Ian Campbell

NCD - a Long Term Process (Part 1)

If you are a leader who wants to see lasting, sustainable, healthy growth in your church, you cannot approach NCD without taking a long term view. The process of applying NCD principles effectively takes time. Process may be the wrong word. It is a fulfilling, satisfying and enjoyable journey of partnering with God to grow your church (and yourself) to maturity. Leaders already on this journey would say only one thing: "Get on board and don't miss out."

This is the first of four articles where we consider different aspects of NCD as a long term process. The articles are based on many years' experience as the NCD National Partner in Australia. In this first part, we consider the question - why is it important to see NCD as a long term process? - particularly as it relates to leadership.

"Builder Pastor" or "Farmer Pastor"

All church leaders come to NCD with set ways of doing ministry. Their experiences have led to set patterns of thinking and entrenched habits. They have often already concluded what "grows" a church and what doesn't. Many are what we call "builder pastors". When they encounter NCD, they are challenged to become "farmer pastors".

The leaders who make the transition see their thinking and habits change as they apply the NCD principles and experience the results for themselves over time.

So what are the differences between the "builder pastor" and the "farmer pastor"?

Role

Builder pastors see it as their job to construct the church. They are the "site manager", orchestrating growth by introducing programs, generating activity, managing facilities and bringing about congregational participation. The focus is on managing the church as "organisation" - structures, tasks, events, activity.

Farmer pastors see their role as assisting God in growing His church. They want to maximise the potential for growth God has put in the congregation. They focus on removing obstacles to growth, not generating activity. They focus on the church as an "organism" made up of people who are themselves to grow. It is always noticeable that these leaders talk about "growth" in a different way. And as a result, they always have a longer term mindset.

Starting Point

Builder pastors start by adopting models. "Somebody else has done it before me. Why reinvent the wheel?" As new models and programs and activities are introduced one after the other, the church experiences what we call "chunks of change" - it is very stop-start. "Let's do this. Let's do that." Issues in church life are dealt with in isolation of one another. Many churches end up with "a patchwork quilt of wet bandaids". It is a direct consequence of task-oriented, short-term thinking.

Farmer pastors start by learning the key universal growth principles. They know that their church is unique, so they must adapt the principles. By seeing their church as an organism whose health is constantly changing, they avoid "chunks of change" and look to a process of continuous improvement. This keeps them focused on applying the principles to the issues most likely to bring healthy growth over the long term.

Success

Most disturbingly, builder pastors are satisfied with greater numbers of attendees and seeing more activity. They evaluate their personal performance with the question: How big and active is my church?

Farmer pastors are only satisfied with greater numbers if these result from the growing health of the church. They evaluate their personal performance with the question: Am I continuing to see my church and the people in it growing to greater maturity?

 
The Issues of Time and Timing

NCD challenges builder pastors to become farmer pastors. Farmer pastors understand that partnering with God to stimulate sustainable, healthy, growing churches is a matter of time and timing.

Time

Leaders who think short-term tend to also expect quick results. Often when pastors ask us "does NCD work?", they usually mean, "Will I see more people in church in twelve months time." "Growth" to them means growth in numbers of people not growth in the health of the church. And they desire quick growth, not sustainable growth.

Farmer pastors begin from a different perspective altogether. "Growth" is not something you make happen, it is something you stimulate over time by establishing the foundations for healthy growth. And as any good farmer knows, sustainable healthy growth takes time. Maturity cannot be artificially manufactured or hurried.

Timing

Growth takes time; healthy sustainable growth takes timing as well.

Farmer pastors understand that the health of their church is undergoing a process of constant change. So rather than just introducing programs and activities, and keeping the congregation busy, their first concern is to be monitoring the health of the church on a regular basis and responding in an effective, timely way. That way they can continue to stimulate healthy growth over time.

This is why NCD is so attractive to such leaders. It not only keeps them up-to-date with the key health issues they are facing at any point in time, it offers a process for addressing those issues over the long term. Steady, consistent, timely improvement.

 
A 3 Color Approach Helps

It is a challenge to help builder pastors become farmer pastors. Encouraging them to get into the NCD process is an excellent start: doing regular surveys and learning how to respond to the issues in a timely way... over several years. The pastor changes as the church changes.

In this process of change, we have seen pastors run into personal barriers that get in the way of them taking the church to the next level of health. If they see the barriers as too large, it can stop them implementing the process over the long term and growth momentum stalls.

We have found the 3 color approach very helpful as a way of thinking about this issue. Look at the 3 color diagram. It indicates three phases making up a continuous process.

Whenever pastors engage with their church, they start with "information" (understanding of the church, experience, theories, insights from a good book, Godly inspiration, knowledge of what others are doing, etc).

They apply that information in the church (activity, events, ministry, etc). This "application" leads to some "transformation" in church life. What has been learnt from this "transformation" produces new or updated "information" - a growing knowledge, understanding or wisdom. This in turn leads to revised application and new areas of transformation. And so the church progresses to greater and greater levels of health, at every point developing on the growth to that point.

What we have discovered is that in all three phases, builder pastors encounter barriers blocking their progress towards becoming farmer pastors.

First, there is too much "information", particularly in Western churches. There is always another idea, another model, another book to occupy the mind. It promotes short-term thinking because builder pastors are worried that if they stick to one thing for too long, they will miss the next wave.

Secondly, where "information" does lead to "application", the same problem of thinking short-term arises. Builder pastors think: "Let's have a go and if it doesn't produce quick results there is always something else we can turn to."

But most disturbingly is the common belief that Information + Application = Transformation. Many pastors believe that just reading up on a program and then running it in the church will transform the health of the church. (Spiritual gifts discovery programs are a classic example.) Not only is healthy growth not guaranteed, quite often the opposite occurs - there is damage done.

Thirdly, where there is good information and effective application, pastors themselves reach significant personal barriers we call "transformation points". These barriers may rise from within themselves (e.g. experience is challenging a theological understanding) or may arise from within the church (dealing with history, culture or traditions). The failure to confront and remove these barriers provide the greatest blockage to implementing NCD as a long term process. As a result the health of both pastor and church are affected.

In the next three articles we will explore this 3 Color approach and how understanding the three phases can help "builder pastors" become "farmer pastors" and see the benefits of NCD as a long term process.

Ian Campbell is NCD National Partner for Australia