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Toop, More Than Partners: Christ-Centered Organizations and the Local Church 64 
 

 

More Than Partners: Christ-Centered  

Organizations and the Local Church 
 

Katie Toop 
 

 
Local churches have increasingly been called upon as local partners in development work, by faith-

based and secular organizations alike, for their invaluable local history, knowledge, and connections. 

While acknowledging the value of these assets is important, the partnerships with local churches can 

easily fall into purely transactional relationships. At World Concern we care deeply how our identity 

as a Christ-centered organization impacts our relationship with the local church, how our calling 

intersects with that of the gathered fellowship of believers, and how we work to foster mutually life-

giving partnerships with Christ’s bride. This article reviews an exploratory exercise World Concern 

did together with partner churches in Africa in 2016. The goal was not to train or teach, but to think 

about the character of our partnership. The article provides a glimpse into some of World Concern’s 

continuing field conversation around this critical topic.  

 

 
 

At World Concern, our vision statement is “A 

world transformed from poverty to the abundance of 

life.” We take this vision from Jesus in John 10:10b, 

where he says, “I came so that they would have life, and 

have it abundantly” (NASB). But what is unique about 

the abundance Jesus promises and the abundance of 

the world? What does it look like? How do we pursue 

it? Is it discovered? Developed? Gifted? And what role 

do we play?  

It was this last question, about the role we play—

and more specifically, the role we play in relation to the 

local church—that led us to consider our approach to 

church partnership more intentionally. As a Christ-

centered organization, we believe the gathered 

fellowship of believers is central to God’s plan for this 

abundance and thus must also be central to our own. 

Jesus promised he would build his church (Matt. 

16:18), not his international non-governmental 

organization (INGO), and while we acknowledge that 

the kingdom of God is not limited to the church, and 

we pray our own Christ-centered INGO will indeed 

bear fruit for the kingdom,
1

 we also recognize that the 

abundance Jesus spoke of includes and finds unique 

expression in a growing and vibrant local church. 

 

 

 
1

 We acknowledge that God is at work outside the boundaries of those who are surrendered to him. The Spirit is not 

restricted or bound by the sacred/secular divides human beings have constructed; still, this article intends to consider 

what is done in the context of a Christ-centered organization, a group of people intentionally surrendered to the 

Lordship and leadership of Jesus.  

Why the Local Church?  
There are myriad reasons to work in partnership 

with the local church. One does not have to be a person 

of faith to see the value local churches can bring to 

disaster response and community development work. 

Secular organizations, governmental donors, scholars, 

and practitioners from many walks of life have 

acknowledged the benefits of partnership with churches 

in communities. Local churches have relational 

networks of trust, local knowledge, an understanding of 

context, local language, and a sustainable presence, to 

name a few.  

While it is important to acknowledge and celebrate 

these benefits, it is also possible to slip into a 

transactional relationship with the local church, where 

partnership is viewed as purely strategic, either solely or 

primarily from the perspective of meeting the targets of 

the INGO—be they community development mile-

stones or numbers of lives impacted that need to go into 

a report—on INGO timelines, often dictated by donors 

whose priorities may or may not align with the church. 

In this case, the local church becomes, at best, one of 

several valued local partners without any special 

spiritual significance and, at worst, simply a means to an 

end.  

Local partners are invaluable to our work as Christ-

centered INGOs. Partnership, however, takes time, 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(2), Winter 2023  
 

Toop, More Than Partners: Christ-Centered Organizations and the Local Church 65 
 

energy, and resources, so organizations like World 

Concern must be strategic about those we partner with. 

For that reason, INGOs, formally or informally, often 

perform some version of a cost-benefit analysis in 

selecting and continuing with partners. If the local 

church is no more than another option for partnership, 

an organization’s decision will also be based on such an 

analysis.  

