We had a dozen persons show up at our July 8th meeting in the Fellowship hall. Those present were asked the question: “Why do you think we scored so low in the category of Spiritual Gifts?”

Here are their responses that have been grouped togethers into common categories. Those in italics are listed in more than one group.

Communication Issues:

The group felt that these issues might be dealt with through better forms of communication within the church.

·         Lack of communication within the groups!

·         People afraid of change from the way things have always been done.

·         It would make our church stronger.

·         Because the Conference wanted this to be our focus.

·         People feel as if they cannot use their gifts.

·         People do not feel at ease doing/sharing their gifts /or how they will be received.

·         Some people don’t know how to get involved or event what to volunteer for.

·         Not emphasized to congregation that we are short handed on teachers, etc.

·         Members do not understand what their gift is

·         People are not sure how to share their gifts

Involvement

The group felt that these responses were tied to the idea of getting more people involved in the life of the church.

·         The church does not get enough new or different people involved through Administrative Board or other committees on a yearly basis.

·         Some people do a lot of jobs

·         People won’t volunteer or are reluctant too!

·         Groups stick to the same people. No sharing or loving all people.

·         20% of the people do 80% of the jobs or work.

·         A lot of people just want to come to church but not be involved in other church activities. (My opinion.)

·         Some people don’t know how to get involved or event what to volunteer for.·         We need to involve more members in the church by including them on committees or just a fellowship event.

Recognition of Gifts

The group felt that one of our main areas of concern was helping people to recognize that they have a spiritual gift and helping the church leadership recognize the gifts that the people have been given.

·         A talent and gift are not the same—a talent is in music, etc. A Gift is something we give to the church in a job or office.

·         Every member in service—Easier to sit than be a part of service.

·         Some of the many talents are not related to jobs in the church.

·         People do not recognize their gift

·         Do not recognize your gifts

·         We don’t know all the people well enough to know their talents

·         No class to help you find your own spiritual gift.

Connecting Gifts to Areas of Service

The group realized that there was a breakdown between knowing you had a gift and then finding the correct place to use that gift within the church structure.

·         Church leaders might not know UMC Discipline to recognize gifts of people

·         New and/or gifted people are not sure the church leaders know how to convey the use of gifts

·         No gift is menial even if it is washing dishes or sweeping the floor. They all contribute to the church.

·         Small group study or emphasis study on identifying spiritual gifts in individuals.

·         Members do not understand what their gift is

·         People are not sure how to share their gifts

·         Because it is the most difficult task to accomplish

·         Some are gifted and don’t know it and  don’t want to take the time.

Training/Leadership Being Informed

Even if members did know their gifts and there was an identified place to use them, the group felt that we do not provide adequate training for the person as he or she takes on a ministry role within the church.

·         No training for jobs regularly

·         No training

·         We do not have training or support for member we ask to serve in a job.

·         No training for jobs within the church.

·         No support when you are given a leadership position. (About what is exactly expected of you.)

·         No written job description or training

·         Do not know what is expected

·         Support for person’s service—strong organization as far as Christian Ed Leaders duties clearly identified

·         People don’t know the total picture of jobs in the church when they only come on Sunday morning

·         Some people do not want responsibility

·         Responsibility goes along with service. Are we  quickly replacing those called to serve who can’t or won’t take an active role.

Miscellaneous Responses

·         Not interested

·         Too many outside interests

Follow Up Actions

Over the next 4-6 weeks, we will hold other Focus groups to gather more information. Patty Douthat has agreed to hold one at her home prior to the July 22^nd meeting of the Church Health Team. Justin will conduct the meeting and they will invite persons to the meeting.

The Church Health Team (CHT) is the group that will examine the results of the Church Survey and try to determine:

• The root causes of our church’s minimum factor
• Develop SMART goals and objectives
• Implement the goals and objectives
• Evaluate our progress in achieving our stated goals and objectives

 Our current CHT members are:

• Reverend Terry Goodman
• Cis Barrett
• Justin Douthat
• Willie Lowe 
• Barbara Nash
• Rita Pauley

Any questions you have about the NCD process can be directed to these persons. You may also leave questions in the comment section of any post and we will seek to answer them as quickly as possible.

  First of all, Natural Church Development (NCD) is a process. It is not a program. It is based on scientific studies that have found that there are eight characteristics that determine a church’s level of success for the Kingdom.

Those eight characteristics are:

• Empowering Leadership
• Gift Oriented Ministry
• Effective Structures
• Inspiring Worship
• Passionate Spirituality
• Holistic Small Groups
• Need-Oriented Evangelism
• Loving Relationships

All of these characteristics are present in churches to one degree or another. The NCD Process uses a survey to determine a score for each of these characteristics in the church. The characteristic with the lowest score becomes the church’s minimum factor and becomes the focus of the NCD Church Health Team. The Health Team will determine the root causes of the minimum factor and develop 3-5 action plans/goals to help the church strengthen the minimum factor over the next 12-18 months. At that point, we will take another survey and see if there has been progress.

In essence, NCD is an on-going process of evaluation designed to strengthen the ministry of the local church. NCD is also a Biblical process in that it uses six Scriptural growth factors to assist the local church in strengthening its ministries.

Those six growth factors are:

• Interdependence
• Multiplication
• Energy Transformation
• Sustainability
• Symbiosis
• Fruitfulness

While these may seem like sterile biological terms, they are in reality, principles of growth that God has built into his created order. Churches that use these principles will experience growth because that is the way that God created them!

This blog will get you up to date on the Natural Church Development (NCD) Process at Virginia Avenue United Methodist Church.

We believe that NCD will give us insights into the way that we live out our faith and helps us to become more adept at doing the things that will bring the most glory to God.

In the posts that follow, you will learn about NCD and how we are using the process.