Natural Church Development

Natural Church Development is an ongoing process focused on church improvement and growth. A survey was administered to 30 church members in September and the results of that survey identified our weakest area from the eight quality characteristics of growing churches (listed below) as “Passionate Spirituality”.

The next steps of the process involve discussing and identifying our strengths and weaknesses in that area by obtaining feedback from the congregation and then creating and implementing a plan to improve this characteristic at Advent. When this has been completed, we will re-evaluate and repeat the process focusing on our weakest characteristic at that time.

What are the eight quality characteristics of growing churchs?

• Empowering Leadership
• Gift-Oriented Ministry
• Passionate Spirituality
• Functional Structures
• Inspiring Worship
• Holistic Small Groups
• Need-oriented Evangelism
• Loving Relationships

How can I participate in the NCD process?

Right now, we are gathering information from members of the congregation to help us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses in the area of Passionate Spirituality. Our goal is to get as much feedback from as many people as possible.

• The NCD Health Team will visit several existing small groups to obtain feedback and opinions from the members of these groups.
• There will also be inserts in the bulletins that can be filled out by any interested member and returned in the offering plate or to the church office.
• Finally, a more comprehensive explanation of passionate spirituality along with a list of questions that will be used to guide our small group discussions are on this website. Click on the appropriate tab above.
• Click on the tab “Summary Evaluation Questions” to see the questions that will guide our discussions. If you would like to respond to any of these questions, we would welcome your comments.
• Please send any responses to either Wendy in the church office (email), Amy Schulte (email), or any of the other health team members.

Team members include Leon Bauman, Audra Boxberger, Washington Muro, Amy Schulte, Kathy Stamm, Terry Stamm, Keith Wetter, Mark Williams, Council President Bill Jessee, Pastor Susan and Pastor Roger.

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.

Overview of Passionate Spirituality

Passionate spirituality is the energy source that fuels every church, providing the energy and momentum to move forward toward mission. Where passionate spirituality is in short supply, other quality characteristics and ministry areas will feel the impact as the fuel supply runs short. Lay people and ministry leaders alike will begin to feel drained, burned out, and used up. Fortunately, passionate spirituality is a renewable energy form more like solar or wind energy than like gas. It never runs out. It continues reproducing itself when we tap into the source and stay connected to it.

Passionate spirituality goes beyond our personal devotional times to our encounters with God in moments of daily life, and the various ways we experience and engage with his presence. The outpouring of passionate spirituality is an integration of our inner life with God into every aspect of our outward lives as well, resulting in stories of changed lives and transformation.

What does health look like in passionate spirituality? Natural Church Development defines passionate spirituality as follows:

Effective ministry flows out of a passionate spirituality. Spiritual intimacy leads to a strong conviction that God will act in powerful ways. A godly vision can only be accomplished through an optimistic faith that views obstacles as opportunities and turns defeats into victories.

Below are the four main areas of passionate spirituality. The more in-depth diagnostic questions that follow cover these four areas in more depth, guiding a church through an in-depth process of thinking through how the minimum factor area plays out in their church. Churches who have done NCD Insights will notice that these four areas correspond to their survey results, and they will already have identified where to look more deeply.

On this page, you will find the following information:

Experiencing God:

• Love for God
• Transform your experience with God

Passion for church:

• Devotion to the church
• Commitment to the future of the church

Passion for devotions:

• Modeling by pastors and leaders
• Teaching and awareness
• Practice and accountability

Spiritual interconnectedness:

• Motivation and life change
• Personal and corporate sharing

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.

Summary Evaluation Questions

Effective ministry flows out of a passionate spirituality. Spiritual intimacy leads to a strong conviction that God will act in powerful ways. A godly vision can only be accomplished through an optimistic faith that views obstacles as opportunities and turns defeats into victories.

Experiencing God:

1. How are church members integrating their faith into all areas of their life?
2. How and when do church members sense God's presence and involvement in the different areas of their life?
3. What recent examples have we heard of God's transforming work in church membersí lives?
4. What are we doing to teach people how to absorb the new insights and experiences that come when God is working in their life?

Passion for Church

1. What are the marks of a person who is enthusiastic about our church?
2. What are we doing to teach God's desires for our churchís future.
3. In the last year, what steps has the pastor taken to make his or her life more transparent to the church?
4. How do we promote faith in our people so they believe firmly that God will work even more powerfully in our church in the coming years?

Passion for Devotions

1. In what ways do people in our church spend personal time connecting to God during the week?
2. In what ways do we see personal and corporate prayer empowering the ministries of our church?
3. What opportunities do we provide for people to learn how to use the Bible as a guidebook for life?
4. What indications do we have that people read the Bible on their own? How are they integrating what they read into their everyday live?

Spiritual interconnectedness

1. What opportunities (in worship or in groups) are given for people to talk about God's work in their lives?
2. What are we doing to move religion from being a private matter to a commonly accepted topic with other believers?
3. How is our experience of God reflected in our conversations with others?
4. How do we inform people of prayer needs? What priority do we believe our members give to praying for each other?

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.

Experiencing God

Key Question: Where have you seen evidence that people in your congregation are having a dynamic encounter with the living God?

