EMQ » January–March 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 1
By Kärin Butler Primuth
One of the most significant changes in the mission world in the last decade is the growth of mission networks. They have become important connecting points where ministries from around the world are meeting, sharing information and resources, and collectively working together. Today, there are hundreds of mission networks rallying thousands of ministries together around shared goals in dozens of mission fields.
Until recently, the scope and influence of these networks has been largely invisible even to many mission agency leaders who remain focused on their own organizational priorities. But any church, mission agency, or ministry organization that wants to be part of God’s plan to reach the nations can no longer ignore the influence of networks which are shaping the future of world mission.
Five Steps to Intentional Network Involvement
If you are a ministry leader and your organization is not yet involved in a mission network, here are five steps you can take toward intentional network involvement.
1. Cultivate a value for collaboration.
As a ministry leader, the first and most important thing you can do to move your ministry into the network future is to develop a collaborative culture within your own organization. A value for partnership will influence your priorities, where you invest your resources, how you align your personnel, and what you measure and celebrate.
One roadblock is a scarcity mentality. When we believe that there are limited people and limited resources, we fear being open-handed. Cultivating a value for partnership begins with having a value for enlarging God’s Kingdom even if our own organization diminishes or doesn’t get the credit.
2. Connect with existing networks.
Conduct an internal assessment. Identify priority areas and issues where you could benefit from information and connections with others. Are you considering expanding into new fields and need to know who is there, what is happening, and what resources are needed? Do you need help to address issues in which you lack expertise? These are the kinds of challenges that can benefit significantly by engagement in a mission network.
Next, research what networks already exist that are related to those areas or issues so you or your field personnel can connect. If no network in that area exists, then find others who might be interested in launching a network to share information and to explore connections.
One of the best ways to initially connect with a network is to attend one of their consultations. These events provide great opportunities to meet network participants, start building relationships, learn about best practices, and hear stories of how God’s Spirit is at work in challenging places.
3. Identify network leaders in your organization and empower them.
Mission networks are intentional efforts. They don’t form spontaneously or operate by themselves. Leaders with a vision for their particular area of ministry and for collaboration form the heart of effective networks.
Unfortunately, few agencies release and support their staff to effectively participate in collaborative work. Those whose vision extends beyond their agency’s goals can be seen as renegades. However, agencies could view these staff as assets to invest in important Kingdom connections which could enable their agency to achieve its goals more quickly or effectively.
Identifying, empowering, and releasing network leaders in your organization enables your ministry to maximize the benefits of network participation. This could mean creating a new C-level role like a Chief Collaboration Officer, appointing partnership champions, or releasing field missionaries to serve in full-time roles as network leaders.
4. Actively invest in networks and move to the center of engagement.
Moving to the center of network engagement begins with asking two questions. The first is what do we bring to the network? The second is what do we need from others? Networks need the active investment of individuals and organizations willing to commit valuable information and resources toward shared goals. They are only as valuable as the contributions of their members.
Too many people stay on the sidelines unwilling to make the shift from spectator to active engagement. If you’re already involved in a network, consider what steps you can take to move closer to the center where you will find greater value and also make a greater contribution toward helping the network achieve its shared vision.
5. Incorporate partnership training into your own programs.
Even people who are natural networkers struggle to facilitate large-scale collaboration that moves from talk to action. Since most mission leaders come out of hierarchical organizations, understanding how to enable collaborative work in a network’s consensus-based, flat structure is a major shift.
Large-scale, high-impact collaboration requires a different set of skills than organizational leadership. It’s important to incorporate partnership training into your programs especially for field personnel. This helps your staff understand the Biblical basis of ministry partnership, the current network landscape, and the essential parts of effective network development.
Networks are Shaping the Future of World Mission
As you explore and engage more deeply in mission networks, I am sure you will become convinced that collaboration is the single best strategy to address today’s most pressing global needs. God designed his Body to work together. Collaboration reduces duplication, maximizes impact, and strengthens our witness for Christ.
Whatever your current commitment is to networks, I pray that God would open your hands, enlarge your vision, and give you courage and faith to join with others. God is uniting the church to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of what he is doing.
Resources to Take the Next Steps Towards Network Engagement
1. Equipping organizations
International Partnering Associates (IPA) and visionSynergy are two mission service organizations that have years of experience training, coaching, advising, and facilitating hundreds of mission networks and partnerships around the world. I encourage you to connect with either one to receive resources and training to grow greater capacity for ministry collaboration.
International Partnering Associates (facebook.com/ipassociates/) is an association of partnering practitioners and advocates drawn from many nations and agencies. They specialize in training, facilitating, mentoring, and promoting partnerships and networks that serve multiple constituencies globally. They are committed to mentoring those they train and offer courses on demand for different levels of engagement and complexity. Their global diversity gives them rich input into Kingdom building tasks. It reflects their ethos of unity in diversity as well as the reality of the developing majority church.
visionSynergy (info@visionsynergy.net) is a mission service organization dedicated to equipping Christian leaders to work together to reach the unreached by developing strategic ministry networks and partnerships. They provide coaching, training, and advisory services for the leadership teams of multilateral networks and partnerships of Christian mission organizations, ministries, and churches globally. visionSynergy provides a variety of tools and training to equip leaders, and they deliver dozens of online and onsite equipping activities and events throughout the year including a semi-annual international conference, keynotes, webinars, workshops, courses, and more.
2. Learning communities
The Synergy Commons (synergycommons.net) is an online learning community dedicated to those who lead, fund, and participate in mission networks. The Commons has over 1,300 members from one hundred twenty countries representing more than seventy networks. Membership is free and provides access to an extensive resource library, interactive webinars, online courses, and facilitated discussion groups with other network leaders.
The Synergy Summit (synergysummit.global) is a biennial international conference for mission network leaders. The conference provides several days of inspiration, interaction, and in-depth discussions for two hundred network leaders from more than fifty countries. The next conference is May 2020 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Attendance is by invitation only, but you can request an invitation from the conference website.
The Synergy Catalyst Program (catalyst@visionsynergy.net) is a leadership coaching and training process designed for Christian leaders to learn how to catalyze new mission networks in their ministry fields. The program offers personalized coaching and training within a peer learning cohort over the course of two years. Participation is by invitation only.
3. Network directory
The GENMobile App (genmobileapp.com) includes a directory of hundreds of networks in more than 90 different areas of ministry focus. It also includes detailed network profiles and a calendar of events accessible to members. The app is available for iPhone and android.
4. Other resources
visionSynergy and International Partnering Associates have compiled a detailed bibliography of resources related to partnership in ministry, including books, articles, websites, and service organizations called Partnership in Christian Mission – Bibliography. Download at https://synr.gy/bibliography.
Essential Guide to Effective Networks is a three-page summary of the step-by-step process and essential elements for building effective mission networks. Available in multiple languages. Download at https://synr.gy/eg2en.
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Kärin Butler Primuth is CEO of visionSynergy, an organization dedicated to developing strategic mission networks that unite the Body of Christ to reach the unreached. Kärin’s vision for collaboration has grown out of thirty years of global ministry experience, having lived in China, India, and South Africa and traveled to more than thirty countries. Kärin also serves on the boards of Missio Nexus and Asian Access. She has an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA and a BS in Social Policy from Northwestern University. She is married with three young adult children and lives in California.
