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Natural Church Development Information
This page has been added to our Ebenezer Website as a way of keeping anyone interested in our involvement with the Natural Church Development process, informed and up-to-date. The Facts About Natural Church Development at Ebenezer UMC What makes a church a growing, thriving, dynamic community of believers? What spiritual elements are necessary for a church to continue to be a vital instrument, used by God to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ? Christian A. Schwarz began a research project in 1994, which surveyed 100 churches large and small, growing and declining in 32 countries and on five continents which asked these same questions. The results were amazing. No matter what the country, the culture, the language or the size of the church, eight quality characteristics stood out among those churches that were growing. This tool for identifying areas in which a congregation is healthy and areas that need attention is available for churches today. In an effort to objectively and subjectively look at ourselves. Earlier this year Ebenezer took part in this Natural Church Development questionnaire. The following information will hopefully give you the answers to any questions you may have as to how this process was implemented. Through much prayer and reflection our Senior Pastor Robert Brown asked God to guide him into choosing five individuals from the congregation to be part of what is called the Church health Team. These five people, Rose Manning, Barry Patrick, Bob Scott, Margie Sellers and Edna Tanner gathered together to pray for God's guidance on selecting an additional 25 people for the Natural Church Development group. Three criteria were used to determine selection of this group: Attend church at least twice a month Identifiable involvement in a small group at Ebenezer (Sunday School, Youth or Children's Ministry, Bible Study, Disciple) Participation in ministry either at Ebenezer or in the community (Meghan's Prayer Blanket Ministry, Martha Ministry,Stephen Ministry, Servants of the Lord Meals on Wheels)
These 30 members and constituents of Ebenezer then answered a questionaire conducted by the Natural Church Development Institute on Thursday, March 8 which focused on the following quality characteristics: Empowering Leadership (equipping, supporting, motivating and mentoring individuals to become all that God wants them to be) Gift-Oriented Ministry (help members identify their God-given gifts and integrate them into ministries that match their gifts) Passionate Spirituality (the living out of faith with commitment, fire and enthusiasm) Function Structures (existing structures (leadership teams) in the church fulfill their purpose) Inspiring Worship (worship is an inspiring experience for thos e who attend) Holistic Small Groups (groups where individual Christians can find intimate community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction) Need-Oriented Evangelism (sharing the Gospel in a way that meets the questions and needs of non-Christians) Loving Relationships (manifestation of a high level of genuine love between members of the congregation)
What the Natural Church Development Research Institute has found is that in a growing church these eight quality characteristics reach a quality index of 65. Any characteristic falling below 65 needs to be addressed. If there is more than one area to be addressed the group will determine which area to concentrate on first. The Institue recommends that once the questionnaire is complete, the 30 participants begin meeting with small groups throughout the congregation to get ideas and input. However, we took a slower, Scriptural approach. The entire Ebenezer family was asked to pray for 40 days beginning March 29 asking for God's guidance in what He wanted us to do with the results of the questionnaire. The 40 days were set aside for prayer and a meeting of the Natural Church Development Team (NCDT) was held on May 8th. More updates to follow
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