Building Crucial Church Relationships

By Pastor Ben

We say it often at Oak Hill, “The gospel is relational.” Christians are not meant to walk the way of Jesus alone. “He who isolates himself seeks his own desire, he breaks out against all sound judgment” (Prov. 18:1). Our individualistic, independent culture has a hard time with these truths. Meaningful relationships take time, grace, and effort. Trust must be forged not only through ever-deepening conversations, but also through affinity and mutual enjoyment. Yet, once you’ve experienced a truly life-giving, spiritually edifying, joy-filled relationship, there is no going back. 

But even when we awaken to the idea that we are designed for community, we often still struggle to understand the relationship between churches. How does our local church relate to the broader global church? How do we relate to other believers in other churches in our own area? How can we meaningfully connect with believers in other places when the church is so vast and diverse? Just as we are not meant to walk alone as individual believers, local churches are not meant to walk alone either. 

In Southern Lancaster County, we are privileged to have many churches that preach the gospel. As part of the Solanco Pastors’ Fellowship, I meet with many of those pastors nearly every month to support one another and to pray for the gospel to multiply in our community. Sometimes we can even partner in pursuits where we have unity, such as in starting Solanco Neighborhood Ministries together many years ago and in the National Day of Prayer. 

That said, local churches still have many differences, often significant ones. Personally, I believe this is a grace of God. An array of local churches in an area allows for diversity without division. This means each church can run forward with our distinct convictions and callings without getting bogged down by endless infighting. We can find out in heaven who was right, wrong, or otherwise on a variety of issues.  

Even still, just like church members need other closely aligned members who are running in the same direction in the same local church, local churches need other closely aligned churches with whom they can partner for mission and encouragement. We see this often in the New Testament as Paul and his team plant, encourage, support, send, and equip many churches across the Roman Empire. The leaders in these churches also seem to share meaningful relationships, if the greetings at the end of the New Testament letters reveal anything. 

This is where our church network comes in. The Great Commission Collective (GCC) has been an amazing support through many seasons in Oak Hill’s history. As a “collective,” we benefit both from the GCC staff and the other churches with whom we partner. As we navigate challenging issues of church discipline, global mission, staff hiring, local evangelism, developing church culture, and more, I have no less than ten gifted leaders (who are also friends) in my primary contacts whom I can text or call at any time. And those are just the people at the top of my list whom I have gotten to know, love, and trust over the years. These are pastors and leaders of churches who share the same core convictions about ministry and theology as we do, but whose various experiences can help us navigate new territory through which the Lord is guiding us. While our elder team maintains the autonomy of the local church, we glean valuable insight and perspectives from these beloved partners. By God’s grace, we have also been able to encourage and equip them based on what the Lord has taught us too. 

Building these relationships and trust with other pastors and churches takes just as much intentionality as building relationships within our local church. Because we don’t see each other as often, conferences and retreats play an important role in developing and maintaining strong bonds. One of those retreats is coming up next week as the Northeast Region (New York down to Virginia, over to West Virginia and Ohio), gathers for our annual Pastors’ and Family Retreat at Mission Church. Our family looks forward to this every year: not only do volunteers from Mission love on the pastors’ kids like crazy, but the GCC also invests heavily in our marriages and affords us time to connect with other like-minded pastors in our region. The value of this connection is incalculable not only for our family, but also for our church. 

Would you pray for the pastors and families who are coming to the retreat next week? Pray for refreshment and a revitalized view of the mission to which God has called us. Pray that we would be stronger together as we partner in mission and equip one another for ministry. 

And then would you consider how you are developing intentional relationships with gospel purpose this week?