DAWN Fridayfax 2005 #03

World

How naturally does church grow?

"There are more than enough bad theories (about church). You recognise them by the fact that they don't work - and many churches are not growing," said Christian A. Schwarz at an NCD Summit in South Africa at the end of 2004. NCD stands for Natural Church Development. Christian Schwarz and Organisational Psychologist Christoph Schalk are the founders of an organic church growth approach which has become influential around the world in only a few years. Many experts believe that it has mostly replaced the old technocratic approach popular since the 1970's, based mainly on megachurches in the USA and Yonggi Cho's church in Seoul, Korea: brilliant pastor + practical recipes and programmes + huge building = massive attendance. More and more churches, though, recognised that there is a direct correlation between quality and quantity. A healthy therapy is only truly effective when it is based on a balanced diagnosis, and just as a doctor checks his patient's various bodily functions, Schwarz and Schalk began to recognise that Christian churches have eight interrelated basic principles - bodily functions of 'The Body of Christ'.

Setting God's Growth Mechanisms free - the strategic secret of growing churches

The Biblical parable of the seed which grows by itself (Mark 4:26-29) gave the initiators the idea that the Earth brings forth fruit 'by itself' (Greek: automate), so there must be a 'Growth Mechanism'. That gave rise to their first working hypothesis: healthy Christian churches grow - as long as people don't hinder them. In 1995, a global survey of 1,000 churches revealed that growing and stagnant or shrinking churches differ significantly in eight areas. This conclusion gave rise to a method with which churches can measure their health - and thus their natural growth potential. Ideally, churches should perform the check regularly, to measure progress and initiate change.



Biotic element ('Growth Mechanism')	Area
Empowering	Leadership
Gift-oriented	Ministry
Passionate	Spirituality
Functional	Structures
Inspiring	Worship service
Holistic	Small Groups
Need-oriented	Evangelism
Loving	Relationships




34,000 churches in over 70 nations

What began as a research project in 1995 has expanded to cover 34,000 churches in over 70 nations, with astonishing results, and is now one of the most influential Christian movements. It has been shown that the growth rate of churches applying the NCD principles increased by 50% between the first and third check-ups (an average time of 31 months), from an average of 4.2% to 6.3% per year.

1.1 million new members

That is an effective membership growth of 1.1 million people in the participating churches. "That number is so significant," says Schwarz, "because only somewhere between 15% and 0.3% of new believers at classical evangelistic events are still in church one year later." For an actual membership growth of 1.1 million, traditional evangelistic methods would have to result in between 7.3 million and 366.5 million conversions, depending on the assumed rate of integration. One of the world's fastest-growing churches applying the NCD principles is Abbalove Church in Jakarta, Indonesia. Pastor Eddy Leo reports that 1,500 new members joined the church in the past six months, of which 20% are ex-Muslims.

Return on investment: from Goliath to David

The Bible calls on all Christians to be good stewards. "This," says Schwarz, "also means that there should be a healthy relationship between sowing and reaping. The aim and result of Christian work is that people become committed disciples. Many Christians apply the 'Goliath Approach': investing major effort, time, money and staff to reach only a few people who become disciples. The 'David Approach' is preferable: significant results with little effort. In order to achieve that, we need to submit ourselves to critical approval, have an understanding of the natural principles of church development, and be in it for the long haul."
Source and information: the book "Natural Church Development" by Christian A. Schwarz is a comprehensive description of the NCD approach. Web site www.ncd-international.org . The book is available in many languages.

This Web version of the DAWN Fridayfax is maintained by the Jesus Fellowship Church (Jesus Army) as a service to the Christian church. Please visit our web pages which feature the e-zine Streetpaper and its special Revival section.