4 Ways to Multiply Collaborative Impact (Your Definition of ‘Team’ May Be Holding You Back)
By S. Crawley
Photo by Vlad Hilitanu on Unsplash
Cities are complex. There is so much need. So many opportunities and possibilities.
You know God is calling you to engage in the urban harvest. You know the task is too big to accomplish by yourself. You know you need a team, but where do you start?
There is often confusion about what a team is and how it operates. People may share a heart for the brokenness of their city and a vision for discipleship and urban transformation, but differing definitions of team and misaligned expectations result in frustration, lack of desired impact, and damaged relationships.
Perhaps you've had experiences like this.
As our team serves leaders in different cities, we see God birthing different types of teams and collaborations to address the size and complexity of the urban task. And how they help disciples of Jesus gain clarity, build the right kinds of teams for the right tasks, and accelerate their impact.
In this post I will introduce and briefly unpack the four types of urban collaboration we’re seeing. They are:
1. Citywide Kingdom Network
2. Citywide Community of Practice
3. Harvest Team
4. Catalytic Team
Unpacking the 4 Collaborations
1. Citywide Kingdom Network
The Citywide Kingdom Network brings people together around a broad Kingdom vision.
People in this network share a love for God, a commitment to His Kingdom, and a desire to see breakthrough in their city. They are united by their heart for the city, but each person or group pursues their own ministry involvement based on their unique calling, gifting and context. Their approaches can and do differ, but their shared burden for the city creates opportunities for connection, prayer and mutual encouragement.
Collaboration here starts with praying together for the city. Then as people journey together in prayer, fresh ideas emerge and relationships grow. Other forms of partnership often result (but not always - and that’s ok).
Praying with others who have a heart for the city is a great place to start if you’re unsure where to begin.
2. Citywide Community of Practice
A Citywide Community of Practice is united by passion for God and His vision, along with a commitment to practically engage the lostness and brokenness of the city.
This collaborative expression has a sharper focus. It unites around a shared vision for urban transformation. For serving brokenness and replicating discipleship across the city.
The teams or people often work in different parts of the city, but learn from and encourage each other as they pursue the common goal. There is intentionality around rhythms of connection with each other, prayer together, and sometimes coordinating efforts on the ground. This kind of collaboration provides encouragement and connectedness without demanding excessive time and energy.
The key is intentionality—there’s a desire to learn from each other, share wisdom, and support one another in the work.
If you're pioneering and/or building a Harvest Team in a new space, this type of collaboration will serve you well.
(Note: If you’re in Singapore, you’re welcome to join a gathering like this coming up on October 26th - details here.)
3. Harvest Team
The Harvest Team is more focused and coordinated. It’s a smaller, tightly-knit group working serving brokenness and lostness in a specific area or urban tribe.
The people on a Harvest Team share a clearly articulated purpose and goal. They are committed to working together closely, coordinating and sharing resources with mutually agreed leadership and processes. This type of collaboration requires a high bar of commitment, but it also opens the door to powerful Kingdom breakthroughs.
Collaboration here happens not just in prayer but on the ground.
The team coordinates their efforts to mobilise harvest workers and prayer. Together they serve and disciple people in the space God has called them. Sometimes Harvest Teams form when people come together with a new ministry focus. Sometimes they emerge from existing relationships—perhaps co-workers in a business or neighbors in a housing development.
If you’re already embedded in a harvest context with a clear focus, this type of collaboration might help you move to the next level.
4. Catalytic Team
Catalytic Teams are focussed and coordinated but carry a burden for a broader field. This might be an affinity, an industry or an entire city.
This team operates with a clear vision and high commitment, just like the Harvest Team, but on a larger scale. They unite around the goal of mobilising others—casting vision, catalysing prayer, and serving and empowering leaders and teams across the broader sphere. Because of the breadth of vision and need for focus, these teams almost certainly require dedicated time together outside of normal life rhythms.
The primary focus of a Catalytic Team is not to engage the harvest at ground level as a team.
They exist to spark movements. They seek those God is preparing for different harvest areas or urban tribes. A Catalytic Team pursues the broader vision by serving and empowering Harvest Teams to pursue the vision God' has put on their hearts.
If you are carrying a burden for a city or an industry as a whole, you may want to consider building or finding a Catalytic Team.
Conclusion
None of these collaborations can be forced.
God is the Lord of the harvest, and He is preparing workers and assigning roles. Teams and collaborations will form and work best when each person flows in obedience with what God is calling them to do. The result is a unity of purpose, and diversity of activity that is key to reaching the complexity of our cities.
There’s no single way to engage our city's brokenness and lostness, but understanding these four urban collaboration approaches can help us find our place(s) and prime us for collaborative success.
Getting Practical
As you reflect on these four types of collaboration, consider the following questions:
What resonates most strongly in your heart — prayerful support, discipleship and serving brokenness, or mobilisation and serving teams?
How does your current understanding of "team" match up with the possibilities presented here? What adjustments might you need to make to see greater impact?
Who in your city is already working in these ways? How could you begin connecting with them to explore collaboration?
Which of the four configurations excites you the most? How could you take one small step this week to move toward that kind of collaboration?
Discipling the Urban Harvest provides practical insights and encouragement to walk with God in multiplying discipleship in an increasingly urban world - growing as children of the Father, serving the communities He has called us to, and discipling those hungry to know Him.