|
|
Natural Church Development –
A Testimony from Trinity
(City name removed)
Trinity was founded in 1915 in what was then a prosperous and growing
community and grew consistently until the late 60’s and early 70’s. When
“the neighborhood changed” the congregation lost half its members and
the church went into a holding pattern. For the next 25 years the church
was managed by one senior pastor. That pastor’s retirement, the calling
of the former assistant pastor to be the senior pastor, and the
increased loss of the WWII generation coincided - and decline began in
earnest. Renewal was first attempted by searching for the right blend of
old and new, to please everyone. This irritated everyone.
In the summer of 2002 we began to use Natural Church Development as a
renewal tool. As of this writing our worship attendance is up 68%,
different groups within the congregation feel cared for, and we feel
freer and are having more fun. Some thoughts:
-
NCD materials,
especially with their global research base, become an influential
outside authority. Church leaders can discuss the merits of NCD
concepts without it being personalized. NCD becomes a strong ally for
change agents.
-
The NCD survey
checks and corrects staff intuition about the congregation. Prior
to the survey, I thought I was perceived as an autocrat who was
ramrodding change. The survey indicated the opposite was true. Are we
fretting about the right stuff?
-
The NCD survey
identified what area of congregational life needed attention first.
Of all the things to do, what is the crying need? Oddly enough, even
seasoned church workers routinely get it wrong. The survey helps the
members tell the truth in love.
-
NCD focuses on your
congregation’s health issues rather than imposing models of renewal
developed in other settings. The 8 Qualities of Healthy Churches
are easy to understand and widely accepted. There isn’t much “selling”
required. Diagnose the sickness, then prayerfully and enthusiastically
take steps to work on it.
-
NCD is ongoing.
With periodic surveys (for us, once a year) leaders are kept in touch
with health trends and the effectiveness of chosen efforts. Today’s
health issue may not be the same next time. In some ways, NCD is a
nonstop long-range plan for ministry.
-
Working primarily on
one area of health will usually improve health in other areas too.
In our case, all 8 improved rather dramatically in one year.
-
NCD has produced
helpful materials to go along with whatever quality the church
identifies to work on.
-
NCD has been
powerful for us because of who we entrusted to interpret and respond
to it. We formed a “Renewal Team” by asking members, in cottage
meetings, “Who would you trust the most to guide this congregation
into the future?” This resulting group of laity (none were on the
Church Council) had power and influence to promote necessary changes.
They in turn have given their very best.
We have used other tools
in our renewal effort: persistently praying in worship for God’s help;
“spying” on many growing congregations; getting as many members as
possible to conferences; reading/study; finding new talent; a vision
process; a readiness for change assessment formula; and use of mentors
at the congregational, Synod and ELCA levels. We found NCD fit in with
all these methods. We will continue to use it.
Submitted by Trinity’s Pastor Mike
Back to Natural
Church Development
|
|
 |
