The problems of working together

Let’s work together. The mood music of Christian mission these days is about collaboration and partnership. Whether it is a local alliance of Churches Together in England, or the shared mission of HOPE, Christians are standing together like never before.

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance and cross-denominational initiatives like Street Pastors and Foodbanks are expressions of all that is good in harmonising efforts and sharing resources.

Internationally, relief and development agencies are teaming up to campaign together on everything from climate change to migration. Organisations like Bible Society are working in the context of a ‘generous orthodoxy’. As long as Christ is at the centre and the Bible is at the boundary of belief and practice, what’s not to like about working together?

UCCF Christian Unions, Premier Radio, LICC, Prison Fellowship and now Bible Society are just some of the agencies that I’ve worked with in partnership for the Gospel. It’s been a thrilling ride and I’ve become deeply committed to harnessing what we have between us for the good of both church and society.

Many, however, are surprised at how difficult working together can be. Some talk a good game but, in reality, they don’t really move out of their small corner and team up with others. Some churches or organisations will only work with others on their own terms. And for those who have genuinely attempted to do things collaboratively, they often have the scars to prove it.

I’ve learnt quite a bit about working together at a local, national or international level. Here are some of the best practices that I’ve discovered.

It was an older Ethiopian pastor friend of mine who shocked me when he said that he didn’t really want to have a partnership with me. Wisely, his point was that partnerships often lead to disappointment when one side or the other fails to live up to what is expected of them. If you don’t contribute your 50 per cent then the other person is upset.

Better by far is to do ministry out of a shared relationship. The difference is that if you don’t put in your 50 per cent then it doesn’t matter, or it matters a lot less. Relationships assume trust, whereas partnerships feel more transactional.

At Bible Society we are cautious about who we will work alongside, not because we are highhanded or think we are better than others, but because we look to establish a deeper relationship before we start working together. Some don’t like this approach, but it has saved us a good deal of heartache over the years.

Is it because we are Christians that working with others is often difficult? I’m not so sure. Certainly believers can struggle to have honest debates for fear of offending their neighbour or because they think disagreements dishonour God. But the problem with this is that differences of opinion often become hidden, or are whispered behind hands, or explode unexpectedly in inappropriate ways.

Some even prefer to drop their membership of a working group or initiative rather than have a full and frank discussion. But is this being honest? Here I do think Christians can struggle to let their ‘yes be yes, and their no be no’.

Christians can sometimes be naive about how challenging it can be to work with others, whether they are believers or not. According to a paper on Collective Impact from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, several elements need to be in place for a successful relationship. I wish I had discovered these earlier.

Five characteristics are essential: a common agenda, a shared measurement system, mutually reinforced activities, continuous communication and the support of a backbone organisation. These characteristics lead to much more impact than would be the case when churches or organisations work on their own. In this sense, isolated impact is much less effective than collective impact, yet some still choose to go it alone.

To get it right the leaders of a shared project need to listen to each other deeply to discover if they truly have a common agenda. They need to be in agreement over what success would look like and how they will notice it when it happens. Their individual activities need to be consciously aligned and built on each other.

Communications need to be designed to strengthen relationships rather than be on a ‘need to know’ basis. And the role of an outside agency to bring objectivity and resolve difficulties will be recognised.

Bible Reading Fellowship’s Messy Church project and Bible Society’s Open the Book schools project are examples of how to work well together. Both provide the context and support to local groups as well as a level of objectivity and continuity. Let’s not give up working together but learn how to do it properly, for the benefit of the Kingdom.