NCD Journey

Kingdom Investing

We desire to be good stewards. Look at Jesus’s parable of the talents in Luke 19. The idea that investing the Master’s resources for positive results actually pleases the Master comes through loud and clear. If we get the principle, though, his point goes way beyond just money. God wants us to wisely invest all the resources he places in our care.

Since we know that’s true, perhaps we should think differently about the various resources God provides our local church — resources of people, time, and relationships as well as bricks, books, and bank accounts. What if we saw all those things as resources which the Lord intends us to invest wisely for a Kingdom return (hear “fruit”), rather than simply to use on ourselves, or hide away?

Results. More fruit. For churches that embrace NCD as a way of evaluating their health over time, there are quantifiable Kingdom results. Fruit! Churches that have conducted three NCD self-evaluations over an average of 31 months have seen a 51% increase in their rate of growth. This means about 1.3 million additional people are in these churches than would have been there as a result of this self-evaluation.

Because they paid attention to their health, God is blessing them with more fruit. Compared with reports that say as many as 85% of all churches in North America are stagnant or declining, wouldn’t we want to investment in something that actually helps us see Kingdom results?

Connecting with NCD sets the church on a course toward becoming healthier, and helps focus energy where attention is needed most along the way. The goal is not growth in numbers (which is Jesus’s job anyway: see Matthew 16:18), but on increasing health. God takes care of growing the seeds when the soil is healthy.

Engaging the NCD process is fairly simple as structured for Brethren churches. The actual survey only takes about a half hour to fill out for the 30 folks in the congregation who meet the criteria and participate. Once the results are back, a group of five to seven people work together as a church health team to lead the way forward. 

The Brethren Church NCD Pack provides two options for how you review and process the results. Both options include:

• the full NCD survey
• the expanded results called Profile Plus
• a related "Natural Church Development" book
• the Implementation Guide to NCD resource
• several copies of the booklet ABC’s of Natural Church Development
• a coached review of the current NCD scores and Profile Plus results for your pastor and leaders

One option is a review of the results with your leadership team via teleconference which lasts about ninety minutes. The second option is to schedule an ON SITE leadership review meeting at your church, which takes the form of a workshop or leadership retreat. It’s a longer meeting, but it happens on your turf which allows for greater interaction with more people, and provides face-to-face dialog as we unpack what your survey results mean. The cost for Option 1 is $500, and for Option 2 is $650. Whichever Option you select, the National Office provides a grant of $150 plus help with the travel expenses, which reduces the church’s actual financial investment. A few Districts have also made additional funds available to help willing churches defray your costs. It is a small investment that can produce real results.

Like any evaluation tool, NCD does not answer every possible question. It does, however, bring the right questions into focus so you can invest energy on the most iimportant things first. It provides an ongoing way for us to engage in healthy pruning so God — the vinedresser and the Vine — can use us to bear even more fruit. Invest in more Kingdom fruit, and start your NCD journey now.

Contact Gary Diehl for more information.