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Church health is a notion many church leaders passionately embrace – at
least in principle. When it comes down to the practical level, however,
many of them find themselves in a dilemma. On the one hand, they are
fascinated by the idea of guiding their churches to greater health and
they come to appreciate Natural Church Development (NCD), its principles,
tools, and resources. On the other hand, they feel the time constraints of
a demanding church ministry. The daily routine of running a congregation
and feeding God’s people keeps them more than busy.
 Caught in a
Time Trap
When it comes to introducing NCD on the local church level, many church
leaders feel overwhelmed. After all, they need to invest extra time and
energy to
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immerse themselves in the NCD paradigm and
get some basic training
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have key players in the NCD process
instructed and trained, such as survey participants and implementation
team members
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prepare and introduce to the congregation
the NCD cycle, spanning a 12-18 month period of time
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communicate and nurture a propelling
vision for the process.
Many of them are concerned about the
extra work on top of a heavy ministry load they already share. The
pressing question they wrestle with is, "Can we afford to squeeze NCD into
our busy ministry schedule?"
What adds to the dilemma is the fact that
NCD is not the only "ministry program" out there. Other approaches and
programs are available, each with its own angle on ministry, curriculum,
and set of tools and resources. Alpha courses, contemporary and
seeker-sensitive worship services à la Willow Creek, and Rick Warren’s
40-day The Purpose-driven Life journey represent some of the
ministry avenues many churches find both attractive and effective. Leaders
of churches that have come to integrate one or more of those ministry
avenues, find themselves struggling with NCD. They tend to see in NCD
another "program" they would have to add to their busy ministry schedule
if they decided to follow the NCD paradigm. What they easily end up is an
"either – or" mentality. Either the church needs to reduce or even drop a
ministry program in favour of NCD (to find the time needed for NCD) or the
leadership might have to admit, "We just don’t have the extra time
and energy needed to implement NCD."
Escaping the Time Trap
While the way church leaders feel about the
apparent time dilemma is certainly real, the real problem behind
the dilemma is not what it appears to be at first sight. Neither a busy
ministry schedule nor the fact that NCD needs too much time and energy is
the real issue. What feeds the dilemma is the way church leaders
perceive and understand NCD.
What church leaders need to realize is that NCD is not another "ministry
program" or curriculum to be added to church life, making everybody
busier than before. Instead, NCD stands for a way of doing and leading
church. Its approach is not about doing more ministry but about
doing ministry in a different way. Key to this particular way of
doing ministry are the so called biotic (life) principles at the heart of
NCD. Those key principles lead Henrik Andersen, National NCD Partner for
Latvia, to affirm, "NCD is a way of thinking." Understanding those life
principles and learning how to apply them will in fact help church leaders
do what they do in new and biotic ways that release the growth potential
God has invested in his church.
Making most of your time
Seeing the real value of NCD will be the first step on a way out of the
apparent dilemma, allowing church leaders not only to benefit from NCD but
also to make the best use of their time as they serve their churches. A
regular NCD health check will help church leaders:
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identify the best place to start and where
to focus their time and energy ("minimum factor")
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draw on the present strengths of church
life und utilize those for a movement towards greater health
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decide what ministry models, tools, and
resources available on the market will suit their churches most and
address their current needs best
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see in what ways those models, tools, and
resources need to be adapted and customized to be most useful for their
churches.
Discovering and utilizing the synergy effects between NCD and various
ministry models will in fact be the key in resolving the time dilemma. The
way one National NCD Partner, who is also involved in the Willow Creek
movement, puts it is instructive as it sheds light on the fruitful bearing
NCD might have on other ministry models as well. He states, "NCD
helps churches draw principles from the Willow Creek model by giving them
the best place to start (minimum factor) and the principles to follow
(life principles) as they contextualize the model."
Understanding those life principles and bringing them into play
will be key in implementing NCD on the local church level. Will it take
extra time and energy to learn and apply those principles? Yes, it will
take some time. Will church leaders need to take the time to review
ministries on a regular basis and redirect them if necessary in light of
those life principles? Certainly, but the effort will be worthwhile.
Following NCD’s life principles will not only allow churches to draw out
the best from any ministry model for their situation, but church leaders
will also be empowered to develop specific ministry avenues tailored to
the unique needs of their churches. Moreover, churches will find ways to
correlate their ministries, making use of synergies and energies in
creative and fruitful ways. Church cultures of isolated ministry groups
and departments will be transformed in vibrant ministry networks. Learning
to think and minister in biotic ways will be an investment of time and
energy in the future of the church that pays – and might even save time in
the long run.
Thomas Fode lives in Germany. He serves as NCD Coach and Partner
Relationship Manager for NCD International |
