Faith2Share is an international network of mission movements ( agencies, churches, associations and groups) who share a common vision for Christian mission and make a commitment to fulfil this vision together rather than alone.

Members of the network give assent to this agreed statement of purpose and strategy.

PURPOSE – What we want to see happen

To strengthen indigenous movements of the mission of God.

• We believe that all mission belongs to God and is instigated by God;
• In each locality and context God invites Christians to participate in the outworking of God’s mission:
• Participation in God’s mission is primarily the responsibility of the local (indigenous) church (Christian community):
• However, collaboration (initially between Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is at the heart of mission and all Christian communities have gifts to give to and receive from others in mission.

MISSION – What we do to make it happen

Building collaboration in mission.

• Faith2Share upholds the Biblical call to collaboration in mission;
• We advocate for collaboration where this does not exist and challenge mission praxis which fails to reflect Trinitarian partnership (collaboration) in mission;
• We use our joint resources to facilitate effective collaboration in mission;
• We provide network structures, and actively seek opportunities to, enable and enhance collaboration.  

CORE OBJECTIVES – What we need to achieve to make it happen

1.    Trust between leaders of mission movements

2.    Effective collaboration in mission

3.    Emerging mission movements born and growing

STRATEGY – How we do it

We build trust and understanding between senior leaders of mission movements and challenge them to actively collaborate in mission.

Relationships are key to all we do. Prayer together, the study of Scripture, corporate reflection on mission principles and practice, and shared life journeys, build the trust and understanding that are foundational to effective collaboration.

We provide opportunities and systems for the effective sharing of mission resources between member agencies and within the wider mission community.

We aim to serve each other; to strengthen the mission of each member movement through the effective sharing of resources for mission which might include skilled people, training, information, finances, prayer networks, and expertise.

We encourage the establishment of, and then partner with and support, new and emerging mission movements.

Those new movements and individuals that God is calling into mission, wherever they are in the world, are often amongst those most in need of fellowship, encouragement and active collaboration. Faith2Share intentionally reaches out to and supports such movements.

Faith2Share, as a whole network of mission movements, develops a number of programmes which are shaped by this strategy and seek to fulfil the purpose, mission and strategy outlined above. Examples of current programmes are given in Appendix 4

ETHOS and VALUES – What is important to us

Faith2Share is intentionally international, multi-cultural, evangelical (rooted in the Bible and Christ centered – see appendix 2), and committed to working together (collaborating) with local and national churches and with each other. We come from a wide range of Christian traditions and believe that our diversity of cultures and traditions enriches our unity in faith and mission.

Part of our commitment to being together in mission is our belief that the glory of God can never be fully reflected in His Church until that Church, Christ’s Body on earth, has welcomed into its midst, through conversion, all cultures, traditions, genders, and conditions of humankind. The worship of God by all His creation is the goal and fulfillment of the mission we share together. (A statement of theological principles for Faith2Share can be found as appendix 1.)

We put prayer first and depend wholly on the Spirit of God.

We also draw on the five founding principles of John Venn (1799), the founder of CMS (see appendix 3)

We are a global community, committed to overcoming North-South/East-West barriers, paternalism and dependency, and aspiring to a pattern of life which includes:

Commending Christ to others;

Praying fervently, systematically and regularly;

Studying Scripture and undertaking serious reflection and research into mission issues;

Fostering vision, faith and sacrifice for mission;

Living simply;

Giving generously;

Crossing-cultures with understanding and always ready to learn, at home and abroad.

We believe in the missional church. As a network we seek to be ‘church serving’, a blessing to the local church, and to inspire churches to become intentionally missional. We are committed to church planting and church growth, the formation of missional leadership for churches, and facilitating interchange (the exchange of people and resources) between churches for mission.

We value the fact that we represent ‘every nation, tribe, peoples and tongues as we stand before the throne and before the Lamb’ (Rev. 7:9). We come from different spiritual heritages and bring the mission experience of different Christian traditions – historic, new and emerging.

Appendix 1

Faith2Share Theological Principles

The following statement of theological principles was adopted by the members of Faith2Share at their meeting in Ambridge, USA, on 15 October 2007

We believe that it is God’s eternal plan to unite all things in the Lord Jesus Christ, liberating those divided and enslaved by sin, so that the domain and rule of God is established both on earth and in the heavenlies.

We acknowledge the uniqueness of Christ, the only Son of God, and desire to see God glorified as the whole creation is renewed through the transforming power of the Spirit. This requires humble but honest dialogue with all those who seek truth outside the way of Christ.

We believe that the Gospel of God’s love is enriched as it is inculturated and finds expression in diverse cultures and therefore value the fact that we have amongst us individuals, associations and communities from different cultures and contexts. We are committed to working together to discover the Christ of Scripture in, and transforming, every culture and tradition.

We believe in an holistic approach to mission, proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel for the whole person, whilst maintaining the centrality of evangelism.

We believe that it is God’s call to us to enable all Christian people (women and men, young and old, able bodied and differently abled, lay and ordained) to respond to God’s call to mission across cultural barriers and geographical borders. We are a network of movements and societies who are deeply committed to sending and supporting people in mission.

We believe that in God’s economy every local church has both gifts to give and gifts to receive in mission. We are therefore deeply committed to the principle of ‘interchange’ in mission, demonstrating our oneness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We seek to facilitate and serve the Church in every part of the world in God’s global vision of the His work in our midst.

We believe it is appropriate for our member movements and societies to develop culturally appropriate structures and methodologies for mission which do not rely too heavily on inherited patterns from the West or elsewhere.

Ambridge, USA : 15 October 2007

Appendix 2

What we mean by ‘evangelical’

Faith2Share members value and hold to our evangelical faith as we draw together Christians of many traditions who share a desire to see the gospel of the reign of God

proclaimed in word and deed. We have no particular or novel doctrines of our own; we believe those things commonly shared by the Church universal. Being evangelical means that we:

Proclaim the Uniqueness and Centrality of Jesus Christ:  Salvation comes only through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ through whom the world was created and will be recreated.

Are Bible-based:   We affirm the inspiration, sufficiency, and authority of the Christian Scriptures and we aspire to read and study them daily in a deliberate and planned way. 

Are committed to making disciples:  We proclaim and teach the gospel so that all people everywhere have opportunity to become obedient followers of Jesus Christ in his mission.

Are expecting transformation:  We live in the context of the eschatological hope that all things will be fulfilled in Christ and expect to see individuals, communities and societies transformed by the power of His Spirit.

Appendix 3

Venn Principles

The five founding principles of John Venn, in founding the Society for Missions to Africa and the East (later to become CMS) in 1799 were:

Follow God’s leading;

Begin on a small scale;

Put money in second place because money follows ministry; let prayer, study and mutual converse precede its collection;

Success depends on sending people of the highest calibre;

Depend wholly upon the Spirit of God.

Appendix 4

Faith2Share Mission Pragrammes

The four primary programmes of Faith2Share as of 2011 are:

Leadership consultation (international, regional and local consultations, tele-conference consultation, and bi-/multi-lateral peer mentoring and consultation)

Leadership briefing, equipping and mentoring (in person, by email, web-based, sharing resources, etc.)

Facilitation of resource sharing (people, expertise, best-practice, information, etc.) using all available means.

Emerging Mission Movements Programme: Consultation, mentoring, building capacity, enabling collaboration.

Adopted by Faith2Share Trustees  07.02.11

The Faith2Share network is just one example of collaboration in mission.

To read recent documents on how evangelical Christians seek to collaborate in mission click here.