How does the response of a Christ-centered 

INGO change if we view the local church as somehow 

distinct from other local partners? If we believe the 

church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-32) and the 

body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23), surely our commitment 

to her must be of an entirely different nature than that 

of a partner that is merely “strategic.” If the church is 

the beloved of the one at the very center of our identity, 

are we not compelled to remain faithful to her even 

when the cost-benefit analysis, financially, program-

matically, or operationally, does not land in her favor?  

For World Concern, the answer is a resounding 

yes. Therefore, we set out to explore how best to 

partner with her. This is a journey we are still on today. 

 

Understanding our Role:  

A Conversation with Leaders 
In order to partner well, one key question is how 

the calling of the local church and the calling of our 

INGO are related. What is unique about the local 

church, what is unique about World Concern, and what 

do we share?  

We asked this question during a 2016 meeting with 

our country leaders in Africa. Those gathered were 

women and men from a handful of African countries 

who had been serving in the region doing disaster 

response and community development in a variety of 

spiritual contexts, from the wide open to highly 

restricted. Some had extensive experience working with 

the local church in programming, others were 

somewhat new to the concept.  

We drew two overlapping circles on a piece of 

flipchart paper, as seen in the image below. The circle 

on the right represented the calling and mandate of the 

local church and the one on the left represented World 

Concern. The area of overlap was meant to capture the 

parts of our mandate that were held in common, roles 

that were shared. We had no preconceived notion of 

how the discussion would go, nor how the circles would 

look in the end. It was not meant to steer participants 

toward a predetermined solution; instead, it was truly a 

blank slate, open for any and all views and possibilities. 

The goal was not to be exhaustive but to provide 

ourselves an overview and general picture of where our 

callings were distinct and where they were shared. 

We began by identifying what was unique to the 

local church. This was done relatively quickly. 

Participants identified four unique aspects of the      

local church’s role: ordinances,
2

 institutional church 

planting, receiving of the tithe, and long-term 

discipleship.  

We then moved on to identifying what was unique 

to World Concern. What was it about our mandate and 

calling that was only ours to pursue? This is what our 

regional leaders came up with: 

 

 
2 While some use the term “ordinances and other sacraments,” and the understanding of what the term encompasses 

varies, in this discussion, “ordinances” referred primarily to baptism, communion, and marriage.  



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(2), Winter 2023  
 

Toop, More Than Partners: Christ-Centered Organizations and the Local Church 66 
 

Most of the items in the area of overlap landed there 

only after lengthy and active discussion. While the 

details of the discussion were not recorded, the essence 

of the conversation was fairly consistent. One 

participant, for example, felt that the building of local 

institutions should be considered unique to us as an 

INGO; just as the facilitator was going to write that in 

the “World Concern” circle, another participant spoke 

up to offer an example of the local church establishing 

local institutions (e.g., the organized feeding program in 

the early church, as described in Acts 6), so it ended up 

in the area of overlap. Another participant suggested 

that disaster response be put into the “World Concern” 

circle because that is an area of technical expertise we 

are uniquely equipped to offer, but just as that was 

about to be written, others argued that the local church 

is equally called to meet the urgent needs of the local 

community, as found in Titus 3:14. Thus, one by one, 

each suggestion for the left circle ended up in the shared 

category. 

 

What Does this Mean?  
At the end of the exercise, we asked ourselves what 

conclusions we might draw. If this was truly how we 

understood the relationship between our calling and 

that of the local church in the Africa region, how should 

it impact who we are, what we do, and how we do it? 

We were not under the impression that this simple 

drawing captured an entire model for church 

partnership—it was the initial exploration of one aspect 

of it—but the conversation was compelling and 

challenging. The leaders involved in the meeting left 

with a renewed sense of commitment to intentionally 

engage with, build the capacity of, serve, and serve with 

the local church in our areas of operation. 

Beyond those present in the room, this 

conversation was catalytic for the organization. Over the 

next several years, leaders throughout World Concern 

continued to wrestle with our relationship to the local 

church. Echoes of this and similar exercises had 

implications for our philosophy of ministry, our 

strategy, and our programming. 

