1 - 1998

Partnership from church to church

Intensifying the Dialogue

Comments on parish and church district partnerships

by Dr. Klaus Schäfer

The partnership concept has a long track record in ecumenical discussion. At the Second World Mission Conference staged in Jerusalem in 1928 participants already talked of "real partnership". It was to shape the relations between churches and mission organisations in the north and the so-called "young churches" of the southern hemisphere. - Dr. Klaus Schäfer is head of the department of studies and public relations at the Hamburg-based Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany (EMW).

The term partnership gained a higher profile in the ecumenical movement after World War II, when it not only influenced the discussion on a contemporary mission concept but also became a guideline of development co-operation. But the partnership concept has been criticised, too. Firstly, because it wasn’t theological enough due to its secular origins: Allegedly, it inadequately expressed the distinctive nature of Christian solidarity through the community founded in Christ.

And secondly, because the concept suggested an equality and community that didn’t exist: Because talking about partnership in mission and development co-operation distracted from the continued predominance of western partners, K. Rajaratnam from Madras pointedly called partnership a »sham« a few years ago.

Since German parishes and church districts started establishing contacts with parishes in the southern hemisphere in the late 1970s - taking example of missions and established churches - the concept has undergone new expansion and accentuation in so-called parish and church district partnerships. Partnerships on a parish and church district level don’t want to leave ecumenism to church councils and officials in missions and church districts. They want to put partnership into practice.

Comprehensive partnership

There is no doubt that partnership work, which we find in all established churches, often supervised by missions, is now a significant part of ecumenical relations. This is not just mirrored in the wide range of partnerships but also in the fact that partnership work now features in doctoral theses, theological study papers, articles, etc. Even the latest consultations of the Advisory Commission for Development Affairs and the Assoc. of the Churches’ Development Services (AGKED) drew attention to the partnership circles.

All studies show that partnership work hardly receives a positive assessment in practice. Comments are rather restrained. They speak - quite rightly - of the "opportunities and restraints" of partnerships, or they distinguish between the reality of partnership work and its potential, which still needs to be fully exploited.

One particular problem is the desire of many parish members to take a holistic approach to partnership and provide financial, material and spiritual aid to the partners. The desire to make the partnership more »concrete« is sometimes combined with a critical assessment of the project work of major aid agencies: Projects conducted by the parishes themselves are allegedly much better orga-nised, as proximity is ensured and the donors identify better with the project. Everyone "knows that the money really reaches the beneficiaries."

An intensive dialogue ...

Needless to say that this argumentation is short-sighted and increasingly disproved by experience with implementing parish projects. But it does reveal that the church development service has certain difficulties in justifying itself. The major joint task of the development service, which is committed to fighting poverty, is not or (no longer) obvious. By the way, this goes for missions, too. This situation is not completely new, but in times of leaner budgets and growing antagonism towards structures and work methods, the discussion becomes an issue of controversy.

... helps the critical discourse

In this constellation we need to intensify a critical and constructive dialogue, both regarding the chances and opportunities of partnership work on a local level and on the concerns and goals of the church development service and missions.

The fact that partnership work cannot replace the development service, which is geared towards fighting poverty, always needs to be justified towards the partnership cir-cles. But, in my opinion, partnership work as an extremely important learning ground for development education work and motivation needs to have a stronger impact on the AGKED’s work in future.

Lothar Bauerochse showed in a thorough analysis that a serious shortcoming of partnership work is its lack of conceptual orientation. In his opinion, giving partnership work are more qualified scope preconditions a much closer co-operation on goals and concepts with the parishes and church districts.

Partnerships should not be allowed to drift aimlessly and too quickly from encounters into well-intended projects. The concept behind partnerships requires reflection. Indeed, partnerships are learning grounds for the world church and for the realisation of missionary responsibility for minorities, outcasts, and strangers - both here in Germany and in the Third World - and practice grounds for solidarity with people who live in environments strange to ours.

The article is a reprint from »der überblick«, no. 1, March 1998, slightly abridged and translated for publication in this magazine.