Sending Network Process
A distinctive of Upstream Sending is that we partner with the church first and then the missionary. This means that before a meaningful relationship can happen with aspiring missionaries, the relationship needs to be established with their sending church first. As we seek to partner deeply with local churches, we want to make sure that we are a good fit for one another. We accomplish this through our Sending Network process.
Joining the Sending Network
The onboarding process walks churches through the graphic below and focuses on the following areas.​
Church Assessment
After having an initial conversation with Upstream Sending leaders, churches seeking to partner with Upstream Sending will go through a church assessment. This assessment includes a video call(s), a written application, an evaluation of sending church engagement and philosophy, along with an alignment around theology, missiology, and mission practice.
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This assessment is less of an interview and more of a coaching session, helping church leaders know where they are as a sending church and ways they can grow toward greater effectiveness. We assess and coach churches based on the Sending Church Elements and through the wisdom and experience of our mission leaders.
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From this assessment Upstream leaders create a growth plan for the church. This growth plan provides an overall evaluation of missions and sending health, strengths, areas of growth, and practical pathways toward development. We will also make a recommendation to the church whether or not Upstream Sending would be a good ministry partner.
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Theology & Values
Theological and missiological alignment are important for healthy partnership. Although we seek to serve a broad spectrum of gospel-centered, evangelical churches, we know that we won’t be a fit for every church and church leader. We ask churches going through the church partner process to read and sign our theological statement and accompanying creeds and statements, as well as our missiological values. We will also ask questions related to theology, missiology, sending philosophy, and missions practice and culture in the interview process.
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Partner Agreement
Upstream Sending is what is referred to as a “memorandum of understanding” organization. This means that we base our ministry partnerships with churches, missionaries, and field teams on written documents of agreement. The MOU model, or what we call partner agreement, allows for both clarity in partnership and flexibility in how we work together.
After a church goes through the church assessment, we ask church leaders to work with Upstream leaders to draft and sign a partner agreement, a written document of how our organizations, and leaders, will work together.
Being part of the Sending Network includes a monthly membership fee. This fee helps cover the operational costs of the network and allows us to keep administrative fees low for the missionaries our churches send through Upstream.