 

1. Philosophy: Input like this from our global teams 

helped shape our philosophy of partnership with 

local churches. We acknowledged and articulated 

the following as part of our theory of change: Our 

work in any one location is temporary and should 

contribute to the edification and equipping of the 

 
3

 This statement is part of a larger whole theory of change and thus does not, on its own, capture adequately our 

commitment to mutuality, which is articulated separately but applies to all partnerships. This statement addresses what 

we bring to the partnership and how we view the local church. To outline how we learn from and are served by the 

local church would require another article altogether. 
4 “Strategic” in this sense refers to strategic for the advancement of the kingdom of God, not merely program strategy.  

local and global body of Christ to walk more fully 

in her identity as God’s beloved bride, 

ambassador, and agent of reconciliation.
3

 As an 

INGO, do we have skills and resources that are not 

currently present in the local church? In most 

cases, yes, we do. And those should be used to 

build up, encourage, serve, and equip the body of 

Christ, even as we are encouraged, built up, and 

strengthened by her. If World Concern does its job 

well, when the left circle is removed from the 

flipchart, nothing is lost. The journey of holistic 

transformation continues, championed and led by 

the local church.  

 

2. Strategy: When it came time for an organizational 

strategic planning process, the results of these 

kinds of conversations informed the expansion of 

church partnerships from a subset of partnership 

in general to a strategic
4

 focus all its own. We 

became more intentional about designing 

approaches to and opportunities for partnership 

globally, regionally, and locally with the fellowship 

of believers God has called together for the glory 

of his name and the good of those he loves.  

 

3. Program: New programmatic initiatives were born 

out of conversations like this. Of note is a program 

called Africans to Africa, which, as internal 

program documents say, seeks to “…mobilize the 

whole African Church and the whole body of 

African believers to holistically reach the whole of 

Africa—because we can!” In this program, World 

Concern partners with churches in Nairobi, Kenya 

to reach unreached or least-reached parts of South 

Sudan, Kenya, and Democratic Republic of the 

Congo (DRC) with the Good News through the 

training up and support of local evangelists in 

holistic ministry. This program builds on one of 

the strengths of Christ-centered INGOs, which is 

our ability to offer a neutral but faith-aligned, non-

denominational platform for churches to begin 

partnering with one another. In time, it is envisaged 

that this program will be fully run by the churches 

themselves in a way that testifies powerfully to the 

unity that is possible—and indeed commanded—in 

the body of Christ. 

 

 

 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(2), Winter 2023  
 

Toop, More Than Partners: Christ-Centered Organizations and the Local Church 67 
 

What Does this NOT Mean?  
While some helpful learning points came out of 

the diagram and associated discussion, it is also 

important to clarify what we did NOT conclude 

through the conversation. 

 

1. The local church is not our sole local partner. This 

one exercise singled out World Concern and the 

local church, but if we were to zoom out, there 

would be many other circles. In 2021, in fact, we 

did another Venn diagram exercise that included 

the community itself, local government, the 

regional church, the global church, and other key 

stakeholders. No two drawings from any two 

countries were the same! And none was as simple 

as this. In terms of kingdom-aligned partners, in 

addition to institutions like the church, we also 

partner with Christian professionals and networks 

both locally and regionally. None of that is 

captured in this conversation—not because it is less 

important, but because, at the time, we were 

specifically considering the local church. 

 

2. The institution of the local church is not the sole 

vehicle for kingdom ministry. While we firmly 

believe that the local church is critical to 

flourishing, we also believe in the priesthood of all 

believers and acknowledge that kingdom work 

happens seven days a week throughout community 

life as Christ-followers live into and out of their true 

identities as image-bearers of God. In fact, the 

diagram drawn by these leaders looks this way 

essentially because of our belief in the priesthood 

of all believers. The calling of World Concern 

overlaps the calling of the local church because, as 

Christ-followers, we are the church, and we are 

called to be the church in all we do.  

