Your Next Healthy Step: Beginning an NCD Journey - Week 12
Week 12 of the Small Church Guys series: Healthy Things Grow—A Biblical and Global Approach to Natural Church Development
For eleven weeks, we have talked about church health.
We have explored what it means to believe that healthy things grow.
We have examined the eight quality characteristics.
We have discussed the minimum factor.
We have considered how strengths can address weaknesses.
We have challenged the temptation to copy successful churches.
We have seen that pastors plant and water while God gives the growth.
We have examined the six growth forces that help us understand how living things develop.
We have questioned whether more programs actually produce more health.
We have walked through the NCD Cycle.
And last week, we considered why churches sometimes need an honest assessment.
Now we arrive at the most important question in this entire series:
What will you do with what you have learned?
Because church health does not improve simply because we understand it.
Healthy churches do not emerge from reading articles.
They do not develop because pastors attend conferences.
They do not change merely because leaders agree with good ideas.
Eventually, someone must take a step.
Not twenty steps.
Not fix everything.
Not create a five-year strategic plan by next Tuesday.
Just the next faithful step.
That may be the most appropriate way to begin a Natural Church Development journey.
You Do Not Need to Fix Your Church
That sentence may immediately relieve some pastors.
You do not need to fix your church.
You could not if you tried.
The Church belongs to Christ.
Jesus said:
“I will build my church.”
—Matthew 16:18
Paul later wrote:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
—1 Corinthians 3:6
Those two truths give pastors an important theological foundation.
Christ builds His Church.
God gives growth.
But we still plant.
We still water.
We still cultivate.
We still steward.
Natural Church Development is not an attempt to take God's place in church growth.
It is a way of asking:
“How can we become better stewards of the life God has already placed within His Church?”
That is a much healthier starting point.
The Goal Is Not an NCD Score
A church could easily misunderstand the process.
Take the assessment.
Improve the number.
Celebrate the higher score.
But that would miss the point.
The goal is not a better NCD profile.
The goal is a healthier church.
A higher score matters only if it reflects something real.
Leaders becoming more empowering.
People serving according to their gifts.
Spiritual life becoming more passionate.
Structures becoming more functional.
Worship helping people meaningfully engage with God.
Groups producing deeper discipleship and community.
Evangelism becoming more relational and need-oriented.
Relationships becoming more loving.
The NCD FAQ describes the Church Survey as a diagnostic tool that helps identify present quality and the minimum factor, followed by intentional work to increase quality and later reassessment to monitor actual progress.
The survey is a tool.
Health is the goal.
Start With Readiness, Not With the Survey
One of the strongest practical recommendations in the NCD process is that churches should prepare before assessing.
The Quality Growth Cycle begins by helping leaders understand the NCD principles, evaluating whether the church is ready for the process, developing ownership, mobilizing prayer, defining the role of a coach, forming an implementation team, and then preparing for the survey.
That order matters.
A church may be technically capable of taking an assessment while not emotionally or spiritually prepared for what it reveals.
Before beginning, pastors should ask:
Are our leaders willing to learn?
Are we willing to hear something unexpected?
Are we willing to admit weakness?
Are we willing to change?
Are we willing to invest time beyond the survey?
Are we prepared to work through disagreement?
Are we willing to focus rather than attempting to repair everything?
Assessment without readiness can create information without transformation.
Begin With Prayer
Natural Church Development is analytical.
It involves assessment.
Data.
Interpretation.
Planning.
Implementation.
Evaluation.
But none of that makes prayer less important.
It makes prayer more important.
The NCD Quality Growth Cycle explicitly includes mobilizing intercessors for focused prayer throughout the process.
That is not an optional spiritual decoration placed around a management system.
Church health ultimately depends upon God.
Before asking:
“What should we change?”
pray:
“Lord, what do You want us to see?”
Before examining weaknesses:
“Lord, give us humility.”
Before creating plans:
“Lord, give us wisdom.”
Before implementing:
“Lord, give us courage.”
Before evaluating:
“Lord, help us tell the truth.”
Prayer keeps the process from becoming merely organizational.
Form a Small Health Team
One of the easiest mistakes a pastor can make is attempting to carry the entire NCD journey personally.
The materials warn directly against this. One implementation resource encourages pastors not to carry the implementation burden alone, but to surround themselves with people committed to the church’s health and, where useful, receive insight from an outside coach.
This matters especially in small churches.
The pastor may already be:
Preaching.
Counseling.
Leading meetings.
Handling emergencies.
