our ministry
What is the purpose of ReNew Partnerships?
ReNew Partnerships is a 501(c)3 Christian non-profit organization which was founded in 2005 to help Christians have a biblical and effective approach to ethnic relations. We serve the Body of Christ by providing innovative multicultural training resources for Christian leaders and ministries. Please read the one page document Pastor Mark with and without ReNew to get an idea of how we empower leaders and help to advance the gospel.
Who do you help?
We have had the privilege of providing resources and training for Christians of a wide variety of ages, ethnicities, and denominations. We have facilitated talks and training programs for church leadership teams, youth groups, college ministries, Christian universities, church plant teams, conferences, board of directors, and more. Through our website and e-learning sessions we impact thousands of Christians throughout the U.S. and the world each year.
We have helped and/or worked with leaders in the following organizations (as well as many others). Visit the comments section in our e-learning store to read what leaders have said about our organization. Click back on your browser to return to this page.
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What are your primary ministry activities?
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E-learning Since 2008 we have worked with top multi-ethnic experts to create e-learning sessions that are based on real-life scenarios that Christians often face when trying to build multi-ethnic community. Our e-learning sessions utilize the latest technologies and design methods to provide a training experience that is fun, engaging, and memorable. We make the sessions available for a low cost so that Christians and organizations with any size budget can use them. Learn More |
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renewpartnerships.org Our website, renewpartnerships.org, has become one of the most visited sites on the internet for Christians seeking Bible-based resources on multi-ethnic topics. It is packed full of free resources and links to over 700 books, articles, movies, Bible studies, online videos, talks, documentary films, and more. It currently receives approximately 3,000,000 hits each year and approximately 700 visitors each day. Our monthly ReNew Newsletter helps Christians across the U.S. to stay informed about excellent multi-ethnic resources, conferences, and training opportunities. |
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On-site Training & Mediation Our training and mediation programs are Bible-based, fun, and engaging. We create custom training programs that fit the needs of each organization based on the input of both the leadership and the members. We facilitate on-site training programs for church leadership teams, youth groups, college ministries, Christian universities, church plant teams, conferences, board of directors, and more. Request a quote or Learn More |
What types of conferences have you helped with?
We have presented talks/workshops and our resources have been featured at a wide variety of conferences including: Beyond Tolerance, Christian Community Development Association National Conference, Ignite Collaboration, G92 Immigration Conference, National Christian Multicultural Student Leaders Conference, Student Congress on Racial Reconciliation, and the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit.
Do you only focus on ethnicity-related issues — what about gender, age, etc?
The primary focus of our efforts is breaking down the ethnicity-related divisions in the church and helping Christians of different ethnicities to share life and ministry together. But, true biblical, Christian community is also about different socio-economic groups, gender groups, age groups, anything groups being connected with one another through the power of Christ. It is about tearing down all the walls that divide one human being from another through Christ’s love and the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe God has called us to focus our efforts on ethnicity-related aspects of building biblical community for many reasons — but, it is not because we believe it is the only, or even the most important, aspect.
Why do you have such a specific focus?
There are many reasons we believe God has called us to such a specific focus. The video Is the Church Ready for a Multi-ethnic Future? explains some of the reasons. Here are a few more…
- Multi-ethnic Christian communities bring special glory to God.
As Dr. Wayne Grudem says in his Systematic Theology, “If the Christian church is faithful to God’s wise plan, it will be always in the forefront in breaking down racial and social barriers in societies around the world, and will thus be a visible manifestation of God’s amazingly wise plan to bring great unity out of great diversity and thereby to cause all creation to honor him.” - Jesus and the early Christians were very committed to breaking down ethnic barriers and forming multi-ethnic Christian communities.
Visit the Bible passages section of our website to find dozens of examples of this. - Ethnically-divided Christian fellowships dishonor God.
If we walked into a school, a business, or a military unit that was still segregated by race we would probably be shocked and outraged. And yet, a tragically small percentage of Christian churches and ministries in America are truly ethnically “integrated”. Our ethnic divisions are contrary to the teachings of Christ, the writings of the apostles, and the example of the early Christians. Many Christian leaders want this to change but often lack the resources and training necessary to be successful in their efforts. - We believe that one of the most “evangelistic” things we can do is help Christians to live like God has called them to.
Christians who do not live the way that Christ instructed them to often hinder people’s decisions to receive Christ. What a tragedy! Too many people can relate to what Ghandi said when someone asked him why he didn’t want to be a Christian despite his love for Jesus, “I love your Jesus. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Jesus.” - If the church were more ethnically unified it would be much more effective at addressing the spiritual and physical needs in our communities.
There are over 250,000,000 people in America who claim to be a Christian — that is a LOT of prayer power, manpower, creativity, influence, and financial resources! With God’s help, we have the potential to address every physical and spiritual need in our communities — education, poverty, broken families, injustice, isolation/depression, etc. But, sadly, Christians often remain ineffective at addressing these areas. Why? One the most obvious reasons is that we are fragmented into various ethnically-homogenous groups that have little meaningful interaction with one another. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “If we do not learn to live together as friends, we will die apart as fools.” We could also add, “…we will continue to be ineffective at impacting our communities.” - We want to help Christians experience the unique power and beauty of biblical, multi-ethnic community.
A tragically small percentage of Christians are experiencing the amazing power and beauty that is present when we break down ethnic barriers to worship Christ as one – it can bring healing and incredible joy into our lives.
Where are Christians trying to build biblical, multi-ethnic community?
The most obvious place is in local churches– but, there are many other places as well… home groups, Christian universities, youth ministries, campus ministries, missions teams, denominations, etc.
So, you help organizations become more ethnically diverse?
Yes, and no. Our emphasis is not so much on how to make organizations ethnically diverse. Christian sociologists like Dr. Michael Emerson have done extensive studies which show that the majority of times when churches and organizations “become more diverse” there are still major divisions between the various ethnic groups — a good book to read on that is People of the Dream by Dr. Emerson. On the surface the organization looks more diverse but it is only skin deep. Anything short of a true, deep level of relational connectedness between those of different ethnic groups does not match the biblical model. That is why we focus our efforts on building biblical, multi-ethnic community within organizations rather than “increasing the diversity of an organization”. It may not sound like a big difference — but, they are actually very different objectives and require completely different approaches. Of course, as pockets of true biblical, multi-ethnic community develop within a church or organization its level of diversity will increase.
Are you affiliated with any church, denomination, or ministry?
No, we are an independent, 501(c)3 Christian non-profit organization.
When was ReNew started?
Its a little tricky to answer that because it depends on what you mean by “started”… Chad and Laurie Brennan and a diverse group of ministry leaders in Queens, NYC started working together in the Spring of 2001 to organize “ReNew” activities. At first, “ReNew” was just a monthly prayer/worship/fellowship event for a diverse group of college students and young adults. Overtime, Chad and Laurie felt God’s call to leave the campus ministry they were a part of and launch ReNew as a new ministry in 2005. ReNew received its 501(c)3 status in June of 2006. Please see the timeline on our website to get an idea of all the things the Lord has done to bring us to this point.
You didn’t answer my question…
Sorry. Contact us and we’ll be glad to do so.
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