Church planters are wonderful pioneers in ministry. Though sometimes, they can be so focused on their unique vision for a new expression of the church, that they fail to realise that right from the start, their new work will be subject to exactly the same quality characteristics as any other church, even if their church ends up looking very different. One coach who worked with church planters once said, "some of them seem to believe in the temporary suspension of gravity." The thought was that planters can sometimes seem to believe that universal principles don't apply to what they are doing until sometime in the future.

Engaging planters with NCD needs to be done in a way that both shows appreciation for the new thing they are setting out to do, but also in a way that helps them begin addressing the quality characteristics as early as possible. It can be heart-breaking for a church plant to end up years down the track, only to find that the challenges they are facing could have been identified and begun to be addressed right back near the beginning of the planting journey.

When speaking to church planters, it is valuable to emphasise that the principles of NCD will not conform them into a certain type of church. Quite the opposite! By embracing NCD principles, they will uncover the unique identity of what God has called them to in all kinds of ways. They will be unique, fruitful, and very importantly, their new work will be sustainable if they use NCD principles as a framework from the beginning.

You may want to consider some special pricing for church plants who take the survey within their first year as a way of showing how important you believe it is that they don't move too far into the future without a clear understanding of the culture (good and bad) that they are creating.

Do you have a comment or idea related to this suggestion? Please add it below.