Frequently Asked Questions

The Better Together Project (TBTP) seeks to constructively respond to the increased polarization within our contemporary American context that has so dramatically impacted local congregations and their ministries. Within our particular context in the Christian Reformed Church of North America we lament the impact of this polarization as it has materialized in our denominational debates on a variety of topics, most pointedly over recent decisions about same-sex marriage and the diverse positions held by local congregations.

In response to this polarization and the divisive decisions that have resulted, TBTP seeks to build a center-set network of churches that focus on our common mission of becoming Christ-followers rather than a bounded-set that defines itself in terms of doctrines that determine who is “in” and who is “outside” its borders. (This terminology, originally borrowed from mathematics, has been fruitfully applied to missiology.) We aim to create a network of churches organized around seven local hubs geographically dispersed across the United States. Each hub would build partnerships among approximately seven local churches. Each participating church would commit to a three-year program designed to build that church’s capacity for living in unity across disagreements that do not determine a believer’s salvation. Building a capacity for such unity in the service of mission is our primary goal, both within each congregation and among the partner churches in each hub. These efforts aim at helping congregations thrive through deeper relationships with God and one another, leading to specific missional outcomes in their communities.

Ultimately, TBTP is designed to reorient local congregations from inwardly-focused quarrels about intractable issues toward an outwardly-focused mission, building unity for the sake of helping our communities flourish through engagement with the good news of the gospel. We aim to center our efforts on our common mission of seeking to become Christ-like, offering the gospel as the only source of healing and hope in a troubled world. TBPT seeks to help congregations, in partnership with a larger community of learning, to bridge the polarization that divides us by fostering a renewed sense of our identity in Christ and to imagine new possibilities for fruitful mission in our communities. In the process, we aspire to help the wider church demonstrate the unity that Jesus prays for in John 17.

The polarization within our U.S. context is undeniable, and it represents one of the most pressing cultural shifts affecting our congregations. Countless studies show that political divisions in America have generated radical antagonism in many of our cultural institutions, including both local churches and denominations. Unfortunately, this political polarization, combined with the chaos created by the COVID-19 pandemic, has only amplified the drive within so many congregations to find certainty amid complex ethical, moral, and doctrinal disagreements. That pursuit of clarity and certainty has, in many cases, only added to the polarization as it has spread beyond politics to church doctrine. A recent Barna study gives evidence of the increased pressure within our churches to find certainty in our beliefs. In survey data that compares responses from 2015 to 2022, there has been a 24-point jump in the percentage of Americans who either agree strongly or somewhat with the statement: “when I am really confident in a belief, there is very little chance that belief is wrong” (2015: 44%; 2022: 68%). Data like these provide evidence that the increased polarization of our politics has taken root within our congregations and denominations alike.

We recognize that these impulses have emerged within many denominations in the pursuit of doctrinal certainty. In analyzing this phenomenon, the organizational distinction between a “bounded-set approach” and a “center-set approach” can provide a helpful model (Paul G. Hiebert provides an introduction to a center-set approach to missiological efforts in his Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues. See also Mark Baker’s recent book, Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community without Judgementalism.).

One common approach is to seek clarity and claim certainty by way of better defining our boundaries: articulating the markers that distinguish who is in and who is out of a given body. While this bounded-set approach focuses its energies on defining boundaries, a center-set approach operates with reference to its central focus. In the network of churches we envision, such an approach can focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Whereas the focus of a bounded-set church is determined by faithful subscription to a set of doctrinal standards, the focus of a centered-set church is on the mission of seeking a vibrant relationship with Christ himself, daily taking the next steps to be like Jesus. TBTP will strive to build such a center-set network, one that focuses on overcoming polarities by building capacities for unity in pursuing our central mission. While such a center-set approach is not completely novel, we believe it can significantly promote unity, ecumenicism, and missional engagement in our polarized context.

Furthermore, the organizational model of a centered-set network of churches will allow conceptual space for cooperative unity to grow among congregations across disagreements. We find ourselves in a cultural context where building such a capacity for cooperation is vital for the vitality and health of our churches. Without it we face an ever-fracturing future that will only foster further divisions and threaten to destroy the unity of the body of Christ.

As our churches and denominations continue to struggle for unity, one of the chief casualties is our missional engagement with an ever-growing post-Christian culture. Whether seen in the rise of the “nones” or the exodus of young people from our pews, the reality is that too many in the church have sacrificed missional impact on the altar of doctrinal certainty. TBTP seeks to reclaim the mandate of the Great Commission and provide a vision for hope and healing. Prioritizing missional outcomes will promote a vision of the church that engages our culture in a way that is winsome and produces a tangible impact. We believe that the activities of TBTP will help our congregations witness powerfully to the good news of the gospel – the good news of healing and reconciliation that our communities urgently need. To help congregations thrive we must adapt to our changing social and cultural contexts, clarify our values and missions, and cultivate the Christian practices that deepen the faith of our members. We believe that this project targets exactly those goals.

While TBTP originates out of a particular denomination (the Christian Reformed Church of North America), participation in TBTP is not limited to Christian Reformed Churches. In fact, TBTP will be best served with a diverse variety of congregations as participating churches. In selecting participating churches priority will be given to churches that are proximate to each other so as to promote partnership and collegiality (a virtual hub(s) is a distinct possibility as well).

Finally, it is worth noting that while TBTP is not designed to replace denominational ties, these networks may serve as helpful third-space environments for congregations desiring to live more fully into a center-set posture with other partner churches.