Managing administration.
Visiting people.
Preparing services.
Planning outreach.
Developing leaders.
Adding “fix the church” to that list is not healthy.
Instead, form a small team of trusted people.
They do not all need to be board members.
They should be people who:
Love the church.
Can think honestly.
Are spiritually mature.
Can disagree respectfully.
Want health more than personal preference.
Will pray.
Will listen.
Will work.
Will stay engaged beyond one meeting.
NCD materials describe an implementation team as helping the church understand the paradigm, assess the root issues behind the minimum factor, develop initiatives and qualitative goals, and later review outcomes and learning.
Church health should become shared stewardship.
Do Not Rush the Diagnosis
After an assessment, leaders often want to move quickly.
“We know the problem.”
“Let's fix it.”
But a minimum factor is not necessarily a root cause.
It tells you where to investigate.
The NCD process consistently cautions against rushing diagnosis and encourages churches to identify the deeper issues contributing to the minimum factor rather than merely treating symptoms.
Suppose empowering leadership is the minimum factor.
The answer is not automatically:
“Start a leadership class.”
The underlying issue might be:
The pastor does too much.
Leaders are afraid to release responsibility.
Members have never been trained.
Past failures created distrust.
The culture expects clergy to perform ministry.
People are willing but serving outside their gifting.
Each cause requires a different response.
Health grows when churches understand before acting.
Listen Before You Solve
This is why focus groups and wider conversation are part of the NCD process.
The leadership team does not know everything.
Members may experience the church differently.
Volunteers may understand bottlenecks that senior leaders cannot see.
Young adults may experience leadership differently than older members.
New people may see barriers longtime members have stopped noticing.
Those closest to a ministry may identify root causes that no score can explain.
Listening slows the process down.
But sometimes slowing down helps churches move forward faster.
Focus on the Minimum Factor
Once leaders understand the root issues, they must resist the temptation to fix everything.
Every church has multiple areas that could improve.
Always.
But trying to improve eight things simultaneously usually results in meaningful progress in none of them.
NCD focuses attention on the minimum factor—the quality characteristic currently placing the greatest restriction on overall health.
This gives churches permission to focus.
One older implementation resource describes the minimum factor as the area of maximum leverage for improving overall health and reminds pastors that every church has one.
That means weakness is not failure.
It is focus.
Ask:
“If we could make meaningful progress in one area during the next season, which area would most help the whole church?”
That question can dramatically simplify leadership.
Identify Only a Few Key Issues
Even within the minimum factor, do not attempt to solve everything.
The NCD planning resources recommend clarifying roughly three to five key issues contributing to the minimum factor and then developing qualitative goals and strategies around them.
That is an important discipline.
Suppose loving relationships is the minimum factor.
Possible issues might include:
Newcomers struggle to enter existing friendship networks.
Conflict is frequently avoided rather than resolved.
Intergenerational relationships are weak.
People meet at church but rarely share life outside services.
You may discover ten problems.
Choose the few that appear most significant.
Focus creates energy.
Scattered attention drains it.
Set Health Goals, Not Activity Goals
Churches naturally create activity goals.
Launch a ministry.
Hold an event.
Start a class.
Recruit volunteers.
Create groups.
But activity does not necessarily produce health.
NCD emphasizes qualitative goals—goals intended to improve the health and quality of the church rather than merely increase activity.
Compare these:
“Hold four leadership trainings.”
versus:
“Develop six emerging leaders who begin carrying meaningful ministry responsibility.”
Or:
“Launch two outreach events.”
versus:
“Increase the number of members regularly building relationships with people outside the congregation.”
Or:
“Start more small groups.”
versus:
“Create environments in which members experience deeper biblical application, care, accountability, and transformation.”
Ask:
“If this works, what should become healthier?”
That is a better goal.
Use What God Has Already Given You
Week 5 of this series focused on using strengths to address weaknesses.
That principle becomes especially important during implementation.
Your church may not need another resource.
Another curriculum.
Another staff member.
Another ministry.
Look first at what God has already provided.
People.
Relationships.
Gifts.
Experience.
Prayer.
Community trust.
Technology.
Facilities.
Hospitality.
Cultural strengths.
Existing ministries.
An NCD implementation resource specifically encourages teams to identify what is already in place that can be capitalized upon, as well as what may need to be added or removed.
That is wise stewardship.
Healthy development is not always about addition.
Sometimes it is about redirection.
Small Steps Matter
Zechariah asked:
“For who has despised the day of small things?”
