With thanks to the Lord and with great anticipation, we are together writing to announce a new initiative in Canada we’ve called the Sending Collective.

Over the last two years the leaders (both management and Board members) of five evangelical mission agencies in Canada have joined to pray, explore ideas, and consider deeper collaboration in God’s mission. Together, we desire to honour God by helping to raise up and support faithful mission workers!

As leaders, we’ve observed that at times God-honouring, like-minded Home Offices have fallen into a scarcity mindset. We are saddened this has led some Senders (pastors/church leaders and donors) to believe that agencies are competing against each other. We’ve also seen those same Home Offices sometimes have significant redundancies, leading to questions about good stewardship. Most importantly of all, we see that our “silo-ed” efforts to serve churches and mission workers are not adequately answering the contemporary need of Canadian churches.

As a result, we’ve agreed it’s time to step forward together in faith and to make some changes. We’re confident we can do things better in a collaborative model.

As leaders we have prayed and talked extensively to ensure we have sufficient common doctrine and purpose to work closely together. We’ve begun to outline practical ways we might be more effective if we serve together while maintaining organizational identities. We are confident that if we share from our strengths and experience there’s a high likelihood that we’ll not only be more effective, but also more efficient. So far, local churches across Canada provided positive feedback and interest to engage with a “collective concept”.

Of course, we don’t have all the answers yet! We’ve begun to explore the blending of some “back office” operations, coordination of mobilization activities, and sharing of talent here in Canada. We’ve agreed that it’s worth a significant initiative to see if we can do this better together... all for the advance of our Lord’s Kingdom through Canadian local churches.

Thank-you for taking a few minutes to look through this Sending Collective Launch Announcement. You’re also invited to visit our website at www.thesendingcollective.org/ca to further learn about the purpose, vision, and some early Collective initiatives. Finally, we invite you to let us know if you would like to attend a live online Launch Presentation. We are ready to hold these at different times (to accommodate supporters across Canada) at a reasonable time of day where you are - you can let us know of your interest in an online presentation by using our Contact Us Form.

We anticipate that you’ll have feedback or questions about these ideas. Be assured that we are listening and learning as we go, and your input is highly valued! We especially want to understand any concerns about the impact on you, your church, or the missionary/project that you support. Please reach out via our Contact Us Form.

Finally, please join us in praying for Canada, and for our Lord’s guidance and blessing in this collaborative Kingdom endeavour. We long to see the faithful sharing of His truth, love and peace, until He comes again!

With thanksgiving, and great anticipation of God’s continuing work,

The Sending Collective (Canada) is an intentional, experimental initiative in “deep and generous collaboration” by the Canadian Home Offices of five (5) like-minded missionary sending agencies.

Our primary goal for this initiative is to explore the courageous and generous coordination and sharing of resources in order to more effectively serve our Lord and His church in Canada in the pursuit of the Great Commission.

Our vision is to generate familiarity, trust, and common initiatives to expand and improve our Home Offices’ capacity to serve Canadian churches and mission workers. We are resisting unhealthy competition between Kingdom partners and instead seeking to model courageous and generous sharing of strengths while receiving assistance with our shortcomings.

Some collaborative projects are already underway (see the website for more information). The initial mandate of the Integration Management Group (IMG) is until September 30, 2023, by which time decisions will be made as to the long-term viability of the Collective.

In light of the state of the Canadian church, and by extension the state of cross-cultural global missions from Canada, we believe the time is right to catalyze intentional cooperation between like-minded mission agencies.

A primary desired outcome of the Sending Collective is to encourage and strengthen the Body of Christ. We also hope to address shortcomings and redundancies among like-minded Kingdom partners.

The initial member agencies of the Sending Collective (Canada) are:
1. Christar Canada,
2. Greater Europe Mission of Canada (GEM Canada),
3. SEND International of Canada (SEND Canada)
4. South America Mission of Canada (CanSAM), and
5. The Evangelical Alliance Mission of Canada (TEAM of Canada).

