Jim Caughlan, pastor of Evangelical United Church of Christ in Cape Girardeau, explained how a partnership with a Jamaican church helped his congregation understand more about the gospel.

Caughlan spoke at the National Conference of Global Partnerships in Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 18-20.

The Conference included delegates from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Most of the delegates have partner relationships with churches around the world.

Caughlan told the delegates about his congregation's experience with the partnership program.

Evangelical UCC in Cape Girardeau has had a partnership with Carron Hall United Church in Jamaica for the past five years. Caughlan said such partnerships help individuals and churches understand how much of what they do is cultural.

"Often when churches in the United States begin a partner relationship with a church in a developing nation, the impulse is to turn the people there into a 'mission project," he said. "The real joy is to see one another as partners in the fullest sense of the word. U.S. churches that assume a paternalistic relationship doom the partnership to failure.

"If we look honestly at ourselves and our culture, we know that the answer is not for other people to be more like us materially. We must work at solving the injustices of our world as full partners together in service of Jesus Christ. That means listening to our partners to understand their hopes and plans for mission and growth, both spiritually and economically."