—Zechariah 4:10
Church leaders often want dramatic change.
But sustainable health usually develops gradually.
A pastor begins mentoring two emerging leaders.
A church simplifies one ineffective structure.
A ministry team improves one follow-up process.
A congregation intentionally welcomes outsiders into relational networks.
Leaders begin resolving conflict differently.
People start serving according to gifting rather than merely filling vacancies.
None of these changes may produce dramatic headlines.
But life often begins quietly.
A seed does not look impressive.
Neither does a root.
But healthy things often begin below the surface.
Nehemiah Did Not Repair the Entire Wall Himself
Nehemiah offers another useful picture for beginning a church-health journey.
He arrived in Jerusalem.
He did not immediately announce a massive plan.
First, he examined the walls.
“I went out by night … and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down.”
—Nehemiah 2:13
He assessed reality.
Then he gathered people.
He shared the need.
He invited participation.
And the people responded:
“Let us rise up and build.”
—Nehemiah 2:18
Then something powerful happened.
Different families and groups repaired different sections.
Nehemiah led.
But Nehemiah did not rebuild Jerusalem alone.
That is an excellent picture for church health.
Assess.
Understand.
Invite ownership.
Assign responsibility.
Build together.
Ownership Matters More Than Announcement
A pastor can announce:
“We are doing NCD.”
That does not mean the church owns the process.
Ownership grows when leaders:
Explain why health matters.
Listen to questions.
Share what they are learning.
Invite participation.
Clarify the purpose.
Connect the process to Scripture and mission.
Celebrate progress.
Ownership is particularly important because NCD is not designed to be another short-term campaign.
One implementation document explicitly states that NCD is not simply another program but a process of changing how a church thinks and “does church,” focusing on health, removing obstacles, and strengthening processes that promote life.
That kind of change cannot be commanded from a stage.
It must become part of the culture.
A Coach Can Help You See What You Cannot See
A church can begin an NCD journey without turning control of the church over to an outsider.
But an outside coach can be valuable.
Why?
Because insiders eventually become accustomed to their own systems.
A coach can:
Ask questions leaders have stopped asking.
Help interpret the assessment.
Keep the team focused.
Challenge assumptions.
Help distinguish symptoms from root causes.
Slow leaders down when they rush.
Push leaders forward when they stall.
Provide accountability.
The NCD materials repeatedly include defining an ongoing coaching relationship as part of the process.
A good coach should not arrive with a predetermined answer.
The goal is not:
“Here is what your church should become.”
It is:
“Let's discover what greater health should look like in your church.”
Implementation Is Where NCD Becomes Real
Eventually, assessment and planning must become action.
One NCD checklist describes implementation as the point where “the rubber meets the road.” The church resources the plan, monitors progress, celebrates milestones, and makes mid-course corrections as necessary.
This is where many improvement efforts disappear.
The meeting was inspiring.
The plan looked good.
Everyone agreed.
Then normal church life returned.
Sunday came.
A funeral happened.
Someone resigned.
A building problem emerged.
The pastor became busy.
Three months later, no one remembers the plan.
This is why someone must own each action.
What will happen?
Who will lead it?
When will it happen?
When will we review progress?
Implementation requires specificity.
Accountability Is Not Unspiritual
Churches sometimes associate accountability with business more than ministry.
But accountability simply means:
“We agreed this mattered enough to do something about it, so we are going to make sure we follow through.”
Paul wrote:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”
—1 Corinthians 15:58
Faithfulness involves perseverance.
If improving leadership matters, review progress.
If improving relationships matters, revisit the plan.
If evangelism matters, ask what is happening.
If healthier structures matter, check whether changes have actually occurred.
Intentions need follow-through.
Celebrate What Is Changing
Healthy church development should not become a constant conversation about weakness.
Celebrate.
A new leader accepts responsibility.
Celebrate.
A volunteer discovers the right ministry fit.
Celebrate.
A conflict is resolved biblically.
Celebrate.
A newcomer becomes part of a relational network.
Celebrate.
A ministry simplifies and volunteers regain margin.
Celebrate.
A church-health score improves.
Celebrate.
The NCD process specifically includes celebrating wins and progress throughout implementation and evaluation.
Celebration reminds people that health is not simply about correcting problems.
It is recognizing where God is producing life.
Then Evaluate Honestly
Eventually ask:
What changed?
What did not?
What surprised us?
What helped?
What created resistance?
What did we learn?
What should we continue?
What should we stop?
What needs adjusting?
