You can get The Church At Work through the CCCC store (as an e-book and in hard copy with shipping included in the price), at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.  Login to CCCC as a member to get the member discount.  The newest CCCC publication is designed to help Christian ministries work better together and present a better witness to the relational life of the kingdom of God.  It examines the most strained relationship, that between churches and independent Christian agencies, and provides both a theology for how they are related to each other and a practical set of principles for how to ensure they have good relations.

The research was based on:

• a theological forum I hosted on church structure,
• a large attitude survey of pastors and agency leaders and what they think of each other,
• a study of specific church-agency relationships in which both parties thought the relationship was great, and
• a demographic survey of 100 agency leaders to find out who they are and how they got to their positions.

The research and illustrations are 100% Canadian, although we know the research is equally applicable in the United States.  My new baby has practical ‘workbooks’ for churches and agencies to work through to examine themselves and help them be more responsible for their part of the relationship.  It also includes a helpful paper that John Stackhouse wrote for the theological forum and sample covenant agreements that some ministries use.

You’ll enjoy reading the stories of people just like you.  Some of the people you may know and others may be new to you, but their stories of successful ministry relationships will inspire you to think again about the possibilities that open up when you collaborate with other ministries.

Jerry White, International President Emeritus of The Navigators, wrote the foreword of this book and says in it:

“This is the most complete discussion on the topic that exists. It is an invaluable resource for pastors and Christian workers across the range of ministries in the broader Body of Christ. Dr. Pellowe not only delves into the scriptures and into history, but also gives practical guidelines for relating among the structures. Anyone who is concerned about advancing the Kingdom of God and who wants to see unity in the Body of Christ needs this study and its practical applications.”

I have no financial interest in the success of this book, so I will shamelessly plug it and say, if you are in ministry, “You need to read it!”

Jerry White proposed the more precise term para-local church back in 1983.   John Stackhouse used paracongregational when he spoke at a theological forum I arranged a few years ago to discuss church-parachurch relations.  Orlando Costas likewise used the term para-ecclesiastical in his book.  I understand their logic, but I do not think it is healthy to define something in terms of what it is not.  It is much healthier to define it in terms of what it is.  And the problem remains that a parachurch’s staff members are part of the congregations that the parachurch is supposedly standing beside.  Furthermore, “beside” does not make sense at all if church refers to the universal church (that is, all Christians), since parachurch workers cannot stand beside themselves.  I think we can do better than these terms.

After several years of thought on church-parachurch relations (writing my dissertation) agency appears to be the best one-word term to describe parachurch organizations.  Agency conveys the idea of doing a task on behalf of someone else, and this is what parachurches do.  On one level, they work on behalf of churches, denominations and/or the universal church to help get the church’s mission done.  On another level, since each parachurch worker is an agent of God’s, they are working on behalf of God too.  If the workers are agents, then the organizational structure they work within can be called an agency.

Using this terminology, we would refer to Christian churches and agencies.  We could also call them unaffiliated agencies, self-governing agencies or non-denominational agencies if we wanted to emphasize a particular aspect of their governance structure.  Agency avoids the baggage that parachurch has accumulated over the years and is a neutral term that makes no judgment about relative priority or value between these organizations and local churches.  Agency is simply a descriptor. 

I’ve thought about other terms, but to keep the term short, sweet and simple, I haven’t thought of anything better than agency.  So, what do you think?  Write a comment!