Team Lead, Communications

Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Ngumo in conversation with Catherine Cole 

For 150 years, CBM has served as the mission arm of Canadian Baptists, bringing together the Canadian Church and the global Church in partnership. As our understanding of partnership has changed, so has our approach — in some cases, shedding the Western model of parent-child relationships and moving toward sibling relationships. These are horizontal partnerships, where each is both the giver and receiver. Embracing this approach where appropriate in our partnerships is our faithful pursuit of mutuality. But what does mutuality in partnership mean?

In October 2024, CBM’s Team Lead for Communications, Catherine Cole, sat down with the Right Rev. Jeremiah Ngumo, Moderator for the Africa Christian Church & Schools (ACC&S) in Kenya, a partner that CBM has served alongside for 50 years, to discuss the significance of mutuality in partnership.

Catherine: How would you define effective partnership?

Jeremiah: I think the best definition of partnership is “that which is mutual” — mutual in the sense that we operate at a relational level. As we come together in common understanding there is mutual respect. We respect your views, you respect our views, and collectively we can hold on to an agreement where there is understanding because we retain our individual identities. This works best when there is a common objective that drives the purpose of the partnership.

Partnership is also about coming together as the body of Christ. There could be pioneer partners, but they must continue to accommodate other people, other players, and other stakeholders so that our mutual understanding is inclusive as we serve one purpose together.

C: What is the significance of mutuality in partnership?

J: I will use the model of horizontal relationships as an example. If we can identify that which unites us, then that becomes our foundation. We can forfeit the things that divide us. Coming together with mutual understanding does not diminish who we are, it strengthens. This is something I appreciate about CBM. Yes, CBM could be seen as the “bigger brother,” but that hasn’t stopped you from coming together as common people and as mutual partners. This has kept us going, and I believe is one of the significant factors that has sustained our partnership with CBM beyond five decades, by the grace of God.

C: How do power dynamics impact partnership?

J: Many partnerships have started and crumbled because of power dynamics. The moment one partner is made to feel inferior, that breeds hostility towards the other. But I admire the model of CBM. In our context, you do not come to Africa to dictate how churches are going to be run; you’ve come as co-facilitators in the aspirations of the individual denominations. Because of this approach, we have continued to pull together as partners, without conflicting power dynamics. We come together as equals, lay things on the table, discuss matters, and then agree on which areas we are going to move forward with in partnership.

C: What is a practical example of how partners can outwork mutuality?

J: I think the best thing that helps us to work together with multiple partners is capacity building: that we are able to build capacity for leaders and we are able to see and discuss matters on the same table across the various denominations.

Part of this is a peer capacity assessment. It requires vulnerability but ultimately helps us understand how we each operate. It has made us very open to each other: looking at our finances, our administrative structure, our governance — we had to be very honest. Now we can shape the direction of our ministry together. Instead of “sibling rivalry,” this fosters sibling fellowship.

Through the peer capacity assessment we can appreciate the giftings that each church has. Some of us are good at the leadership level. Others are good in the management of finances. Others in theological education. And still others in integral mission. Our coming together helps us to appreciate the various giftings of each partner.

C: What role does context play in mutuality?

J: We must appreciate that, much as we are individual — churches and our faiths — we also have our cultural biases. Exercising mutuality means that when someone is coming from across the nation, across the border, to come and facilitate, it removes the stereotypical understanding: that this is a foreigner coming to us. In mutuality, there is receptibility.

At the same time, there are benefits to acknowledging the reality of these cultural biases. For example, having the CBM Africa Team Leaders be from Africa — it removes the foreigner bias from churches that would feel that “Aye, this is things from the West.” We can nurture ourselves and navigate our differences by feeling very close to each other. The important thing is to navigate context and cultural differences together.

C: Are there barriers or risks when it comes to mutuality in partnership?

J: In every relationship, there are bound to be differences — differences of perspective, the way you look at a given challenge is not the way I look at it, and therefore that is a potential conflict point when we talk about our identities. That can be a risk.

I think through the Gisenyi Covenant (now known as the Nairobi Accord), the peer capacity assessment has largely mitigated those risks. Being open, honest, and vulnerable with each other has minimized potential conflict.

There must be vulnerability in coming to the table. We are opening ourselves to show our strengths and weaknesses. You cannot hold a hand if your palm is not open. But when you open your palm, the other partner can hold on, pull you up when you need it, and walk alongside you.

C: How did Jesus model partnership or mutuality?

J: In Jesus’ time, religion was very patriarchal. Even the layout of the synagogues had the inner court for men, then the outer court for women, and then another outer court for Gentiles. But Jesus came and demolished that in a very big way, by interacting outside the synagogue with the very same people who were despised. I see that as a partnership.

Looking at all those that were viewed as outcasts, Jesus crossed the border; he entered partnerships with them and even went to the house of sinners because he offered a way that accommodated everyone. Because the synagogue system had divided them, he went out into the mission field and embraced them.

From Jesus, we learn that each one of us has a place in the Kingdom of God. In our mutual understanding, we need to focus not on those who are in the inner circle but focus on those who are on the outside of it because that is where Jesus is sending us.

C: If there was one thing that you would say to summarize the importance of mutuality in partnership, what would it be?

J: Training and capacity building are vital because every day we learn from each other. If we open ourselves, we not only learn from our friends, but we also give them an opportunity to learn from us. 

We have an African Proverb that says, “He who does not travel thinks only their mother is the best cook.” Not until you travel, not until you go out of yourself, can you see that there are other cooks. So, in the same manner, once we open ourselves in this mutual understanding, we learn from each other just as we equip others in the ways that we are gifted.