Since this site is about Natural Church Development in The Salvation Army a personal testimony must be in place:
I will never forget the feeling I had after reading my very first book about NCD. I was a corps officer and we had seen some growth in the corps, but it was hard work.
Then, suddenly, it was like a heavy weight fell from my shoulders as I realised, it was not my, but God’s job to grow the church. Not only that, but God had already placed the potential for growth in the church – all we had to do was to release it –get out of the way.
It was not a chance to lie down on the couch and watch God do his “stuff”. It was an invitation to partner with God in developing the corps and see growth as a natural consequence, happening “all by itself”. This is what Natural Church Development is all about: Acknowledging God’s desire to grow his church, realising it is he, who will give the increase, and then faithfully and continually applying His principles to His church.
Since that initial experience I have engaged with NCD in various settings and different countries for more than 15 years and have been confirmed in my conviction that it does actually work. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, and yet I am, again and again. When ordinary corps, with ordinary people, take the principles shown in NCD serious, then God does give the increase. I have of course also seen corps set out on a NCD journey only not to persevere, but I have yet to see a corps faithfully applying the principles over a period of time without seeing positive change and growth.
I dream of what would happen if we, as The Salvation Army, really began to live and plan by these principles. I dream of the lives transformed, the communities affected and the relationships restored. I dream of the life, the laughter and the love in healthy corps, ministering in their local community, saturating it with the presence of Jesus…and then I wake up and realise, that by beginning here, by beginning now, and by consciously and continually applying God’s principles for his Church, then that dream can become reality. That is why I am so passionate about NCD. That is why it always seems to catch up with me, no matter where I go or what I do. And that is why I hope this site will help you to develop your corps in quality, so that God himself can give the increase.