On November 18th, about 15 people gathered for a two hour session during which we began to put some specifics onto the framework of the Natural Church Development process for 2008. Although you may not have heard much about the process lately, rest assured that in 2008 you will hear more about how we are seeking to become a church that develops and uses the spiritual gifts of its members.

One thing we discovered at the meeting was that it is difficult to make specific goals in a group the size that we had present at the meeting. Thus, many of the ideas that came up are still ideas. The Church Health Team must meet and make specific goals and plans based on these ideas. Among the items discussed were:

The need for more grassroots involvement in the process.

We need to use a wide range of venues to communicate what we will be trying to do in 2008.

We will need to educate our congregation on the concept of spiritual gifts using methods such as personal testimony and witness, sermon series, and Bible studies.

We will seek to train persons to more effectively use their spiritual gifts. Specific training will be offered for acolytes, ushers, greeters, and communion stewards.

We will also use the first meeting of each committee in the new year as a training session to help orient everyone to the purpose and goals of the committee.

We will seek to affirm persons in various ways and thank them for the ministries that they perform.

We realized that what we are seeking to do is to change the way that the church understands and relates to the topic of gift based ministry. We realized that this would not happen overnight but would be a longer process. Such change might best take place one small group at a time as we seek to introduce these new concepts to the congregation.

As you can see, the meeting was quite productive. Continue to pray about this process and the role that you might play in helping to make the idea a reality as we begin to expand our efforts in the year ahead.

I hope by now that you have put the date of November 18th on your calendar and that you are planning to attend the Vision and Planning workshop after church on that day. Just in case you were wondering what we’ll be discussing, take a look at the agenda for the meeting.

Vision and  Planning Workshop Agenda

• Review NCD basics with a focus on the growth forces

• Review NCD profile

• Work through the following seven steps to action planning below

1. Picture the future

Dream about the future and envision how your church’s minimum factor will be different 12-36 months from now.

Use the APA Analysis to help people dream.

2. Brainstorm initiatives

For each of the key issues to be addressed, brainstorm possible actions that could be taken.

3. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals

Generate S.M.A.R.T. goals for each key issue that you will implement in the next 12 months to improve your church’s minimum factor.

4. Prioritize initiatives

Summarize input from APA exercise and brainstorming sessions to identify the top priorities. Identify which initiatives will help you reach your goals and make the most difference to improve your minimum factor.

5. Develop growth forces

Use the growth forces summary sheet  to help shape your strategies. This is not an easy process. Strategies that do not integrate the growth forces will do little to improve your score and the overall health of the church.

6. Finish action plans

Assign specific people to the various tasks to be accomplished. Agree upon specific dates for completion.

7. Determine next steps

Celebrate development of your action plans. Review the checklist for Step 4 of the NCD process to clarify next steps to be taken.

 Sunday November the 18th will be a very important day for our church. Following worship, we will have a pot luck meal in the fellowship hall. As the meal ends, we will begin a Vision and Planning session designs to help the Natural Church Development Health Team plan activities, events, classes and other programs for 2008. During 2008, the Health Team will help our church better understand what it means to engage in a Gift Based Ministry.  

· We believe that each person has received a gift from the Holy Spirit when he or she made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

·  We believe that the gift was given so that it can be used.

· We believe that the church must find ways of connecting a person’s gift with ministries within the church.

· We believe that you can help us make this happen by attending this Vision and Planning Session.    

   In order to make the most of this Vision and Planning Session, we need as many people as possible to stay and share ideas and help us to develop those ideas into goals that are S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time bound). With your input, the plan that we design can help us transform our church into a church that can more effectively serve God’s Kingdom and make an impact on our community.   

   Please mark this date on your calendar and plan to join us for this session. 

Natural Church Development

Church Health Team Meeting Report

Sunday September 30, 2007

Members Present:  Terry Goodman, Rita Pauley,  Willie Lowe, Justin Douthat, Barbara Nash, Rev. Kathy Hale, Rev. David Brannock.

In the meeting led by the Church Consultants, we selected the 5 issues that we feel need to be addressed in the coming year to help us begin moving towards a Gift Based ministry at the church.

One issue that we must address is the issue of communication. We broadly defined this as, “What we are going to do during 2008…” We felt the need to establish a timeline of goals, plans and activities that and communicate those to the congregation.

A second issue is that of Education.  We have broadly defined this as informing people about the topic of Gift Based Ministry.

A third issue is that of Training.  This was broadly defined as helping people do what they are gifted to do through service to the church.

A fourth issue is that of Affirmation. We need to find appropriate ways to recognize the service that people do provide to the church and let them know that we appreciate what they do for the kingdom.

