Christian traditions from all parts of the world participated–an unprecedented representation.

In subsequent meetings in 2008, the GCF assessed its strengths and weaknesses and used these findings and the recommendations of the global gathering to develop a new programme, a three-year plan (2009-2011), to further define and shape its nature, role, and objectives. GCF is currently in the process of scheduling meetings and activities to implement this plan.

Filed under: Large churches, churches, collaboration on March 15th, 2010 | No Comments »

The African-American Baptist Mission Collaboration, which includes America’s five largest African-American Baptist organizations, plans to provide ongoing aid to earthquake victims as it seeks to help rebuild Haiti. This joint effort is the first time these church groups, representing 40,000 church congregations, have worked together on such a large scale. The coalition’s long-term goal will be to “work with Haitian partners to rebuild strong homes, churches, schools and clinics.”

Already, the coalition has deployed medical professionals to provide critical medical services and care and instituted feeding programs in Port-au-Prince and Saint-Marc, providing hundreds of meals a day. Other aid relief, such as water provisions, energy supplies, cash grants and groceries, has been distributed to needy families and individuals.

Stephen John Thurston, president of the National Baptist Convention of America and senior pastor of Chicago’s New Covenant Missionary Baptist, explains the coalition’s quick response: “Having existing working relationships with established churches in the country enabled us to move swiftly to provide food, water, temporary shelter and pastoral care.”

About $50 million in raised funds (mostly from local churches) will be used to support this aid and provide assistance in planning and constructing five health-care clinics, 50 schools, 500 reconstructed churches to serve as community center points, and 5,000 homes to house victims left homeless.

Read the full article

Filed under: Haiti, churches, collaboration, humanitarian outreach on March 13th, 2010 | No Comments »

Internet Evangelism Day is an annual focus day for churches. This year, it is scheduled for Sunday April 25. It’s an opportunity for any church to explore with its members the exciting opportunities for sharing the good news online. Ready-made free downloads – PowerPoint, video clips, handouts, drama scripts and music can be easily built into a presentation of five minutes or 50.

2010’s focus day will be the sixth annual day to be used by churches around the world since the initiative’s launch in 2005. Over this period, digital media has developed dramatically, with the advent of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and the growing use of mobile phones to access online services.

To make it easy for churches to act on this and join in, The IE Day organizers have created an excellent website to assist churches, at http://www.internetevangelismday.com.

IE Day’s website is a one-stop resource covering many subjects including: how to build a church website that is ‘outsider friendly’, how to use Twitter in evangelism, and ideas for effective blogging.

Perhaps surprisingly, one does not need to be technical to share faith online. One can volunteer to be an email mentor to inquirers with several large online outreach ministries, and many other opportunities are also available.

Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Network, based at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton. It is supported by a wide range of Christian leaders and groups.  “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” says Dr. John Stott.

More information: http://www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

Filed under: Internet, Internet Evangelism Day, Internet evangelism, Large churches, Strategies, churches, collaboration, evangelism, media outreach, mobile, partnerships on March 12th, 2010 | No Comments »

In 1964 the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ), and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) united to fight racial injustice.

Now, nearly 50 years later, these same three churches have formed a new collaboration to address today’s major social ills plaguing African American communities: high unemployment, poverty, low high school graduation rate, inadequate or inaccessible healthcare, and the high crime and incarceration rate among male African Americans. With a combined membership of more than 5 million, this “new church” coalition seeks to create and implement a nationwide effort to confront these issues.

This effort was launched early this month, when the coalition held the “Great Gathering” in Columbia, SC. One of the initiatives developed during this three-day event is the Male Investment Plan (MIP). The MIP’s central tool will be Saturday academies, located in the three partner churches on a rotating basis. “These workshops will teach life skills, career options, self-esteem, anger management and spiritual enhancement, study habits and financial literacy and other lessons. The plan also calls for mentors, the possible involvement of celebrities and other professionals and for relationships with organizations such as the Children’s Defense Fund and the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities.” 

The MIP will begin in May with 16 regional centers in Washington, D.C., where there are congregations from each church and several historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, to provide support and mentoring.

The coalition hopes to raise $10 million in seed money for this initiative. However, it will not ask any organization or government entity for these funds. Says the Right Rev. Warren Brown, senior bishop of the AME Zion Church, “We’re not asking you to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves…we’re through with that.” Instead, the three churches plan to ask their own members to each donate $10.

Because of the fruitful discussion and work completed during the “Great Gathering,” Bishop Brown is convinced this program would yield the desired results. “We are…united and committed….The world is going to feel the impact of what happens when Black Methodists get together.”

Read the full articles: Formation and Great Gathering

Filed under: churches, coaching, collaboration, mentoring on March 9th, 2010 | No Comments »

For more than 30 years, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), a relief and development network, has been working in Haiti, partnering with local churches and community organizations so they can more effectively serve their communities. In the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010, these long-standing relationships enable the CRWRC to respond quickly to the crisis.

January 13 report

Comments Ken Little, CRWRC’s Disaster Response Senior Project Manager, “During a disaster like this, it is hard to see anything positive. But one strength that we do have is local leaders and community connections who can quickly identify needs and help us distribute aid to those most in need in a timely and effective way.”

At this point, “meeting the immediate needs,” such as water, shelter, and food, is the first response. As CRWRC collaborates with other relief organizations to ensure that the aid efforts are coordinated and no needs are overlooked, it activates plans to address long-term needs.

January 21 report

Because of CRWRC’s local connections and its partnership with Medical Teams International, the first group of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel arrives January 16.

CRWRC staff members organize lodging for the incoming medical teams so they can begin work as soon as possible. They continue to assist the medical personnel in “finding places to see and treat patients, many of whom still have untreated wounds and fractures from the quake.”

Another CRWRC partner, the Union of Baptist Churches in Haiti, opens up its seminary campus as a temporary refuge for earthquake survivors.

CRWRC continues to supply people with food despite the logistics of purchasing, shipping, and distributing the food via roads blocked by downed power lines and rubble.

February 2 report

CRWRC’s Haiti earthquake response team (seven people) continues to carry out emergency distributions as they prepare for a longer-term response, estimated to span at least the next 24 months.

“The team has identified six villages in Leogane for the next phase of our response,” said Jacob Kramer, CRWRC Director of Disaster Response.  “They have an approximate population of 2,500 families. The first discussions with the village leaders have been positive and we are beginning to survey the families to assess needs.”

Tentative plans include “building transitional and permanent housing, reestablishing livelihoods, providing programs for psycho-social needs, forming community groups, and providing for children.”

The team will also be joined by a water and sanitation expert from ZOA Refugee Care, one of CRWRC’s partners in the Netherlands. This new staff member will organize the redevelopment of wells and latrines and assist in designing water solutions. Reports Kramer, “We will continue to hire staff for the different sector activities like community organizing and building temporary shelter.”

Read the latest CRWRC Haiti news reports

Find Related Networks

Filed under: collaboration, humanitarian outreach, networking, partnerships on February 12th, 2010 | No Comments »