Making a Twinning Agreement
Church Twinning is a tool for Mission. As circumstances change, and as we grow in our understanding of mission and ministry through our experience of sharing with Christians in the Continental Europe, we or our partner church may feel the need to channel our energies and resources in a different direction. The opportunity for evaluation and maybe redirection of both the churches' energies should be built into the making of the link.
Community (civic) Twinnings are sealed by a Charter and go on for ever! Church Twinnings, on the other hand, should reflect the churches' willingness to be called to new partnerships and new opportunities for mission. If this is made clear in a Twinning Agreement, then either church may initiate change without feeling guilty of deserting the other. Naturally, the churches may decide to continue the partnership for another period of time, maybe exploring new opportunities together.
However, if the Churches are engaging with the Community Twinning of their town, then it would be better to remain committed to developing the partnership between Community and Churches.
The Twinning Agreement sets out a number of items on which two churches should be of the same mind. The headlines are on the next page. It is a lost opportunity for co-operation if the churches ignore a Community Twinning that already exists in their own town.
The next page suggests how to get this right.
