Jesus Collective Partnership Announcement

The Missio Dei Leadership Team (composed of the current pastor-elders and deacons) is excited to announce that we are formally partnering with the Jesus Collective church network. This post is written to provide a bit more background and context for this decision.

A Brief History of MDC and Affiliation
Missio Dei has never been affiliated with a denomination, but was started (in 2004) in partnership with the Acts 29 church-planting network. The planting pastor was vetted and supported through Acts 29, and was the strongest point of contact to that network. The planting pastor resigned after 16 years (August of 2020), and the Leadership of MDC decided to formally leave Acts 29 in the Spring of 2021. Some reasons for this decision were: our connection to Acts 29 had become weaker as more time passed from the church-planting stage of MDC’s life, the remaining full-time pastor (Joel) at MDC had no background or connection with Acts 29, and Acts 29 was not supportive of MDC leadership’s decision to support women preaching in the pulpit during our worship gatherings. The separation was amicable, and done in open conversation with Acts 29 leadership. MDC never intended to remain independent, but wanted to prayerfully explore other church affiliation options, whether denominations or networks. In 2021-22, the then-current Leadership Team explored formally aligning with a denomination that is active in New England (Anglican Church in North America), but after meeting with the denominational leadership, determined that the structural and liturgical changes the ACNA required for affiliation were going to be too significant and disruptive to our current culture and organization. There were no further efforts to explore affiliation options in 2023. In 2024, Joel became connected with an individual who recently moved to Portland and is active in the Jesus Collective network. In conversation with him, and after exploring the values and function of that network, Joel proposed Jesus Collective to the Leadership Team as an affiliation option. In Spring of 2025, the full Leadership Team invited Joel’s contact to a meeting, in which we discussed the history of Jesus Collective, the values and priorities of the network, and whether or not it would be a good fit for MDC. One of primary takeaways from this conversation was the “centered-set” approach of Jesus Collective was a good fit for MDC, and could even be helpful to our clarity of purpose and vision as we press forward (see below for more on “centered-set” approach). Following this conversation, Joel and one of the current elders spoke with the co-Executive director of Jesus Collective, and the elders formally recommended that MDC consider affiliation. The Leadership Team decided, in the Spring of 2025, to officially become a Jesus Collective partner church.

Why Jesus Collective?
There are 4 primary reasons we are partnering with Jesus Collective:

1. Their “centered-set” approach aligns with how we want to continue to develop our church community’s culture. Rather than focusing primarily on policing boundaries as a community (a “bounded set” approach), Jesus Collective encourages partner churches to adopt a “centered-set” posture. They exist to help churches focus on Jesus as the center of their life and practice, and this resonates with how we want to move forward in our context. (see “Centered-Set Church” by Mark Baker as a resource)
2. Jesus Collective provides a sense of identity and connection to something larger than ourselves, but will also allow MDC to continue to function with our current doctrine, culture and organization. Since our connection to Acts 29 has waned (and officially ended), we have felt the loss of connection to something broader than our own community. Through ongoing relationships and events, we believe partnership with Jesus Collective will help us continually “lift our eyes” to something larger than ourselves, and bring us back to an energizing vision. It’s also possible that those who follow Jesus Collective in our region will more likely find us as a church community. At the same time, because Jesus Collective is a network (rather than a highly-structured denomination) we can join and fully participate without changing any of our current doctrine, structure, or organization.
3. Jesus Collective will give practical support to the full-time pastor, as well as access to many more ministry resources than we currently are able to access. Jesus Collective runs monthly online “hubs” for ministry leaders, and Joel is going to be immediately involved in one with pastors of similarly-sized congregations around the country. These hubs are a source of collegial community, support, accountability and professional development. They also offer “hubs” to lay leaders, as well as maintain an active “ministry resource sharing” system online (teaching materials, curriculum for kids and youth, polity and organizational tools, etc.) all of which we are excited to take advantage of as we move forward. 
4. The risk is low, and the potential reward is high. Finally, on a very pragmatic level, the risk of partnering with Jesus Collective is low. We will be contributing 1.5% of our operating budget to them, and we are able to leave the network at any time if our leadership feels it is not a good fit. There are no complicated legal contracts or membership commitments. On the other hand, the potential for benefit is comparatively high, especially for Joel and MDC staff that will immediately be able to take advantage of the resources Jesus Collective makes available.

What Does This Mean For MDC moving forward?
There are short-term and long-term answers to this question. In the short-term, Joel is going to be the primary liaison between MDC and Jesus Collective. He is going to get immediately connected to a monthly “hub” for leaders of small-to-medium sized churches around the USA and Canada for professional development and coaching. As this connection develops, Joel will have access to more resources (potentially more “hubs”) for other leaders in the congregation. MDC will also be listed on Jesus Collective’s website as a “partner church,” and we will be invited to Jesus Collective events as they occur (though it’s helpful to clarify that we will not be required to attend to maintain our membership). Members of the LT will be able to access resources as needed through Joel’s connection. There will be no immediate changes to our leadership structure or worship gatherings.

In the long-term, we are hoping that this partnership will help us develop in healthy ways as a congregation, and especially clarify our vision and direction as a Christ-centered ministry in Portland. Something that was emphasized in our discernment process is that congregations  “get out what they put in,” in terms of partnership with Jesus Collective, so join us in praying for this partnership moving forward, that it will truly help us become a vibrant and visible, Jesus-centered community in Portland!