While we are open to additional member agencies in the future, we believe five is sufficient to test ideas while wrestling with significant complexity. Even these five initial agencies have plenty to work out as we consider establishing common systems and practices!

We are thankful for all our US and International Offices! Specific leaders in offices outside Canada been informed of the Collective initiative in Canada - they are supportive, hoping that this leads to “much good fruit” in Canada. At the discretion of Collective member agency leadership, colleagues worldwide are receiving this same Launch Update.

We want to affirm that the Collective (Canada) is not an effort to disassociate with our counterparts in the USA or around the world! We will continue to keep in close touch and collaboration with all our global counterparts, welcoming their insight and support. And yes, in some cases, they have wondered if parts of this collaborative model might be contextualized for use in other locations.

The initial focus of the Collective is the collaboration of Canadian Home Offices, and we do not anticipate any immediate, significant changes for mission workers serving in overseas or North American ministry contexts. (It has been noted many times that collaboration already takes place “on the field” - we hope this continues and advances, but it is not our immediate priority.)

All mission worker’s assignments (including purpose, location, and duration) continue to be the responsibility of their respective member agency. We therefore anticipate that Canadian mission workers will continue in their present ministry assignments, including those who serve in leadership roles. In the event of adjustments in Home Office operations/procedures due to Collective initiatives, the respective Home Office(s) will seek to ensure that mission workers are not negatively impacted.

We certainly hope Collective initiatives will eventually positively impact ministry contexts worldwide. A primary desired outcome is the strengthening of vision for global missions and joyful participation of local churches in Canada. While we do not see the early success of the Collective measured in “cold, hard numeric metrics” (recruitment or fundraising, for example) we do pray that our efforts will in time lead to a healthy expansion of mobilization of Canadian Goers and Senders.

We envision growing familiarity and camaraderie between our office teams leading to generous sharing and blending as we serve our very wide country with small teams. By sharing our capacities (both talent and resources) we hope to strengthen our services and possibly realize some significant efficiencies.

Collective member agencies are invited to a) propose and b) consider participation in various Collective initiatives (see Five-Colour Model for main categories). Most of these proposals initially impact agency operations in Canada. Each Collective member agency maintains autonomy to determine the relevance and wisdom of sharing in any initiative(s). We note that some initiatives (such as sharing talent) do require deep and lasting commitment, which is prayerfully and carefully considered.

In time, we hope the Collective will offer positive opportunities for the Home Office personnel of member agencies. Ultimately, through sharing, blending and coordination based on understanding and trust, we anticipate less overwhelm and greater opportunity to focus on strengths and specialized expertise.

Initially, we do not expect significant impact on our Senders – pastors, missions committees and donors. Before long, however, we hope to broaden and improve our services for Senders (esp. Sending churches and donors) through sharing our capacity, networks, and even coordinated travel planning. Our desired outcome: many local churches inspired and equipped to help engage in God’s global Kingdom mission!

All member agencies of the Collective are separate entities, and retain legal and charitable status with separate Boards of Directors. The Collective is not a separate, unique, legal organization, but an “umbrella” under which the five member organizations may each have varying degrees of participation. Organizationally, SEND Canada is serving as the ‘Managing Agency’ for the Collective and the others are ‘Participating Agencies’.

The Collective is being guided initially by the Integration Management Group (IMG) comprised of decision- making leaders (Executive Directors or Board members) from each member agency together with an experienced project manager. The IMG currently meets every two weeks to oversee the emergence of the Collective.

Additional wisdom and perspectives are contributed quarterly by the Advisory Group which includes (in addition to the members of IMG) one Board member from each member agency. It is wonderful to see the breadth and wisdom of this group, and the warm unity as we come together to share generously!

Glad you asked... we invite you to learn more on the website. It’s a simple site to start with, intended to help answer questions that mission workers, Home Office staff, and supporters and donors may have. We’ll be building it out further in the coming days.