Love for God

The first and greatest commandment is to love God with your whole heart, mind, body and soul. Jesus invites his followers to embrace relationship with God in ever-deepening ways.

• How do people in your church show their love for God?
• What has happened in the last year that has helped people fall more deeply in love with Jesus?
• What aspects of your tradition would help people connect to God relationally or might hinder that?

Transform your experience with God

Church members increase their awareness of how active God is in their everyday life.

• How and when do church members sense God's presence and involvement in the different areas of their life?
• What recent examples have you heard of God's transforming work in church members' lives?
• To what degree are church members integrating their faith into the different areas of their life (profession, family, recreation, etc.)?

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.

Passion for Church

When a church's passion for Christ increases, it will be evidenced in the atmosphere of the church and in the fruit of its ministry.

Key Question: What marks would you look for to measure people's enthusiasm for your church and how would you rate your congregation in each one?

Devotion to the church

• Look for emotions such as joy and fervor, actions like bearing one another's burdens, and attitudes of expectancy and intimacy to point toward devotion to the church.
• What ways do people demonstrate their devotion to the church?
• How have you challenged people to be more devoted and what has been the response?
• What do you think keeps people from being more devoted?

Commitment to the future of the church

Personal spirituality overflows into mission. Motivate people to join you in seeking God's desires for your church's future.

• How would you characterize the commitment of your congregation to see God's Spirit fully released in your church?
• What attitudes and values keep people from engaging in forward thinking about where God may be calling your church?
• What are you doing to teach Godís desires for your churchís future?
• How do you promote faith in your people so they believe firmly that God will work even more powerfully in your church in the coming years?

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.

Passion for Devotions

Key Question: In what ways do you see your people practicing personal spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, study of the Word, tithing and service?

Modeling by pastors and leaders

It is obviously important for you as the pastor to model the personal spiritual disciplines for your congregation. There is a vast difference, however, between modeling and merely "displaying" them. What's the difference? According to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, the difference is in our motive. We should practice these disciplines first and foremost to honor God and know Him more intimately, not because we have to in order to be an example or in order to appear godly.

• What spiritual disciplines do you practice on a consistent basis?
• What spiritual disciplines do you model for others to see?
• What spiritual disciplines have you struggled to implement in your personal walk?
• How have you integrated your understanding of God's grace with the practice of spiritual disciplines?

Teaching and awareness

It is, of course, obvious that people who have not been taught about the spiritual disciplines are unlikely to practice them. Merely teaching on spiritual disciplines is probably not enough to contribute to passionate spirituality. Rather, you must teach on them in a way that highlights not only their importance but also their desirability.

• When was the last time you taught your people on any of the spiritual disciplines as something they should establish in their lives?
• In what ways do you help the members of your church to stay alert to the blockages to passionate spirituality?

Practice and accountability

Accountability requires relationships intimate enough to facilitate honesty. These kinds of relationships take place only in smaller settings such as small groups and very small cells such as life transformation groups. Don't hedge on your answer when asked what ministries encourage the practice of spiritual disciplines. Many churches cannot point to a single example.

• To what extent do you believe people take the practice of personal spiritual disciplines seriously?
• How are people held accountable for their practice of spiritual disciplines in their personal lives?
• What ministries encourage the practice of personal spiritual disciplines?
• What do you believe are the blockages people struggle with as they incorporate spiritual disciplines in their lives?
• What is the role of prayer in your congregational life?

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.

Spiritual Interconnectedness

Key Question: In what ways to do you see peopleís lives being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Motivation and life change

You cannot determine what holds people back apart from a relational structure that allows you access to people's lives. Blockages become evident only when relationships are deep enough to promote trust. This does not mean that you personally need to be in close relationship with everyone, of course, but it does mean that you must structure your church in such a way that intimate relationships are the norm (usually via cell groups) and that you are getting discreet feedback from those in direct contact with your people.

• What holds people in your congregation back from allowing God to touch and change their lives?
• What has motivated people to make radical changes in their lives?
• How have you seen peopleís faith influence the decisions they are making in life?

Personal and corporate sharing

We know that the personal testimonies of those in our congregation are a powerful tool for encouraging others. The reality of what folks are taught becomes believable in the minds of our people when someone "just like them" gives testimony of what God has done in their life.

• What opportunities do we give people to testify to others in the church about how God is transforming their lives?
• To what extent do you feel people are using these opportunities?
• Why donít more people take advantage of these opportunities to share?

Share with those outside the church

It is your privilege not only to encourage your people to share the greatness of God with others outside the church but also to give them examples as to how this can take place. You also have the honor of helping to create natural opportunities for them to do so. Natural opportunities can be created through servant evangelism and through informal fellowship opportunities (e.g., backyard cookouts, community harvest parties), etc.

• What opportunities are given for people to testify to those outside the church community about how God is transforming their lives?
• To what extent do you feel people are testifying to the greatness of God in their lives to those not in the church?
• How are you encouraging your people to share the greatness of God with those outside the church?

This document © Robert E. Logan and CoachNet, Inc. Used with permission. Click here to download a PDF version.