West Virginia Ministries is on a mission to help our churches become healthier. We know that Healthier Churches = Greater Kingdom Impact!

Just like we go to the doctor to make sure we are physically healthy, there are tools available to help ministers and churches identify areas where health can be improved. One of the tools West Virginia Ministries is currently offering is a Health Assessment called Natural Church Development, or NCD.

We currently have three churches who are investing in their health for greater Kingdom impact! These churches include Henning Church of God, Jones Avenue Church of God, and New Martinsville Church of God. We would love to see more churches take advantage of this valuable resource!

What is NCD?

Natural Church Development (NCD) is a way of measuring the health or quality of a church. NCD is all about releasing the potential that God has already implanted in our lives. Based on research in more than 70,000 churches on all six continents, NCD describes universal principles that are applicable regardless of culture or spiritual style. By using a carefully prepared questionnaire given to members of a church, the survey will determine the health of your church in eight critical areas.

These Quality Characteristics are universally used in building healthy churches and include:

> Empowering Leadership

>Gift-based Ministry

>Passionate Spirituality

>Effective Structures

>Inspiring Worship Services

>Holistic Small Groups

>Need-oriented Evangelism

>Loving Relationships

The key in each of these Quality Characteristics is the adjective. No quality characteristic can be missing in a healthy church. Three things can be said with a high degree of certainty:

1. These are universally valid qualities.

2. They can be transferred to your own situation.

3. Each of these has a positive relationship with both the quality and the quantitative growth of the church.

How does the NCD Process work?

Once a church expresses interest in going through the NCD process, a coach will be assigned to them. The coach will meet with the church and administer the NCD Questionnaire. The Questionnaire results are tabulated and a report is generated showing how the church ranks in each of the eight quality characteristics. The coach will meet with the church leadership team to discuss their lowest minimum factor (the area they scored the least healthy in) and discuss ways to improve the health in that area. The church will work with the coach to develop a plan to improve health. The plan will be implemented and evaluated. At the end one year, the church will administer another Questionnaire to discover how their health has improved and identify their lowest minimum factor. The process then repeats, with the church working on their lowest minimum factor to improve their overall health.

How do we begin the NCD Process?

1. Express your interest in NCD with one of the State Pastors by calling (304) 763-1118 or complete an interest form here.

2. Schedule a private meeting with one of the State Pastors/Coaches

3. Schedule a meeting with your top leadership team and one of the State Pastors/Coaches

4. Schedule a Weekend consultation with one of the State Pastors/Coaches

5. Pay your survey fee $179.00 and your consultation fee $500.00

6. Select your survey group (30) persons from your church. (if your church is a smaller church you can choose 10-20 persons to be your survey group or you can survey the entire church if it is 30 or less.

Who should be selected to be on the Survey Team?

A. You and your staff whether paid or volunteer

B. Your official board(s)

C. Other deeply committed influencers

7. Announce to your church you are entering the NCD journey. Consult with your coach about how to communicate with the broader church.

8. If you want to take the NCD journey but need sponsorship or scholarship funds, please speak to one of the State Pastors.

9. Be ready to move forward into the process in the weeks and months to come.