Natural Church Development

An Introduction

God and Church Growth

What’s going on in this picture?

Everything we need to see the church grow has been provided by God

The problem is that we do not make use of it!

Principles vs. models

The Eight Quality Characteristics of Growing Churches

Quality Characteristic #1:Empowering Leadership

Not “empowered,” but “empowering”

Growing churches have leaders who raise up leaders and give leadership away

Equip, support, motivate, and mentor

Quality Characteristic #2:Gift-Based Ministry

Growing churches help members identify their gifts and integrate them into ministries

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Frederick Buechner

NCD research: no greater joy than living according to our spiritual gifts

Quality Characteristic #3:Passionate Spirituality There are divergent

styles of spirituality The important thing is

not the way spirituality is expressed, but that faith is really lived out with commitment, fire, and enthusiasm

What good is the best engine if the gas tank is empty and when there is no energy?

Quality Characteristic #4:Effective Structures

Growing churches have forms and structures that fulfill their purpose well

Structures are always a mean to an end

This characteristic gets the most resistance “Traditionalism means

church forms have to stay the same way I have become used to them.”

Quality Characteristic #5:Inspiring Worship Service

The key is not the style (or model) of worship

The key is the principle of worship: Is worship an inspiring experience for those who attend it?

This characteristic clearly separates growing from non-growing churches “People who attend inspiring

worship services unanimously declare that the church service is ‘fun.’”

Quality Characteristic #6:Holistic Small Groups

Intimate community, practical help, and intensive spiritual interaction

“Christian small groups are not a nice, yet disposable hobby. No, it is the very essence of the true life of Jesus Christ that is worked out in small groups.”

Quality Characteristic #7:Need-Oriented Evangelism

Growing churches share the gospel in a way that meets the questions and needs of non-Christians

See John 1:35-51

Quality Characteristic #8:Loving Relationships

How much time do members spend together beyond church-sponsored events?

How much laughter is there in the church?

“Unfeigned, practical love endows a church with a much greater magnetic power than all the marketing efforts of this world.”

The All-by-Itself Principle

God has given the church everything it needs to grow

Mark 4:26-29 Then Jesus said, “This is what God’s kingdom is like. It’s as though

someone scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps and wakes night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn’t know how. The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain. Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it’s harvesttime.”

Every church has the nouns Growth comes through the adjectives

Key Concern: The Quality of Churches

Quality is the root Quantity is the fruit What is our weakest

area?

Where Do We Go from Here?

Healthy Church Team Congregational Survey

30 representative active members

Measure SPLC’s eight quality characteristics

Focus Groups Set SMART Goals based in SPLC’s Minimum Factor Communicate, communicate, communicate Participate, participate, participate Congregational Survey in 12-15 months