The final NCD evaluation stage is designed to consolidate learning, celebrate progress, make adjustments, and prepare for another cycle—including another survey.
This is crucial.
NCD does not end when the plan is completed.
Healthy churches become learning churches.
Then Begin Again
Perhaps the most important words in the entire NCD process are:
Repeat the cycle.
The Quality Growth Cycle concludes with evaluation, identifying learning, making needed adjustments, determining a future survey date, and beginning another cycle.
Why?
Because churches change.
People change.
Communities change.
Strengths change.
Weaknesses change.
One minimum factor improves and another eventually becomes the new limiting factor.
That is not failure.
That is development.
Imagine going to the gym and saying:
“I became stronger last year, therefore I never need to exercise again.”
Living things require ongoing cultivation.
Church health is the same.
Do Not Wait for Perfect Conditions
Some pastors reading this series may be thinking:
“We will do this eventually.”
When the finances improve.
When the leadership team stabilizes.
When the building project ends.
When the conflict settles.
When we hire someone.
When attendance increases.
But perfect conditions rarely arrive.
Galatians 6:9 says:
“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Church health does not require perfect conditions.
It requires willingness.
You can begin small.
You can learn.
You can adjust.
You can move one step at a time.
What If Your Church Is Very Small?
Then start small.
You do not need a strategic-planning department.
You may need:
A pastor.
Three or four trusted leaders.
Prayer.
An assessment.
Several honest conversations.
One health priority.
Two or three practical actions.
A date to review progress.
That is enough to begin.
Small churches should not assume they are excluded from serious church-health work because they lack staff or resources.
In some ways, smaller churches may be able to move more relationally and adapt more quickly.
The pathway can be simple.
But simple does not mean unintentional.
What If Your Church Is in a Different Cultural Context?
Then apply the principles appropriately.
An NCD journey in Nairobi should not necessarily look like one in Dallas.
A church in Georgetown, Guyana, should not be expected to implement exactly like a church in Singapore.
A congregation in rural India may organize its health team differently from a church in London.
A Caribbean church may communicate and build ownership differently from a Scandinavian congregation.
A persecuted house church may require a completely different implementation structure from a publicly established church.
But every church can ask:
What is healthy?
Where are we now?
What is restricting life?
What has God already given us?
What is our next faithful step?
How will we know whether health is improving?
The principles remain transferable.
The expression remains contextual.
Do Not Turn NCD Into Another Program
This final warning may be the most important.
Natural Church Development can itself become the very thing it warns churches about.
Another program.
Another binder.
Another assessment.
Another leadership initiative.
Another season of activity.
One implementation resource explicitly warns against this, describing NCD instead as a process of changing the way a church thinks and operates around health, removing obstacles, and strengthening life-giving processes.
The objective is not:
“We did NCD.”
The better outcome is:
“Our church has learned how to become healthier.”
That is very different.
The Pastor's Role Changes
As this mindset develops, the pastor stops trying to manufacture every result.
The pastor increasingly becomes a cultivator.
Watching.
Listening.
Equipping.
Praying.
Asking questions.
Removing barriers.
Developing people.
Adjusting structures.
Encouraging fruit.
Trusting God.
Philippians 1:6 offers a beautiful promise:
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
That promise belongs to believers, but it reflects something important about the character of God.
God is committed to transformation.
Pastors participate.
God completes.
Twelve Weeks in One Sentence Each
As we close this series, remember the journey:
Week 1: Healthy things grow—church growth begins with health, not size.
Week 2: Healthy principles cross cultures better than imported ministry models.
Week 3: Healthy churches demonstrate eight interconnected quality characteristics.
Week 4: Overall health can be restricted by the church's minimum factor.
Week 5: Existing strengths can become resources for addressing weaknesses.
Week 6: Churches should learn from others without becoming replicas of them.
Week 7: Pastors faithfully plant and water, but God gives growth.
Week 8: Living churches develop through interconnected growth forces.
Week 9: More programs do not necessarily mean greater health.
Week 10: Information must move through application toward transformation.
Week 11: Honest assessment helps churches see what assumptions cannot.
And now:
Week 12: Take the next healthy step.
Your First 90 Days
If your church decides to begin an NCD journey, do not overcomplicate it.
A simple beginning might look like this:
First 30 Days: Prepare
Pray.
Introduce your leaders to the idea of church health.
Discuss the eight quality characteristics.
Explain the purpose of NCD.
Evaluate readiness.
Identify a small health team.
Clarify the role of a coach if one will be involved.
