Connecting and Collaborating

Connecting and Collaborating

In the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus was praying before his death, he prayed for us, the people of God, that we would be one. We’re called to unity, to co-operation and to humility before one another.

There are a multitude of opportunities, challenges and questions facing the Church in the UK today. At Global Connections & MAP, we believe that we can face these things better together. No one entity can tackle these things alone.

This is why the Global Connections & MAP network are seeking to play our part in connecting mission-hearted individuals, churches and organisations, in order to build relationships and facilitate kingdom-building collaborations.

Last year, Global Connections & MAP carried out a comprehensive listening exercise, speaking to more than 60 leaders within the network to find out about the key opportunities, challenges and questions they are dealing with. Two big themes that came out of those conversations were engagement with the next generations and effective leadership development.

This year, the team at Global Connections & MAP have sought to explore these areas further. We’ve connected with those involved in engaging with the next generations and leadership development in the network and reached further, build relationships with a diverse range of organisations outside the network who are working in these areas.

The next step was to connect as many of those people together as possible. On June the 11th and 12th, we facilitated two roundtable discussions on Next Gen and Leadership Development, bringing together more than 80 people from within and outside the network for a time of getting to know one another, sharing together our challenges and opportunities and exploring how we might work together in the future.

Our hope is that members of this group will join together to collaborate for the kingdom in various ways. The first step on that journey is to connect together and build relationships.

Next Gen

50 individuals met together at the offices of the Christian Medical Fellowship. They were made up of those who work with youth organisations, mission organisations, churches and colleges, both inside and outside the network.

We spoke about key aspects to effective work with young people today, including the need for authenticity and giving opportunities to young people step out in faith. We also explored questions around social media and effective discipleship.

Leadership Development

The following day, around 35 of us met together at Oak Hill College to discuss how we can more effectively develop leaders in all spheres of society.

We discussed big questions around the place and future of formal mission and leadership education and shared how community learning is becoming the most effective way to grow leaders in many contexts. We also explored the challenges of AI, and the need to develop skills rather than mere theory.

What’s next?

Global Connections’ role within these collaborative groups is to actively facilitate, not drive. The impetus for what comes next will come from the group itself.

Now, we are talking together about what comes next, with a recognition that more work needs to be done to develop relationships within the groups. It’s likely that these groups will meet again before the end of the year.

However, these groups are certainly not closed-off. We welcome those of you who would be interested in joining in with these discussions. If you are working in engaging with the next generations or leadership development and would like to know more about being involved in these discussions, you can contact Dan Challis.