 

3. The local church is not meant to become the local 

NGO. If you only look at this one diagram and the 

contents of this one conversation, it would be easy 

to conclude that the local church is simply being 

trained to take over the work of an NGO. The 

reality on the ground in many areas we serve is that 

 
5

 A note of caution on this. In a Christ-centered INGO, we have the unique privilege of seeking the Lord together with 

our coworkers. We get to worship together, pray together, serve together, and live out our calling in rich community. 

Indeed, we are the church to one another and the world around us. At times, we may be tempted to replace the local 

church with the community of believers we find at work. The local church is, after all, another broken institution. 

Nevertheless, the local church is critical. It is the gathering place for all believers. Even in a Christ-centered 

organization, we are hired and fired from positions based on factors such as experience, training, job performance, and 

funding. But we are not hired or fired from the local church. We opt into or out of jobs based on factors like job 

satisfaction, compensation, career growth, or stage in life. We are not designed to opt into or out of the local church. 

We are exhorted not to give up meeting (Heb. 10:25). The local church, while messy and uncomfortable at times, and 

imperfect always, is a crucial steward of the ministry of reconciliation, a place of growth and discipleship, and a 

powerful testimony to the watching world. 

the local church is one of the few local institutions 

faithfully present to serve people in the 

community, and they do end up wearing many 

hats. Still, our intention is not to turn churches into 

NGOs. We do not expect local churches to 

become the administrative center for initiatives in 

every sector of community life. Should the church 

be starting up hospitals and nutrition centers? In 

some cases, yes, that may be very appropriate, but 

in most cases, no, that is not the role of the local 

church. Regardless, the local church is still the 

place where Christ-followers who serve in every 

arena of community life, are equipped to do so 

with a kingdom mindset. We expect to see local 

churches discipling women and men who go into 

community as priest-nurses and priest-lawyers and 

priest-blacksmiths, as we together pursue a holistic 

mandate and rediscover the abundance of life we 

are designed for.  

 

4. World Concern is not fully distinct from the 

church.
5

  While we drew World Concern and the 

local church as two circles, this does not capture 

the fullness of reality. It is a flawed and limited 

picture. In truth, we are all (those of us who are 

Christ-followers in World Concern and those who 

are Christ-followers in the local church) part of the 

greater body of believers, the global Church. In 

most cases, our local staff are also part of the local 

church where we serve, so they very much live in 

the overlap. We represented the organizations 

distinctly because we are administratively separate, 

but we must keep in mind that the representation 

is limited and the conversation is not designed to 

introduce new boundaries, but to help us think 

about our partnership from one of many 

perspectives. 

 

Concluding Thoughts 
We have not sought to present a model for church 

partnership here—either for ourselves or for other 

organizations. We have simply invited you to listen in 

on some of our organizational conversation about a 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(2), Winter 2023  
 

Toop, More Than Partners: Christ-Centered Organizations and the Local Church 68 
 

critical and irreplaceable partner, the local church, and 

how our callings relate to one another. For us, this 

conversation has helped highlight aspects of our own 

identity as well as the critical role of the local church in 

community abundance and some of the opportunities 

to be part of edifying and building her up, even as she 

edifies and builds us up.   

At World Concern, we still have a lot of work to 

do in defining and refining our philosophy of and 

approach to local church partnership, but we have 

reaffirmed our commitment to journeying together with 

the bride of the one in whom we find our very identity. 

We intend to continue learning and growing both from 

and with the uniquely beautiful expressions of the body 

of Christ in the places where he allows us to serve. Like 

the local church, we are messy and imperfect in our 

attempts to love and serve those around us. And, like 

her, we are fully dependent on connection to the vine if 

we are to bear any fruit at all (John 15:1-17). May we be 

found faithful. 

 
 

 

Katie Toop is Senior Director of Transformational 

Development at World Concern, and one of the 

Accord Network Fellows for 2023. She has served in 

disaster response and community development work 

internationally for 18 years. Her current role focuses 

on staff capacity building and strategic approaches to 

community engagement. 

 

Author email: katiet@worldconcern.org  
 

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