Natural Church Development

Natural Church Development (NCD) is based on research into the experiences of at least 1,000 growing Christian churches around the world. The research has identified the following universally valid principles that are at work in all of these congregations. NCD calls them the Eight Quality Characteristics of growing churches.

In answer to the question, “What can we do to see our church make better progress?” NCD responds, “Work to develop each of these eight quality characteristics more fully in your church!”

NCD’s Eight Quality Characteristics
* Empowering Leadership
    Leaders of growing churches do not try to build up their own power to become all-powerful and controlling.          

    Instead, they consider it one of their most important tasks to help Christians develop their own God-given gifts and

    vision. They equip, support, motivate and mentor individuals to become all that God wants them to be. They believe

    that God has an unique calling for each person.

* Gift-oriented Ministry
    God has already determined which Christian should best assume which ministries in the church. The role of church

    leadership is to help members identify their gifts and integrate them into ministries that match their gifts. When you   

    live according to your spiritual giftedness you are no longer working in your own strength, but the Holy Spirit

    works in you.

* Passionate Spirituality
    NCD uses this term when assessing the many different and sometimes very dissimilar, styles of spirituality that exist

    within the Christian church. In terms of church growth, it is not the style or way spirituality is expressed that matters,

    but that the faith is real and actually lived out with commitment, fire and enthusiasm.

* Functional structures
    The most important criterion for forms and structures in the church is: Do they fulfill their purpose or not? NCD

    says that church structures are never an end in themselves but always only a means to an end. By applying this

    functional analysis a church does not become stagnant in the “we’ve always done it this way”swamp.

* Inspiring worship service
    NCD poses this functional question: Is the worship service an inspiring experience for whose who attend it?

    Growing churches have congregations that actually enjoy the experience of worshipping. They show up because

    they want to be there, not from a sense of “duty”or patient endurance of a boring or meaningless exercise.

* Holistic small groups
   Growing churches have a system of small groups where individual Christians find intimate community, practical

    help, and intensive spiritual interaction. In this setting people discuss scripture, hear interesting explanations by

    experts and apply biblical insights to everyday life. The small groups form a network that integrates individuals

    into the life of the church.

* Need-Oriented evangelism
    The process of sharing the gospel to bring more and more people into Christ’s church is generally called

    “evangelism.” However, NCD research discovered that “pushy” manipulative methods are the exact opposite of the

    practices found in growing churches. They share the gospel in ways that answer the questions and meet the needs

    of non-Christians.

* Loving relationships
    If there is one quality that is central to the Christian faith it is love, modeled perfectly in the life of Jesus. Our Creator

    implants in each of us the need for love and the ability to give it. Growing churches are filled with people who

    genuinely care for one another and who also reach out to non-Christians in the spirit of love.

SURVEY RESULTS

Here are the results of the Natural Church Development (NCD) survey we took last fall! The chart shows how we see ourselves as a congregation, in terms of NCD’s  eight Quality Characteristics.  All growing Christian churches have these qualities in common, regardless of cultural, theological and size differences.

Our greatest strength right now is “empowering leadership.” This is a wonderful blessing to have at a time when we are beginning a new century and have exciting opportunities to grow as individuals and as a congregation. The Holy Spirit is actively nurturing and empowering many of us to speak with new boldness about our faith. We are finding ways to express our unique vision of what Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church is called to be about. We are becoming more and more open to the unexpected manifestations of God’s power and grace.

“Need-oriented evangelism” is the area where we can create the most overall growth by positive change.  Trinity’s NCD team is meeting bi-weekly to learn how to respond to this opportunity to proclaim the gospel in life-changing ways to a broken world. We begin each meeting with prayer.  Please add your prayers to ours.  Remember to ask God to reveal to you the gifts he has given you in the area of evangelism and to inspire and empower you to use those gifts for His glory.

Natural Church Development

1.      a lack of congregational focus on evangelism (which we felt we are addressing by undertaking this process)

2.      identifying specific community needs to target (but we felt that targeting further needs in the community was premature until we as a parish were better able to do the visitor follow-up, gifts assessment and orientation and discipleship of new members when they came) 

Our next step is to put together a plan over the summer with specific objectives and timelines to address our three target areas with the hope that the plan will be implemented beginning in the fall and then evaluated late next spring.  Our hope is that we will take our second survey in about a year’s time.

