The local church is often seen as an access point to the community but rarely engaged in a
true partnership. Discuss two challenges and two benefits of building partnerships that
involve the local church or other communities of faith. Describe two criteria you think are
necessary for healthy and effective partnerships that take into consideration the challenges
you mentioned. Share an example of how you have applied these criteria in your life. For
additional insight in responding to this discussion question, watch the “Partnership
Development” video.
PUB655: Partnership Development
According to Paltzer (2016), one challenge of building relationships that involve the local
church and the community is that regularly the local church is seen merely as an access point to
the local community rather than the right partner in improving global health.
Another challenge of building partnerships is lack of transparently. For instance, the local
churches may fail to reveal their strengths to the donor and only report their needs to get more
funding (Paltzer, 2016). Conversely, the donors may only reveal their strengths while hiding
their weaknesses.
One of the benefits of building partnerships that involve the local church is that such
churches can receive funding from donors to improve global health. Another benefit of
developing partnerships is that risks are shared between the local church and the community
(Paltzer, 2016). Building partnerships also enables the local church, communities, and donors to
be transparent and share strengths and weaknesses that allow partners to make mistakes that lead
to learning and growth.
Transparency is one criterion necessary for healthy and active partnerships. Local
churches need to be transparent and honest in sharing their strengths and weaknesses with
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international donors. The donors also need to be transparent in highlighting their intention for the
partnerships.
As noted by Paltzer (2016), another criterion for enhancing effective partnership is to for the
local church, donors, and communities to develop mutual trust and respect for one another.
Mostly, this will happen if there is open communication where information is shared freely.
Having a clear set of expectations builds healthy partnerships that ensure that partners
work together. Such expectations, involve having a communication strategy, a financial
accountability system, clarification of leadership roles, and how decisions will be made and
executed. These expectations should be based on an agreed framework to attain the expected
outcomes. Moreover, the expectations should include a written agreement for others to keep the
partnership accountable even when leadership changes. Patience and persistence are essential in
agreeing on the set of expectations.
In my life, I applied these criteria when I joined a group in my town where we were
supposed to be helping the vulnerable communities by making some financial contributions. We
developed an agreement where all the members agreed to adhere to the outlined expectations. As
a result, this helped in holding every member accountable.
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Reference
Paltzer, J. (2016). Partnership development