Growing Missional Partnerships

This year we have experienced the challenges of living in the land of the divided. Political, racial, and class divisions have caused deep grieving in many hearts. The coming of a New Year offers a time for people of faith and goodwill to unite for transformation and healing. This moment presents a tremendous opportunity for the church to come together for the empowerment of indigenous urban leaders, the strengthening of the church in under-resourced communities, and the coming alongside of the incarcerated whose lives have been made new. For World Impact, the New Year brings the excitement of deepening and growing our missional partnerships so that we can experience greater fruit in transforming communities together.

In 2017, we will partner with Stadia, a church planting organization to facilitate 15 church planting projects. In partnership with the Evangelical Covenant and AME Zion denominations we will launch new sites of The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) and facilitate church planting and revitalization projects. The TUMI Expansion Campaign offers the opportunity for people to generously partner with us over the next five years to train 10,000 indigenous urban leaders through a total of 800 sites. We are currently in prayerful discussion with our missional partner Prison Fellowship about expanding our collaborative efforts to provide seminary level education to the incarcerated.

The challenges within our nation and around the world in regards to the divided, the poor, the incarcerated, and the marginalized call on the church to partner across denomination, church and parachurch, suburban and urban, and ethnicity like never before. We must join together our time, talents, and treasure for the cause of a greater Kingdom vision so that the Gospel might raise up an army of reconciling leaders in this critical moment. The New Year must stir up within us a new passion, a new determination, and a renewed mindset of collaboration for greater impact. I pray God would stir your heart to deepen your partnership with us this year as we seek to further His Kingdom in the city.

Read more from Efrem Smith.