The purpose of this guide is to assist potential partners in determining and discussing relevant issues before entering into a formal partnership. The majority of this document is not original with me, but rather is a compilation of earlier guides and actual covenant agreements that have served state conventions in this process. Here I am simply providing a practical guide for churches and associations to follow in forming their own partnerships.
Why have a formal document?
Admittedly, a formal agreement document may seem unnecessary. After all, we’re all in the same family and have the same goal of reaching these people, right? Well, that’s true, but in order to make sure that everyone is “speaking the same language,” it is in the best interest of everyone to negotiate a formal agreement. The main purpose of the agreement is to state each party’s intent and desire in forming the partnership and how it is going to facilitate the accomplishment of their goals.
The document serves to:
- Identify the partners
- Clarify strategy
- Set goals
- Stipulate the time frame
- Assign resp0nsibilities
- Define leadership roles
- Outline communication channels
- Elaborate evaluation methods
- Highlight special considerations
- Avoid conflict and misunderstandings
Composing a Partnership Agreement
The uniqueness of each partnership is reflected in its particular covenant agreement. However, there are many similarities in all partnerships, so a basic model can be used to get you started. It is strongly recommended that an external facilitator is utilized in the negotiating process and drafting of the agreement. This might be someone with the IMB or the PMD. This person can help minimize future misunderstandings, maintain equality, and lead the negotiations to include critical issues that might otherwise be overlooked. A poorly organized partnership can quickly lead to hard feelings and even harm the work through a bad testimony.
A sample document was developed years ago and has been used as the foundation for numerous partnerships. In the next post I will present it as a base upon which you can build your own agreement, adapting it as necessary.
Secured by