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Yes, Churches and Parachurch Ministries Can Partner in Healthy Ways

The local church partnering with parachurch ministries has deeply impacted my life and ministry. I met my wife at a college ministry, and we got to know each other even better by attending the same church! If I weren’t sold on the potential value of parachurch ministries, the fact that God used a college ministry to help me meet my wife on a secular campus with tens of thousands of college students would convince me. However, pastors can sometimes feel that the two are at odds. I have found over the years that most parachurch ministries want to come alongside the local church, not replace it. Here are three healthy ways churches and parachurch ministries can partner.

1) Partnership can equip churches and believers to do what they might struggle to do independently.

A parachurch ministry is any ministry outside the local church that exists to do some form of gospel ministry. The sheer scope and specialization of parachurch ministries are astounding. It includes biblical counseling organizations, after-school Bible clubs, campus Bible studies, sports ministry, pregnancy resource centers, disaster relief, homeless shelters, food pantries, substance abuse recovery, Christian camps, college ministries, Christian schools and colleges, marriage and family ministries, media ministries, curriculums, conferences, international missions organizations, and more!

We wanted to begin an after-school Bible club in our local elementary school a decade ago because one of our missions partners had been leading churches and Christians in doing this for decades. I remember going into the principal’s office to talk with her about starting the club and being so thankful for this parachurch ministry and the missionary who worked with them. The missionary knew the laws and how to build a good relationship with the school. 

A similar situation occurred years later when we began a Bible study at the local high school. Thanks to a sports ministry, we started the first Bible study that anyone can remember at that high school. As a result, meeting fellow believers has encouraged the youth from our church in their faith, and some have attended our church’s youth ministry. Partnering with parachurch ministries has equipped us for further ministry.

2) Partnership can display the expansiveness of the Kingdom of God.

Through local churches and parachurch ministries partnering together, the world can see Christians working together in a unique way, and we can remind believers of the immensity of the Kingdom of God.

For example, when local churches partner together through pregnancy resource centers, the world sees tangibly that Christians are putting hands and feet into their pro-life beliefs. When a disaster happens, and Christian groups are the only ones still serving a community six months later, the world sees and feels the love of Christ through believers from many different churches despite their differences. This puts the gospel on display in a unique way, showing the unity that we have in Christ. 

On the night before His death, Jesus asked the Father, “…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:21, see also 17:11, 17:20-23). Christians from different local churches partnering together in unity displays something unique about even the unity of the Trinity and is a witness to the world.

Healthy church and parachurch partnerships remind believers that the Kingdom of God is bigger than their local fellowship. No church is an island. Pastors are responsible for examining doctrinal alignment to a certain extent before a church works with a parachurch ministry, but a healthy partnership can remind believers of the expansiveness of the Kingdom of God. 

I love that our church’s youth ministry disciples and evangelizes our church’s youth and friends regularly. Week in and week out, it challenges the teens from our church and their friends to consider the gospel. Once a year, however, our youth ministry brings our teens to a large gathering of 600-1,000 youth and leaders, sponsored by a parachurch ministry, for a gospel outreach and all-nighter. Seeing hundreds of teens from across the region, both believers and unbelievers reminds our teenagers that they are not alone as the only believers in their local church or their schools. Seeing the passion of other churches for unbelieving friends stokes their hearts for evangelism.

3) Partnership can build up the universal church and expand gospel reach.

The parachurch partnerships that I have come to appreciate, support, and benefit from the most as a local pastor are the ones that truly encourage involvement in a local church. I remember meeting one leader working at a local high school who told me he would never refer a new believer to a church. We chose not to work with him since involvement in a church is the next step for any new believer. However, I have found that most parachurch ministry leaders encourage church involvement and see us as part of the same team. I view them the same way.

My wife and I recently attended a marriage retreat, and I was so thrilled when they shared the gospel and emphasized the importance of gathering with a local church week in and week out. Attending that marriage retreat was a great illustration of how churches and parachurch ministries can partner in healthy ways. The kind of broad reach that this marriage retreat had meant that believers from many different types of churches and backgrounds came together. We enjoyed fellowship with other couples we knew from different denominations, couples who have encouraged our marriage and walk with the Lord but whom we don’t usually see on a Sunday or even during an average week. I plan to bring couples from our church next year.

Years ago, when we began that after-school Bible club in an elementary school, one girl named Sierra was ecstatic that there was a “Jesus club” at her school. She was raised by a single mom who did not have a church background, and for some reason, Sierra was interested in knowing more about Jesus. I remember her fascination during the Bible story time. That summer, Sierra came to vacation Bible school at our church, and she prayed with me to receive Christ after I shared the gospel in her class. A few months later, Sierra was baptized in our church while her whole family was there, and then she began to attend our church’s youth ministry.

Meeting my wife and baptizing a new believer are why I am thankful for parachurch ministries. My life has been immeasurably enriched, and my pastoral ministry has been built up thanks to healthy gospel partnerships. Yours can be, too!

©2024 Tim Counts. Used with permission.

About The Author

Tim Counts
Tim Counts

Tim Counts is the pastor of Northshire Baptist Church in Manchester Center, Vt., and serves on the leadership team for Small Town Summits. He blogs regularly at He Must Become Greater.

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