This month it is 25 years since I had my first real article published. Not surprisingly, it was an introduction of Natural Church Development (NCD) which was still a fairly new concept at the time. Since then a lot has changed, not just me, but certainly also NCD - one might say there has been a lot of natural development in the world of Natural Church Development.
One thing that hasn't changed is my belief in the principles discovered by NCD and my firm belief that 'When ordinary corps, with ordinary people take the principles of Natural Church Development seriously, God does give the increase."
When I was introduced to NCD, it was one book (well actually, still just a draft of a book) and the church profile report was a single acetate sheet for an overhead projector (please google it you are not aware of what an acetate sheet or overhead projector is). Now I have a shelf full of NCD books and the church profile has not just grown in size and information detail, it has multiplied into many and varied profiles, not just for a church, but for individual believers too.
Actually, one of the frustrations I often encountered is when people claim to know (or even worse 'have done') NCD when their knowledge is 15 - 20 years old. It feels like what it must be for a 20 year old man or woman, if people treat them as if they still were a baby. So, if you your NCD knowledge is a bit rusty (or if you have no knowledge) can I suggest you it might be a good idea to check out ex
The All By Itself Salvationist | Natural Character Development (ncd.life) - a short introduction to NCD available as an e-book
You might also want to explore the discipleship series at NCD that that help you ask question like
- What's fueling your fire?
- What happens when you enter the room?
- How well do you play with others?
and of course also find answers to them.
Or if you want to explore how doing a church survey can actually give you not only deep and detailed information about the health of your church, but also clear focus for moving forward, and even practical ideas of how to begin the journey, have a look at Welcome | NCD Church Survey
While the article is outdated in many ways, you can find it and a few other published articles here and you are also always welcome to contact me if you would like to have a conversation about NCD and what difference it could make for your ministry and personal discipleship.
I still remember the emotional and physical reaction I had when I all those years ago read the first NCD book and realised, that growth is not a goal and it definitely is not my responsibility. Growth is what God gives and our part is doing what we can, removing what hinders the natural growth, working on the quality of our fellowships, and then watch, as growth happens all by itself.
NCD might have developed, but that seemingly simple, and yet deeply profound observation still holds. And I still believe that when churches faithfully and persistently live and minister according to this, then God will give the increase.