• Purpose: Accelerate Whole Church Taking Whole Gospel to Whole World
  1. Encourage the collaboration of global networks in order to accelerate the cause of world evangelization
• Covenant:, Sec 7 Cooperation in Evangelism
  We affirm that the Church’s visible unity in truth is God’s purpose. Just as disunity undermines our gospel of reconciliation. …We urge the functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church’s mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience….
• Sec 8 Churches in Evangelistic Partnership
  …[T]he responsibility to evangelize belongs to the whole body of Christ. …[A] growing partnership of churches will develop and the universal character of Christ’s Church will be more clearly exhibited….

Willowbank Report (1978)

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• 8. Church and Culture, E. The Danger of Provincialism
  Thirdly, each church should enter into a “partnership … in giving and receiving” (Phil. 4:15). No church is, or should try to become, self-sufficient. So churches should develop with each other relationships of prayer, fellowship, interchange of ministry and cooperation. Provided that we share the same central truths (including the supreme lordship of Christ, the authority of the Scriptures, the necessity of conversion, confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the obligations of holiness and witness), we should be outgoing and not timid in seeking fellowship; and we should share our spiritual gifts and ministries, knowledge, skills, experience, and financial resources. The same principle applies to cultures. A church must be free to reject alien cultural forms and develop its own; it should also feel free to borrow from others. This way lies maturity.

Manila Manifesto (1989)

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• THE TWENTY-ONE AFFIRMATIONS of the Manila Manifesto
  17. We affirm the urgent need for churches, mission agencies and other Christian organizations to cooperate in evangelism and social action, repudiating competition and avoiding duplication.
• B. THE WHOLE CHURCH, 8. THE LOCAL CHURCH
  …In all this each congregation and denomination should, where possible, work with others, seeking to turn any spirit of competition into one of cooperation. Churches should also work with para-church organizations, especially in evangelism, discipling and community service, for such agencies are part of the Body of Christ, and have valuable, specialist expertise from which the church can greatly benefit.
• B. THE WHOLE CHURCH, 9. COOPERATING IN EVANGELISM
  Evangelism and unity are closely related in the New Testament. Jesus prayed that his people’s oneness might reflect his own oneness with the Father, in order that the world might believe in him, and Paul exhorted the Philippians to “contend as one person for the faith of the gospel”. In contrast to this biblical vision, we are ashamed of the suspicions and rivalries, the dogmatism over non-essentials, the power-struggles and empire-building which spoil our evangelistic witness. We affirm that co-operation in evangelism is indispensable, first because it is the will of God, but also because the gospel of reconciliation is discredited by our disunity, and because, if the task of world evangelization is ever to be accomplished, we must engage in it together. “Cooperation” means finding unity in diversity. It involves people of different temperaments, gifts, calling and cultures, national churches and mission agencies, all ages and both sexes working together.
  …We confess our own share of responsibility for the brokenness of the Body of Christ, which is a major stumbling-block to world evangelization. We determine to go on seeking that unity in truth for which Christ prayed. We are persuaded that the right way forward towards closer cooperation is frank and patient dialogue on the basis of the Bible, with all who share our concerns. To this we gladly commit ourselves. (Jn. 17:20,21; Php. 1:27; Php. 1:15,17; 2:3,4; Ro. 14:1-15:2; Php. 1:3-5; Eph. 2:14-16; 4:1-6; Eph. 4:6,7; Ac. 20:4; Jn. 17:11, 20-23)
• CONCLUSION: PROCLAIM CHRIST UNTIL HE COMES
  …So the Christian mission is an urgent task. We do not know how long we have. We certainly have no time to waste. And in order to get on urgently with our responsibility, other qualities will be necessary, especially unity (we must evangelize together) and sacrifice (we must count and accept the cost). Our covenant at Lausanne was “to pray, to plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world”. Our manifesto at Manila is that the whole church is called to take the whole gospel to the whole world, proclaiming Christ until he comes, with all necessary urgency, unity and sacrifice. (Lk. 2:1-7; Mk. 13:26,27; Mk. 13:32-37; Ac. 1:8; Mt. 24:14; Mt. 28:20)

   

Iguassu Affirmation (1999)

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• Preamble
  We see some international organizations - among them the World Evangelical Fellowship, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, and the AD2000 and Beyond Movement - that have begun a promising process of partnership and unity.
• Commitments: 13. Partnership
  As citizens of the Kingdom of God and members of Christ’s body, we commit ourselves to renewed efforts at cooperation because it is our Lord’s desire that we be one and that we work in harmony in His service so that the world will believe. We acknowledge that our attempts have not always been as equals. Inadequate theology, especially in respect to the doctrine of the church, and the imbalance of resources has made working together difficult. We pledge to find ways to address this imbalance and to demonstrate to the world that believers in Christ are truly one in their service of Christ.

 

 

And here is an intersting definition of partnership ...

 

Partnership is a working relationship between two or more autonomous entities whereby each contributes, by mutual agreement, some of its own resources, according to mutually established and clearly defined expectations, toward the accomplishment of a common goal.

 

Working relationship – it differs from fellowship and relationship-building, which are good in themselves, in that a partnership usually works toward an objective.

 

Autonomous entities – none of the partners are controlled or dominated by any of the others.

 

Each contributes from its own resources – not simply a one-way giver-receiver arrangement; both give toward the common goal.

 

Clearly defined expectations – partners understand what is expected from one another and can be held accountable to one another.

 

Common goal – a partnership is formed around a common goal, and that goal helps determine the extent, duration and conditions of the partnership.