CHURCHES PARTNERING TOGETHER:
Biblical Strategies for Fellowship, Evangelism
and Compassion
By Chris Bruno & Matt Dirks
Crossway. 176 pages. £10.99
ISBN 978 1 433 541 261
The thesis of this book is that churches working together, supporting each other in gospel projects ought to have a high priority on our agendas.
It is written by two pastors who have the privilege of ministering in Hawaii – but don’t let dreams of sermon prep on a sun-drenched beach amid swaying grass skirts and tropical breezes make you think that this could not be relevant to the UK.
Paul’s priorities
The book begins by observing that one of the main priorities for Paul in the final ten years of his ministry was the Jerusalem collection – encouraging Gentile congregations to support Jewish churches in Palestine. Although this had its own historical motivations, the idea of offering a friendly, helping hand to other gospel churches has enormous potential today, not least in larger churches helping small congregations to get back on their feet and flourish again.
Rooted in Scripture, the authors give a lot of practical advice about whom we should and should not partner with and how it can be done. Building trust, seeing the opportunities, choosing the right leaders and overcoming frictions and difficulties, all are addressed with wisdom and understanding. Already the Gospel Partnerships and other connections are at work in good ways in the UK, but this book is the best thing I’ve seen in getting down to the nuts and bolts.
