Partnership Agreement

Partnership Agreement:

Between Grace Partnership and Associating Churches

This Partnership Agreement establishes the terms of the relationship between your local church and Grace Partnership.

I. OUR MISSION TOGETHER: 

Together, as individual churches, we enter this MOU because of our desire to support one another in the mission of the Gospel through:

  1. Partnering together in local and global missions.

  2. Pastoral and church relationships centered on mutual care & encouragement. 

  3. Practical equipping contexts that strengthen and equip one another. 

II. THREE CORE VALUES:

We agree the three core values of the collective relationships in Grace Partnership are:

  1. Shared Mission- advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ

  2. Mutual Care- building relationally with care and encouragement 

  3. Equipping One Another- for love and good works through retreats, fellowship, teaching of the Word of God. 

III.  RESPONSIBILITIES OF ASSOCIATION:

The churches of Grace Partnership are associated by relationships and common biblical convictions, but not legally affiliated. For a local church to be considered for association within Grace Partnership they must have a commitment to:

  1. An affirmation of GP Statement of Faith- churches must be willing to affirm the basic tenants of the Christian faith found in the Statement of Faith in Section IV.

  2. Elder led Churches - local churches must be governed by local elder/elders, with the goal of plurality, as the ultimate decision-making body within a local church. Grace Partnership will not assume any decision-making authority for local churches.  

  3. Relationships with Grace Partnership churches- throughout the year churches should seek to invest in relationships with fellow Grace Partnership churches through the various means offered such as: conferences, retreats, phone or video calls, or other means of relationship building.

  4. Local church determined level of financial support- each church should prayerfully commit to a level of annual (monthly) financial support to the work of Grace Partnership. Where possible, we recommend giving 5% (five percent) of the total local church budget for the shared mission of Grace Partnership. (While 5% is a goal it is not a determining factor for partnership. We understand some churches may be in a place to do more than 5% while others might not have the resources to give much at all. The issue is not the amount, it is the heart to give with an understanding that every donation of whatever amount helps us accomplish our mission as we partner together.) 

IV. OUR SHARED AFFIRMATIONS 

The churches of Grace Partnership shall affirm the following basic Christian doctrinal beliefs:

  1. The Word of God: We believe that the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, are the inspired Word of God.

  2. The Trinity: We believe in one God in three persons

God the Father: We believe in God the Father, Creator and Upholder of all things.  

God the Son: We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten eternal Son.  

God the Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, eternally one with the Father and the Son.  

C.  Creation: We believe that God created all things visible and invisible for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness. We believe that God created man and woman in his own image as the crowning point of all creation.

  1. The Human Condition: We believe that Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command bringing sin and death to all mankind.

  2. The Gospel of Jesus Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and through his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, is the only way to have a relationship with God and eternal life. 

  3. The Work of the Holy Spirit: We believe in the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit which empowers believers for Christian witness and service, including the ongoing operation of the gifts in the Church today.

  4. The Church: We believe in the universal Church, comprised of all genuine believers of every age.  

  5. Evangelism & Mission: We believe we are called to go and proclaim the Gospel and make disciples locally and globally. 

  6. Marriage: We believe that marriage is the God-given union of one biological man and one biological woman.  

  7. The Return of Jesus Christ:  We believe in the glorious, personal, triumphant return of Jesus Christ.

V. GOVERNANCE OF GRACE PARTNERSHIP 

A. The governance and maintenance of Grace Partnership shall be administered by the Board of Directors.

B.     The Board of Directors shall be governed by the By Laws of Grace Partnership, Inc.  

C. The Board of Directors of Grace Partnership shall make decisions regarding the admittance of new churches and the removal of member churches. 

D. Member churches may nominate new churches for admittance into Grace Partnership.  


VI.MULTIPLE ASSOCIATIONS:

Grace Partnership Churches may associate with or become members of other denominations and/or church networks providing those additional denominations and networks do not conflict with our Shared Affirmations as outlined in section IV above.  

As a representative of the church, I wish to sign this partnership agreement and advance the Gospel and the mission of the local church by contributing to the further development of Grace Partnership.

Church Agreement Form