Did
you know?
Valley &
Natural Church
Did you know that
Pedigree of NCD:
Christian Schwarz, a German theologian and student of 40+ years in
church growth saw the need for churches to make progress in reaching more
people with the gospel message. He discovered that pastors seldom knew why
their churches were growing, and began researching growing churches across
the world (over 1184 churches in 5 continents and 32 countries). He covered
different denominations, styles, various size churches, those persecuted by
State and those funded / supported by State, both prominent and unknown
churches. Over 4,2 million individual question
responses were analysed (covering 18 languages).
The outcome was that Schwarz discovered 8 common core principles which he
found were present in all growing churches. He saw these as being
universally used by God to build God’s church. These 8 quality
characteristics are:
1.
Empowering Leadership. This
characteristic is based on a biblical principal that God gave varying gifts
to people to “prepare Gods people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up..” (Eph 4:12) This means
that church leadership should focus on empowering and equipping other
Christians to serve? It is the leaders’ task to help Christians develop by
creating space, providing support, motivation, mentoring and training for
individuals to become what God wants them to be.
2.
Gift Oriented Ministry. Schwarz starts with the conviction
that God has already determined which Christian should best assume which
ministries in the church. 1 Pet 4: 10 reveals that “each one should use
whatever gift they have received to serve others, faithfully administering
God’s grace in it’s various forms.” Church leadership needs to help members
identify their gifts and then enable them to become integrated into areas of
ministry where these gifts can be effectively used. People working in their
area of spiritual gifting are guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit
working within them.
3.
Passionate Spirituality.
Paul wrote to the Romans saying “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep
your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in
affliction, faithful in prayer (Rom 12: 11-12).
This characteristic relates not so much to the style of spirituality
(charismatic, liturgical, Pentecostal etc) but more to the intensity and
level of passion at which people live out their faith. It is important that
members live out their faith with commitment, fire and enthusiasm and that
their experience is a holistic, personal encounter with Christ. Passion is
more evident when people are involved in gift-oriented ministry.
4.
Functional Structures.
This looks at forms and structures within the church and whether they
serve a purpose. People have a tendency to resist change. Church structures
are invented by humans and should be changed when they no longer serve a
purpose. Resistance to change (traditionalism) is one of the most negative
factors in church growth, so churches need to constantly reevaluate their
vision and mission statements to see if they are in line with what God is
calling the church to be.
5.
Inspiring Worship Services.
Only the Holy Spirit should inspire people to worship. In 1
Thes 5:16-19 it says” Be joyful always; pray
continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for
you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire. ” We should always be
striving to enable our worship services to be inspiring experiences for
members. It is important not to adopt a particular worship style or model
from other churches because worship is an inspiring spiritual experience
which means it is about allowing people to connect with God. Everything
about the service (seating, music, prayer, liturgy, and message) is merely
vehicles through which the Holy Spirit can move to enable people to
experience God’s love.
6.
Holistic Small Groups.
Small groups are an integral component of successful/ growing
churches. It is through small groups
that Christians find community, practical help, support, intensive spiritual
interaction and a ‘completeness’ of their spiritual experience. It is
usually in groups where people engage with scriptures and apply biblical
insights into their everyday living. Importantly, the aim of these groups is
not only to meet their members’ needs but also to multiply by including more
and more people into their fellowship. An integral part of cell groups, is
the ministry of pastoring, where the wellbeing
of each member is paramount, Schwarz says that small groups become the very
essence/ true life of the
7.
Need Oriented Evangelism.
Evangelism (sharing the gospel of Jesus) forms an integral part of
church growth. It is important to
ask if evangelism is contributing to your church growth.
Schwarz says successful evangelism lies in sharing the gospel so that
it meets the questions and needs of non - Christians. ”Although those with
the gift of evangelism should concentrate their energy on evangelistic
ministry, is important for all ministries to be used in an evangelistic way
in the church. This means encouraging people to use their gifts in projects/
ministries that reach beyond the church to those in their relational network
(friends, family, relatives, colleagues, etc). Members can commit to pray
for others, visit and invite people to cell groups and thus strengthen
relationships.
8.
Loving Relationships.
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you; Love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all people will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). Schwarz
says churches have a tendency to over-rate how well they were doing in this.
Often, Christians consider themselves
warm-hearted and open to newcomers but in reality, many newcomers do not
experience this. This characteristic is successful when people find ways of
growing in love together. There should be opportunities that enable
practical application, such as social events, sharing of testimonies,
reaching out in love to those on the fringes (soup kitchens, hampers, low
cost repairs etc).
As we prepare for the future planning for Valley with the upcoming
lndaba on 8 September, it is critical that we
remember that every-member ministry is the only way to strengthen and grow
our church in a way that is pleasing and part of God’s plan for us. At the
end of the day, it all boils
down to you... and you....And you... Amen!
(Indebted to C. A Schwarz, 1998,
The ABC’s of Natural Church
Development)
Article by: Terry Booysen