prayerstrategists.net · Communication Document 1
General resources
Communication Document 1
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Part 1 of a series of three for Ethnê Ephesus teams, best read in order: Communication Document 1 · Communication Document 2 · Communication Document 3.
Ethnê is a global network of networks focused on reaching the unreached. It is organized around a triennial global consultation held on a rotating basis in different parts of the world. In between conferences, workgroups around specific issues carry tasks forward, and “Ephesus Clusters” are networks focused on specific unreached clusters.
Recent history
Ethnê came out of post-2000 events following the end of the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement (of the 1980s and 1990s).
In 2001, a Global Christian Roundtable consultation was held in Port Dickson, Malaysia. For three days participants met together in a typical conference mode: with plenary sessions and breakout workgroups. Those involved in ministry to the unreached were realizing their need for a specialized conference dealing with unreached peoples: at GCR, the unreached were just one of several tracks. Global conferences were good but those ministering to unreached peoples—like those in other ministry “niches”—needed a consultation area where they could focus on their area of ministry.
Ongoing discussions resulted in the Singapore 2002 conference, attended by about 200 people. Out of this came three “global” options or “calls”: (1) secure communications, (2) a need for ongoing gatherings focused on unreached peoples, and (3) for a global network of mission agencies that would focus on networking or partnering mission-focused entities at a global level. Each of these calls was picked up.
A global unreached peoples network began forming shortly thereafter. Planning meetings were first held in February 2004. This network soon became ‘Ethnê,’ focused around certain core ideas: “We are not able to finish the global task by ourselves as a small group of people from around the world. We need truly global leadership and participation. We need all the giftings of the whole body of Christ. And we need new congregations in unreached areas to be immediately charged with joining in to fulfill the global task.”
In other words, Ethnê is the idea that the remaining task could only be finished if all Ethnê went to all Ethnê.
Ethnê is facilitated by a rotating steering committee. It’s highly relational. A conference is held every three years, and in between conferences all projects are ‘sparked’ by people with a passion for an idea who spread it through a network of volunteers. All ideas have to work in a low-resource environment. Ethnê is a global network, not a global organization. There is no single corporate entity behind it, and no staff or funding for major projects. Even receiving contributions to subsidize some of the attendees has been an interesting logistical hurdle, since contributions have to flow through the various organizations related to the conference rather than a single point.
Ethnê has also unfortunately been very quiet when it comes to communicating with the rest of the Great Commission workforce. Some of the challenges facing Ethnê’s communications are: (1) nothing is centralized, (2) resources are scant, (3) teams are highly relational, and (4) much is driven by volunteers. With the new Ephesus initiative seeking to catalyze movements amongst people group clusters, we need to communicate better in order to recruit new teams. Thus, these three documents (Communications Documents 1, 2 and 3) are an effort to help individual Ethnê workgroups and Ephesus teams to develop a full-fledged communications strategy that in turn would benefit the entire body of Christ.