Perhaps some of the following paraphrases expressed by pastors approaching NCD may resonate with you:
"I haven't thought about my expectations. NCD has some good ideas in it and I'm going to give it a go."
"I don't really understand the growth forces but the quality characteristics are a great framework to work with."
"It doesn't seem to matter what I do, my people just don't seem motivated by the gospel. We are not doing well in evangelism."
"I am hoping this will help me prove a point to my leadership team."
"I like the idea of focusing on church health rather than measuring the success of my ministry by the numbers in the pews on Sunday."
"My church regularly resembles gridlock – people, opinions, committees, programs, demands, emotions, trivialities. It is hard to get above all that and give the place solid direction."
"One of the things I struggle with is that the values my people express seem to differ quite a bit from what they actually live by. NCD might help us address some of these."
"I have tried all sorts of programs. Some have been successful, some not so successful. The problem I have is integrating everything into a consistent direction."
"There is nothing I want more in my ministry than to see people coming to know Jesus and growing to maturity in their faith. I will do anything to make that happen."
"I'm fairly sure I know where my church is healthy and not so healthy. NCD will tell me. It will be good to know."
"I have always struggled with the idea that it was up to me to come up with the vision for the church. I find it very draining. I don't know whether NCD will be a substitute but it will give me something to focus on each year."
"I really want to see change. I have a heart for ministry but much of the time I feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall."
"I will do anything if it helps lessen the workload and the stress."
"We have our vision, values and goals in place. We are making great progress at the moment. The church is growing. NCD is going to give me that objective measurement each year to confirm that we are on the right track and help us tie up loose ends."
"I have limited resources. NCD will make us focus on the least healthy area of my church every year. This means I can target those limited resources much more effectively."
"I'm out of ideas for what to do in our church at the moment. I haven't really thought about what NCD is, but at least it will occupy us for a time."
"We have a lot of great things happening in this church. NCD will give me an annual snapshot which will allow me to sharpen our focus, programs, etc."
"If I was to be brutally honest, we really need to increase the giving and the only way we are going to get it is by having more people. I hope the result of NCD is more people."
Do you resonate with any of these responses?
NCD can be superficially attractive for a number of reasons. However, when applied, it goes very deep indeed, posing many challenges to the way you approach church growth.
| Limited Approach | Increasingly Fruitful Approach | |
| your church is... | an organisation | a living body |
| leadership role... | construct | grow |
| try to make it grow | release the growth | |
| add more things - do more activity | observe what God is doing - remove the barriers | |
| mode of operation... | models | principles |
| adopt the model - "somebody else has done it before" | adapt to the principles - "nobody has done it here at this time" | |
| "the program" - chunks of change | "the process" - continuous change | |
| "the car engine" - problems are isolated and fixed (independence) | "the frog" - all parts effect each other (interdependence) | |
| moving forward... | satisfied with greater numbers | satisfied with continually improving quality leading to greater numbers |
| static planning - assuming the church is always the same | dynamic planning - knowing the church is always changing | |
| stop-start change | frequent incremental change | |
| hoping for transformation through an event | transforming the 'everyday' |
No, you don't need perfect motivations to start with NCD. If you did, you'd have no need to take the journey. But soberly assessing your expectations will have a significant impact on each subsequent stage of the cycle and the fruit that you see come from the process as a whole.
- For instance, if your motivation is purely about increasing attendances, you will find it difficult to maintain momentum if the next profile results show improvement in church quality but no difference yet in the numbers at the worship service.
- If your motivation is to "give NCD a go" because it is the "latest program" or because "everybody's doing it", then you also will find it difficult to bring about change over the long term.
However, if you begin with an honest assessment of your motivations, with a desire to increasingly harmonise your long-term partnership with God, you will experience increasing fruitfulness in the world around you.
So, what is motivating you and the other members of your leadership team to begin the NCD journey?