Prepare for the assessment.
Days 31–60: Assess and Understand
Complete the NCD Church Survey.
Receive the profile.
Process the initial reactions.
Identify the minimum factor.
Listen.
Ask questions.
Hold focused conversations.
Begin identifying the deeper issues contributing to the minimum factor.
Days 61–90: Focus and Plan
Select the few most important issues.
Identify strengths that can help.
Develop one or two qualitative goals.
Decide what will be done.
Assign responsibility.
Establish a review date.
Pray.
Then begin.
Do not attempt to transform the entire church in ninety days.
Use the first ninety days to establish a healthy process.
One Healthy Step This Week
Do not end this series with another page of notes.
Take one action.
Gather two to five trusted leaders and ask:
“Do we want to become more intentional about the health of our church?”
If the answer is yes, discuss three questions:
1. What have we learned from this series that most challenges our church?
2. What do we currently assume about our health that might need to be tested?
3. Are we willing to begin a structured NCD process to understand our church more clearly?
Then assign one person one action.
Schedule the next conversation.
Contact an NCD coach.
Explore the assessment.
Begin praying.
Whatever the next step is, put a date beside it.
A healthy journey begins when intention becomes action.
Questions for Pastors and Leadership Teams
As you consider beginning an NCD journey, discuss:
- Why do we want our church to become healthier?
- Are we willing to discover things about ourselves that may be uncomfortable?
- Do our leaders understand the difference between church health and church size?
- Are we prepared to pray throughout the process rather than treating this merely as organizational development?
- Who should form the initial church-health team?
- Would an outside coach help us navigate the process more objectively?
- What would prevent us from following through after an assessment?
- Are we willing to focus on our minimum factor rather than our favorite ministry?
- Can we commit to identifying root causes before creating solutions?
- Are we willing to remove or change ministries if they restrict health?
- How will we build accountability into implementation?
- How will we celebrate progress?
- Are we prepared to evaluate honestly and repeat the cycle?
- What is one concrete step we can take within the next seven days?
Your Church's Next Chapter Does Not Begin With a Program
Pastor, your church does not need to become famous.
It does not need to become large to become valuable.
It does not need to imitate someone else's success.
It does not need to offer every ministry.
It does not need perfect leadership.
It does not need unlimited resources.
But it should desire health.
Health that empowers people.
Health that releases gifts.
Health that produces spiritual passion.
Health that creates structures serving life.
Health that inspires worship.
Health that develops transforming community.
Health that reaches people through genuine needs and relationships.
Health that makes love visible.
And health rarely develops accidentally.
It grows through prayerful stewardship.
Honest assessment.
Focused attention.
Faithful action.
Learning.
Adjustment.
Perseverance.
And dependence upon God.
Perhaps your church has significant problems.
Perhaps it is doing remarkably well.
Perhaps it is declining.
Perhaps it is growing quickly.
Perhaps you are tired.
Perhaps you are hopeful.
Wherever your church is today, you do not have to solve everything tomorrow.
You simply need to ask:
“What is our next healthy step?”
Then take it.
Plant.
Water.
Learn.
Adjust.
Pray.
Keep going.
And trust God with the growth.
At Small Church Guys, we believe healthy things grow.
That belief is not a promise that every healthy church will become a megachurch.
It is a conviction that when God's people intentionally cultivate biblical health, remove unnecessary barriers, steward their strengths, confront their weaknesses, and cooperate with the life God has placed within His Church, they create healthier conditions for the fruit only God can ultimately produce.
So do not despise small beginnings.
Do not become discouraged by the work ahead.
Do not compare your church with another church.
Start where you are.
Use what God has given you.
Address what is restricting health.
Take the next faithful step.
And begin the journey.
Ready to Begin Your Church's NCD Journey?
For the past twelve weeks, we have explored the foundational ideas behind Natural Church Development. But understanding NCD is only the beginning.
Small Church Guys helps pastors and leadership teams move from understanding church health to actually developing it.
We can help your church prepare for the NCD process, complete an assessment, understand its profile, identify the issues behind the minimum factor, develop contextual qualitative goals, implement realistic next steps, and stay engaged through evaluation and future cycles.
You do not need to navigate the process alone.
And you do not need to have everything figured out before beginning.
Your church simply needs a willingness to see honestly, learn humbly, act faithfully, and trust God with the growth.
If your church is ready to take its next healthy step, contact Small Church Guys about NCD assessment, coaching, profile interpretation, implementation support, or an initial conversation about where to begin.
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