Our goal for the planning process will be to work with others in the parish who have been involved or are interested in one of these three areas.  Our plan will incorporate the natural growth forces of interdependence, multiplication, energy transformation, sustainability, symbiosis, and fruitfulness. 

If you have questions or an interest in helping in some way with our work, please contact our Church Health Team: Keith Hinsdale,  Addy Landrio, Chris Mesmer, Elaine Rhodes, and Adam Trambley.

Natural Church Development Goals, September 2006-May 2007
 

The goals below were adopted by the vestry on September 10, 2006, at the suggestion of our Natural Church Development Church Health Team. Last November, our NCD survey identified Needs-Oriented Evangelism as our parish’s minimum factor. Earlier this year, the vestry and church health team focused on Visitor Follow-up, Orientation and Discipleship of New Members, and Spiritual Gifts Assessment as specific areas we could improve to further our evangelism efforts.  Last month, specific goals were added.
 

As a parish, we plan to work on these goals between now and May, at which point we will evaluate our efforts. If you would like to help work on these goals or if have any questions, do not hesitate to contact any members of the NCD team. 
 

Under Visitor Follow-up:
By September 2006, the hospitality committee will design a system to:
    Provide a gift bag for every visitor.
    Obtain name/address/phone/e-mail from every visitor
    Have a small gift delivered to every visitor within a week of their first visit and include contact information of

    the people delivering the gift.
    Have another person (probably the one visiting them) introduce the visitor to the congregation during the

    announcement time on their second visit.
    By May 31, 2007, new members will be regularly involved in the process of visitor follow-up.

Under Orientation and Discipleship of New Members:
   By May 31, 2007, at least 5 people meeting weekly to pray actively for the needs of parishioners and doing

    intercessory prayer.
    By May 31, 2007, at least 32 people in at least 4 small groups that meet regularly/weekly to focus on increasing

    faith and growing discipleship.
    By May 31, 2007, at least one small group will multiply.

Under Gifts Assessment:
   By May 31, 2007, at least 2 small groups and at least 15 people will have completed the 3 Colors of Ministry.

    By May 31, 2007, at least 10 people will be using their identified gifts in a ministry.

Natural Church Development Church Health Team   -  NCD Process (November 2005-May 2007)

Looking at our Goals and How We Did

Goals were SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, with a timeframe)

Other Planned Benefits and Positive Outcomes of NCD Process

NCD Health Team Update: August 2007

Survey Shows Exciting Changes Taking Place in Trinity Church

In the two years since Trinity first heard of the Natural Church Development (NCD) Program, the NCD process here has produced exciting results! A survey this spring of 30 members of the congregation clearly shows significant improvement in our church’s health.

Over the past 18 months, all eight quality characteristics of our church have increased. On a scale where 50 is the median score and 70% of the thousands of churches working with NCD fall between 35 and 65, our 9 point average increase indicates a remarkable improvement. Of course, the numbers are not nearly as important as what they represent - a healthier parish life that many of us notice regularly.

The NCD Health Team is very pleased to report that "Need-Oriented Evangelism" is no longer our "minimum factor," the quality characteristic in which we were initially weakest. In fact, it has risen by 16 points from a lowly 29 to its present position at 45. NCD teaches that focusing on an identified "minimum factor" can create the most overall growth and positive change. Our experience confirms this idea. A celebration to conclude this first NCD phase is being planned for September.

The most impressive gain of all (20 points) comes in "Holistic Small Groups," which started at 42 and is now at 62! "Gift-Oriented Ministry" shows a 13-point jump from 36 to 49. "Passionate Spirituality" is up 11 points from 35 to the current 46. "Empowering Leadership," which started far ahead of all our other factors, moved up 2 points from 70 to 72. Up by 6 points each are "Functional Structures" (from 39 to 45) and "Inspiring Worship Service" (from 43 to 49). And even our new minimum factor, "Loving Relationships," is up by 5 points (from 38 to 43).

As the quality characteristic now most in need of our attention, "Loving Relationships" is a perfect next step to take. Our Lord constantly taught about the importance of this characteristic. His life models it for us. It is the foundational means by which we seek to know and understand God, and to be reconciled to Him. In I Corinthians 13, St. Paul speaks at length about the pivotal role of love in the Christian life, concluding that, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

What a powerful force for change this factor promises to be! Pray with us that God will reveal our gifts, and nurture and empower us all to grow in our ability to create truly loving relationships.

www.ncd-international.org

Email Adam with questions/ideas/more information