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 We provide one survey for
the pastor and surveys for thirty actively involved lay people in your
church. The completed surveys are returned to Empowering The Church for processing. Your
church receives back a report identifying your minimum factor and a copy
of the Implementation Guide to Natural Church Development.
What does the NCD
Survey measure?
The Natural Church Development survey measures the church's
relative health in eight areas that have been demonstrated to have a
clear correlation with healthy church growth known as Eight Quality
Characteristics.
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The key
is the
adjective! |
 How
would you like to identify and reveal the greatest single
system/factor limiting your church’s growth? Would you like to have
the resources and strategic help to allow your team to make the
decisions necessary to produce needed corrections and spark growth?
The survey consists of
91 questions to be answered by 30
church members who are active in ministry, involved in some kind of
small group life, and who are considered by the pastor to be at the
center of church life, plus a questionnaire to be filled out by the
senior pastor. This data is computer scored to generate scores for each of the eight quality characteristics showing how much above or
below the national norms the church's scores are in each of the Eight
Quality Characteristics.
The Eight Essential Quality Characteristics
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Empowering Leadership. Leaders of growing churches
concentrate on empowering other Christians for ministry. They do not
use lay workers as "helpers" in attaining their own goals and
fulfilling their own visions. These pastors equip, support,
motivate, and mentor individuals, enabling them to become all that
God wants them to be. Rather than handling the bulk of church
responsibilities on their own, they invest the majority of their
time in discipleship, delegation, and multiplication. The Apostle
Paul referred to this equipping when he said, "...for the
equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up
of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to
the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."
(Eph. 4:12).
What the survey measures:
To what extent is the ministry of the
leaders focusing on equipping other Christians to serve?
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Gift-Based Ministry.
The gift-based approach reflects the conviction that God sovereignly
determines which Christians should best assume which ministries. When Christians serve in their area
of giftedness, they generally function less in their own
strength and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus ordinary
people can accomplish the extraordinary! As a pastor and education
minister for over 40 years, I have come to believe that 85% of
church members cannot identify their gifts. Knowing our giftedness
brings contentment and great personal involvement in ministry. Our
goal should be to help our people discern their giftedness. We can
offer a tool to help accomplish this in your congregation and it
will have enormous implications for all areas of church life. When
you live according to your spiritual giftedness you are no longer
working in your own strength, but the Holy Spirit works in you.
What the survey measures:
To what extent are the tasks in our church
distributed according to the spiritual gifts of individual
Christians?
-
Passionate Spirituality. The NCD
research found that as far as the growth of the church is concerned,
the important thing (as long as spirituality is real) is not the way
spirituality is expressed (such as charismatic or non-charismatic,
but the fact that faith is actually lived out with commitment, fire,
and enthusiasm.
What the survey measures:
To what extent is the spiritual life of our members characterized by
prayer, enthusiasm, and boldness?
-
Effective Structures.
The principle behind "effective structures" is really quite simple.
The most important criterion for forms and structures in the church
is if they fulfill their purpose or not. Church structures are never
an end in themselves, but always only a means to an end. Whatever
does not measure up to this requirement (e.g. demeaning leadership
structures, inconvenient worship service times, or programs that do
not reach their target audience effectively) is changed or laid to
rest. Through this process of self-renewal traditionalistic ruts can
be avoided to a large extent.
What the survey measures: To
what extent do our decision-making processes, operating procedures
(official and unofficial), and committee structures
facilitate rather than hinder the fulfillment of our church's
mission?
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Inspiring Worship Service. The NCD research revealed that
services may target Christians or non-Christians, their style may be
liturgical or free, their language may be "churchy" or "secular" – it
makes no difference for church growth. What does matter is whether
worshipers feel that they have encountered God during the worship
service. Is the worship service an inspiring experience for those
who attend it? The word "inspiring" is to be understood in the
literal sense of inspiratio and means an inspiredness which
comes from the Spirit of God. Whenever the Holy Spirit is truly at
work (and His presence is not merely presumed), He will have a
concrete effect upon the way a worship service is conducted
including the entire atmosphere of a gathering. People attending
truly "inspired" services typically indicate that "going to church
is fun."
What
the survey measures: To
what extent is attending our worship service an inspiring
experience?
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Holistic Small Groups. The NCD research documented that
continuous multiplication of small groups is a universal church growth
principle. The research also shows what life in these small groups
should be like if they are to have a positive effect on both quality
and numerical growth within a church. They must be holistic
groups which go beyond just discussing Bible passages to applying
its message to daily life. Growing churches have developed a system
of small groups where individual Christians can find intimate
community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction. In
these groups, people do not only discuss Bible texts or listen to
interesting explanations by experts, but they apply biblical
insights to the everyday issues of the members. Holistic small
groups are the natural place for Christians to learn to serve others
- both in and outside the group - with their spiritual gifts. The
planned multiplication of holistic small groups is made possible
through the continual development of leaders as a by-product of the
normal grouplife. The meaning of the term "discipleship" becomes
practical in the context of small groups: the transfer of life, not
rote learning of abstract concepts.
What the survey
measures: To what extent do our small
groups meet the real life needs of members in a holistic way?
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Need-Oriented Evangelism.
As with all spiritual gifts, not everyone has the gift of
evangelism. Those who have that gift must be directed to a
corresponding area of ministry in reaching non-Christians. C. Peter
Wagner states his belief that the gift of evangelism applies to no
more than 10 percent of all Christians. Christians have an average
of 8.5 contacts with non-Christians. In fulfilling the Great
Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), it is the task of each Christian to use
his or her gifts to serve non-Christians with whom one has a
personal relationship, to see to it that they hear the gospel, and
to encourage contact with the local church. The key to church growth
is for the local congregation to focus its evangelistic efforts on
the questions and needs of non-Christians. Growing churches not only
equip those with the gift of evangelism to reach non-Christians, but
equip the church family in ways to fulfill the Great Commission.
What the survey measures: To what extent are
the forms and contents of the evangelistic activities related to the
needs of those you are trying to reach?
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Loving Relationships. NCD research shows that growing
churches possess on the average a measurably higher "love quotient"
than stagnant or declining ones. There is a highly significant
relationship between the ability of a church to demonstrate love and
its long-term growth potential. Genuine, practical love has a
magnetic power far more effective than evangelistic programs that
depend mostly on verbal communication. People do not want to hear us
talk about love, they want to experience how Christian love really
works. Wherever there is a lack of love, further church
development is severely hampered.
What the survey measures: To what extent are
the relationships of the members of this church characterized by a
high degree of love and affection?
Let Empowering The Church show you how Natural Church Development is a powerful process for assessing the
health strengths and weaknesses of your church, then developing
and implementing an action plan for improving church health by
removing limiting factors.
To find
out how your church can be involved in Natural Church Development,
Contact Thomas Broadhead
or call 770.918.5105, Conyers, GA. |
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