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In April 2003, a one-year NCD Coach Training process started in Latvia's
capital Riga. Latvia is one of the former Soviet republics that joined the
European Union on May 1st. An interesting place for NCD! Henrik Andersen,
former National NCD partner for Denmark, now for Latvia, facilitated the
entire process. Now read a fascinating interview ...
eNCDine: Henrik, what have
been your insights from this one-year NCD process here in Latvia?
 Henrik Andersen: I've been
confirmed in what I believed was very important, and that is, to get
denominations behind you before you start with the NCD process. It's
better to move as a recognized agency through the process than as a brand
new organization. We've also seen how difficult it is to get people
committed for an extended period of time. There is a tendency among
Christians to look for the quick fix. They come to a training process like
the one we facilitated because they believe this will make their churches
grow instantaneously. As soon as they find out, "Oops, it's hard work!",
and it's not a quick fix but rather a process, then they leave and look
for another "miracle". Personally, I feel this is the biggest growth
barrier for the church. There are so many pastors and churches looking for
a miracle that would change everything on the spot.
eNCDine: How can a
denomination deal with the problem of churches looking for quick fixes?
How can we educate churches to think in long-term processes?
Henrik: On the denominational
level, I think it's important that the leadership has a clear
understanding of the problem and takes away the pressure. When it comes to
numerical growth of churches, they need to communicate to their people,
"We don't expect to see any results three, six, or even twelve months from
now." Denominational leaders need to convey to their pastors that NCD is a
process. Some denominations, including my own (Salvation Army), with a
tradition of pastors not staying very long in a given local church, also
need to understand that short stays of ministers encourage people to look
for quick fixes. When you know that you'll leave your church again in
three or five years, you look for something that will help you succeed.
It's not necessarily to make you and your ministry look good. It's just
that you want something to happen in this short period of time. Beyond
that, it's also a matter of education, of course. People need to
understand what church and church growth is really about.
 eNCDine: At the end of this training
process you handed out certificates to the participants. You also had
invited the denominational leaders of several denominations to this
graduation. How did you manage to network with those people and bring them
on board?
Henrik: Right from the
beginning, I knew that neither I nor the Salvation Army was able to
implement NCD in Latvia. So we started out by contacting the Latvian
Evangelical Alliance, which was a fairly new organization at that time but
nevertheless encompassed many Christian groups. We presented NCD to them
with the intention to get them to buy into that approach and agree to
become a National NCD Partner. We then contacted all denominations and
their networks to inform them. We visited all the bishops we could get,
from the Lutheran Archbishop to the Pentecostal Bishop — and almost any
key leader in between — to present the NCD project, pointing out to them
that we were not here to change their church as such. We introduced NCD to
them not as a quick fix but as a way of thinking that would fit any kind
of church and we asked them either to give us permission to approach
people in their denomination or to participate in the process themselves.
Basically, all the bishops responded positively. And several of them sent
people to share in the process. So from the beginning we tried to avoid
anything that would make them feel threatened. We made it very clear that
all we were interested in was serving them.
So I think networking started at this point.
And I believe that's where it needs to start – before you launch the
process, not in the midst of it. It's because we contacted the
denominational leaders beforehand that they understood we respected them
and accept their authority. All we did during the process was to keep them
informed and make sure everybody was able to benefit from the seminars. We
didn't push one form of spirituality or one style over another.
Eventually, we invited all the denominational leaders to graduation.
Though we didn't really expect any of them to come, we ended up having
representatives from four denominations – that was very good.
eNCDine: Now, the official NCD
training process is over. What are your plans for the future? How do you
want to follow up?
Henrik: Well, from the
beginning we wanted to pursue a two-fold strategy. One is to continue
developing the coaches that have been trained. We will maintain the
network approach and gather all coaches every second or third month.
During the process, we had –- in addition to the main seminars — four or
five half day seminars, involving networking, group coaching, and
teaching. Our intention is to continue what we've done all the way through
this process.
The second strategy we want to pursue is to
introduce NCD to a wider audience. In the autumn of this year we are
planning to offer three or four regional introductory seminars in churches
throughout Latvia. We'll invite the local pastors of those areas to
introduce NCD to them. And we'll have good news for those churches
interested in an NCD process — 18 NCD coaches that are ready to serve.
Christoph Schalk lives in Germany and directs the international
consultant network of the Institute for Natural Church Development |
