What is ChurchLink?
Greater Collaboration
Greater Impact
Introducing ChurchLink, an initiative of the CBAC to help our churches partner together in creative ways for more effective ministry
Let's Connect!
ChurchLink Phases
PHASE 1: Spark Imagination
Get a sense of what others have done and what might be possible for your church.
PHASE 2: Start the Conversation
SOMEONE begins gathering others around a dream and starting initial conversation. A church begins to consider what it could look like – merger? Partnership?
PHASE 3: Engage in Collaboration
Building a team from two or more churches and working toward a pilot project to partner together in.
Phase 1
Spark Imagination
Who: “Someone”
Explore the resources on this page and start to dream! You might begin to have initial conversations to uncover possibilities. Three common link types are Adoption, Partnership, and Merger. At first none of the options might feel like they fit! The labels may help provide clarity – or they may not. Don’t get ahead of things; the end will reveal itself eventually as outcomes are experienced.
Link type:
Adoption
The Crossing Church Gander Site had been a struggling church before becoming a site of The Crossing Church. Now, ministry is growing in wonderful ways at both sites.
Link type:
Partnership
Oromocto Baptist Church and Upper Gagetown Baptist Church have both seen exciting things happen through a creative partnership.
Link type:
Merger
Cornerstone Community Church is four congregations that realized they could be more effective as one church.
Stories of Hope shares the experiences of various CBAC churches and was produced in partnership with the Futuring Hub at Acadia Divinity College. You may find it helpful in thinking about your context.
Phase 2
Start the Conversation
Who: Church Leadership Teams
Use the Hope-filled Conversation document to clarify reality and develop clear steps. At this point, perhaps it will be helpful to have a ChurchLink coach come as an outside, unbiased voice to help facilitate the conversation.
Link type:
Adoption
An adoption can take various forms. It shares some common features with the other two link types, and these documents can help you discern possible directions in your situation and context.
Link type:
Partnership
There are many ways for churches to partner! A multi-church collective is a partnership between two or more churches whereby the churches agree to partner together on one or more ministry programs or initiatives under the direction of a Church Collective Leadership Team.
Link type:
Merger
The Align Process outlines a three stage process for merging a congregation with another. Every situation is different and timelines and details must be adjusted given every specific context. However this process will highlight some helpful language embraced in the three stages and identify some of the best practices of others.
Stories of Hope includes reflection questions based on the stories of local churches in Atlantic Canada; these could help you or a group consider your own situation and possibilities.
Phase 3
Engage in Collaboration
Who: Partner Churches
This phase is the hard work of clarifying a possible pilot project. Utilizing the Multi-Church Collective document, you can develop the experiment and a clear covenant that everyone agrees to.