Participating Churches and Pastors will benefit from five key activities:

Activity 1: Engagement in a local cohort of churches

In the conviction that congregations learn best when they are part of a larger learning community, TBTP will create geographically dispersed hubs (or cohorts) of churches. Each cohort will be led by one key partner church that will serve as the convening congregation for that area. The leading church and several others in each of the hubs will commit to participating in the entire three-year project. The goal is to embrace in each hub an array of different perspectives on the topic of same-sex marriage and other key differences held in the Christian church.

Each participating church will be required to identify a principal pastor or leader who will represent the congregation throughout the program and commit to participating in all of the key activities described below. Beyond this principal leader, each congregation will be encouraged to recruit 7-9 additional individuals to participate in two training sessions during their three-year commitment. In this way TBTP will create peer learning relationships under the guidance of expert coaches. Finally, each church must also commit to build unity within its own body and with other participating churches by joining in the creation of a new cooperative expression of mission within their region.

Activity 2: Monthly meetings of leaders in each hub

Once the regional hubs are organized and populated with participating churches, the principal leader from each congregation will engage with a highly relational cohort of local leaders. These cohorts will meet on a monthly basis in each region for a time of intentional dialogue across differences, purposefully countering the polarities that exist among the congregations in each region.

Initially these gatherings will simply be opportunities for building relationships, partly by sharing stories. Eventually they will engage more deeply in fostering a supportive environment in which the leaders from various churches can participate in mutual learning and support as they share their struggles, failures, and successes in promoting unity within their own congregations. These monthly gatherings will feature time and space for reflection, sharing, and prayer. At first, the convening church leader in each hub will shepherd the monthly gatherings, assisted by a TBTP trainer/coach. But as the project matures, participants will be supported by a local coach who will receive a stipend, as indicated in the budget. Ultimately these monthly gatherings will develop into planning sessions for the specific missional project for each hub. TBTP expects these highly relational cohorts to model a healing method of promoting unity and mission within their congregations and communities.

Activity 3: Annual Summit Retreats

To help foster relational growth within and among the regional hubs, all of the principal leaders from the participating churches will engage in an annual Summit Retreat facilitated by Cultivate Renewal.

The first Summit Retreat will focus on preparing leaders for the hard work of building the skills to promote unity in themselves, within their own churches, and among the participating churches in their respective regions. Beyond the initial Summit Retreat in 2024, the same leaders will engage in a second Summit Retreat in 2025, and a third Summit Retreat in 2026.

Activity 4: Colossian Forum training for congregational teams

While these three Summit Retreats will provide the opportunity for leaders to engage with one another and build collegiality within their hubs and across the national network, TBTP will also equip their congregational teams with two training sessions designed by The Colossian Forum (TCF).

The first session will offer TCF’s WayFinder training to 10 participants from each participating church, hosted on location in each hub. The goal is to equip and enable each congregation to learn from others and be more creative in exploring new possibilities for their ministry.

In addition to the WayFinder training sessions, TBTP will also enable each hub to host a virtue-cultivation retreat facilitated by TCF trainers. Similar to the WayFinder training, these retreats will occur on location within each hub. Key goals will be to help participants deepen their relationships with God and with each other so that they can in turn strengthen the ministries of their congregation. Cultivating the Christian practices of respectful listening, mutual encouragement, and joyful celebration of God’s grace will deepen the faith of participants and help revitalize their congregations.

Activity 5: Launching new missional projects in each region

The vision of TBTP is to use annual Summit Retreats, WayFinder training, virtue-cultivation retreats, and monthly capacity-building gatherings in each local hub to equip each group of churches to develop a new mission project for their unique context.

This missional expression of the gospel will produce two key outcomes. First, it will enable the participants within each hub to practice collaboration with others who may disagree with them on ethical issues such as same-sex marriage between believers. Equipped with the relevant training and immersed in building unity, participants will collaborate in local mission projects that deepen their relationships and demonstrate that the church can produce fruitful outreach despite our disagreements.

Second, beyond functioning as a learning lab for building unity, these local mission efforts will capture the hearts and minds of participants as they engage in the missio Dei. Activating Christian mission is the central goal for the entire TBTP. As followers of Jesus, we desire to see the Great Commission of Jesus stimulate thriving churches as the good news of the gospel is shared and embodied in visible missional outcomes.

While the primary aim of TBTP is energizing local mission in each regional hub, the means of achieving this aim will be equipping churches with the capacity to build unity for the sake of that mission. Supported by hub coaches, TBTP staff, and experts from both The Colossian Forum and Cultivate Renewal, the resulting mission initiatives will be the vital performance indicators of the project’s success. In our current post-Christian context, such examples of successful, unified, collaborative engagement in serving our communities will reinvigorate thriving congregations in a polarized world.

In gratitude for the generous support of the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative, TBTP is excited to offer participation to congregations at a minimal cost. Each participating congregation will receive training, coaching, and retreats valued at more than $15,000 over the 3 year term of the project. Additionally, each participating church and pastor will greatly benefit from opportunities to learn from and engage with neighboring pastors and churches, and receive support from TBTP staff and the national network. While the total annual cost for TBTP for each participating church is approximately $30,000 over the entire project, each participating congregation must provide a minimum annual contribution of $2,000 (totaling $6,000 over the 3 years of the project).

TBTP recognizes that some participating congregations may be able to provide additional support for the project and therefore while $2,000 is the minimum contribution, the suggested annual contribution for each participating congregation is $5,000. These additional funds will allow for scholarship support for congregations who may feel restricted due to financial costs and provide for the future sustainability of TBTP.