The fifth issue is that of Assimilation. We realize that what we are trying to do is to change the very nature of the way that we do church. We need to assimilate not only our current members into a new way of thinking but we must also assimilate newcomers into the philosophy of how we do church.

Thursday July 19, 2007

Meeting Place: Home of Patty and Justin Douthat

Persons present: Boyd & Donna Comer, Linda & Buzzie Douthat, Justin & Patty Douthat, Rita Pauley, Cis Barrett, Cindy Workman, and Opie Forbes.

The focus group was led by Justin and Rita. They used an affinity analysis to gather the following information. The categories that follow are the condensed categories that were developed from all the answers submitted. Indents below the main bullets reflect the thoughts and ideas of those present at the Church Health team meeting and not those at the focus group.

In response to the question, “Why do you think gift based ministry was the lowest score on the surveys?” those present said (in no particular ranking of importance)

·         We don’t ask people what their gifts are and just assume that they will do what we ask them to do.

o   The church assigns people to positions without respect to the gift that they might have.

·         People won’t get involved because they have an “I can’t” attitude and are afraid of “looking bad” if asked to do something they don’t feel gifted to do.

·         The church doesn’t say thank you enough to those persons that serve.

o   While it is important to say thank you, it is also important to realize that what we do is not done for acclamation. We serve as a sign of our adoration of the God that has gifted us.

·         Service is not seen as a “priority”—People don’t want to give the extra time to the church that is needed.

o   The Church Health Team felt that in the past there was more of a sense of obligation and duty within the church. We feel that our congregation has lost these virtues and this contributes to our current lack of giving the church priority time in our lives.

·         People don’t want to step on someone’s toes—if someone is already doing a ministry, they assume that they can’t help without offending the person already engaged in ministry.

o    This leaves newcomers unable to find a place in the system.

o   We feel that newcomers and many that are longer term members currently feel as if they are outsiders looking in on the life of the congregation. There is nothing to tie them to the greater body.

·         We do not provide written job descriptions with time limits and time expectations.

o   We do provide this for all the main jobs in the church, just not all the jobs.

·         We have difficulty helping new people feel as if they belong.

o   We are not good at assimilation.

o   Our church lacks a set of core values that we can convey to newcomers to help them feel as if they are a part of the congregation.

After discussion of these results, the Team decided that we would conduct more data gathering and made the following assignments.

·         Reverend Goodman will ask for time to meet with the choir members on a Wednesday night and lead an affinity analysis with them.

·         In addition, we are going to target the following families and solicit their input>

o   Fred and Sherry Cook – interviewed by Willie Lowe

o   David and Karen Alvis – Interviewed by Willie Lowe

o   Donna Ward – interviewed by Justin Douthat

o   Chris and Robin Calo – interviewed by Rita Pauley

·         The following persons will be interviewed by either Terry Goodman, Cis Barrett, or Barbara Nash.

o   Tom and Michelle Carter—

o   John and Alesia Simpson –

o   The McGlothilins –

o   John and Linda O’Neal –

·         All interviews will be conducted by the end of August.

·         Reverend Goodman will develop a questionnaire based on the data gathered so far to be used in the one on one interviews.

·         Reverend Goodman will contact the Church Consultants and arrange a time in September to meet and begin discussing step 3-Planning

·         The meeting scheduled for August 12, 2007 has been canceled. Reverend Goodman will inform the team of the next meeting date.

The following quotes represent actual answers from the Focus Group:

These items are uncategorized and in no particular order:

·         Say thank you for a good job

·         Say Thank you. Encourage people. Ask questions

·         Don’t say thank you enough for what you do

·         We need to thank people for what they do

·         Say thank you!

·         Don’t say thank you enough

·         Do a questionnaire for all the church to participate in

·         Help cultivate new and also old church members for jobs that will enhance our congregation

·         Thank people more often for what they do for the church

·         Some are accustomed to coming to church for one hour a week and do not want to getinvolved in work or service that would take additional time.

·         People do not see church work as a priority

·         No time limits on things

·         Job descriptions not given with assigned tasks

·         Some compare themselves to others and are intimidated

·         Fear of using their talents

·         Fear

·         Fear of failure-making a fool of ourselves

·         People think their gifts are insignificant or they feel they don’t have a gift at all

·         Some think they don’t have any gifts

·         Don’t step on anyone’s toes

·         Help others know they have their own talents

·         Let someone else do it

·         Some think someone else is already doing that job

·         Church has not taught enough on spiritual gifts

·         People don’t know what their gifts are

·         Seek to know skills of members and encourage growth

·         No questionnaire—don’t ask what talents are

·         Some need to be asked to serve

·         Ask questions

·         Ask—Seek involvement

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.