Partnerships

This past Sunday, Nov. 4, Connections Community Church celebrated it's partnership with another church here in town- First Christian Reformed Church. 14 people were commissioned to go and work with 3C. It was inspirational, and emotional. Some of these folks have literally grown up at FCRC. They raised children there. They have grandchildren that are now members there. Hearing, and responding, to the call to leave was not an easy or flippant decision. It was prayed about, talked about, knocked about for months. But ultimately these folks came to know God has a unique role for them at 3C.

Partnerships can be scary, can create difficulty, can open doors for misunderstanding, can be threatening, and can generally make life more difficult. But they are absolutely essential.

I can't imagine my life without my #1 partner (and I'm not going to hyper-spiritualize this and say Jesus, even though that is true)- my wife Robin. Our partnership is awesome. Together we run a household, we entertain, we are launching a church. Hey, we even created new life- three to be exact! But the partnership takes work. We have to work on our communication, our schedules, our individual needs- and the list could go on. It's not always glamorous- making meals, cleaning up after meals, laundry, cleaning, yard work- and that's just what I do (Ha). But suffice to say, at the end of the day, the partnership is worth it.

The church, as a living organism functions in much the same way. We can try to go it alone, but we will never go as far, soar as high, touch as many lives. We simply do better, do more, in partnership. It takes some thought and work, but the pay off is enormous, and the blessings are multiplied. It's certainly not always glamorous, and it may take years to see the fruits of labour- but it's so worth it.

We have awesome partnerships- Christian Reformed Home Missions has made an enormous financial and spiritual commitment to make this church work. FCRC gives us office space and a place to rehearse, practice, and do our administrative work. Other churches in town have commissioned members to join us- they actually send God loving, hard working, gift-giving people their blessing to partner with 3C!

We want more partnerships! We look forward to associating with other groups and other ministries. This will be embraced thoughtfully, strategically, and prayerfully. They will take work to create and sustain. But at the end of the day it will be worth it- for

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body...Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1Corinthians 12:12, 13, 27