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The NCD process begins with the church survey. To successfully complete any journey you need ideally to both understand where you are starting from, and also, have clarity of your desired destination. The strategy you develop will aim to take you from A to B. The church survey provides a clear snap shot of where you, as a church, are today, and as a team, potentially with your coach, you will work together, to identify where you would like to move towards.
You may choose to work on your own, or indeed may already have a coach, but if not, we will happily provide you with coaching support. We recommend that after taking your survey with coaching support to understand what your congregation is telling you, and to identify your key priorities for the forthcoming year, that you have three to four further coaching sessions during the year, to help keep you on track.
Of course you can book as much coaching and training as you feel is helpful, however this pattern will generally provide the necessary level of encouragement. This will not only assist you to identify where you would like to get to, but also provide the support that is necessary to achieve that goal.
As you move through this cycle, having understood where you are and agreed where you would like to get to, as a team, you will form a plan. Writing the plan is one thing, of course working it is quite another and that’s where your coach’s support is invaluable. As a team you will work the plan, immediately beginning to experience change.
As the year progresses, you will spend time perceiving what has been achieved through this cycle, assessing what has worked well, and what more you would like to see. Then typically one year into the process you will take a second church survey and this will objectively illustrate the ground that has successfully been taken, enabling you to assess afresh where the new priorities lie.
Your coach will walk you through this process encouraging you to fully capitalise on every part of the process.
So you have decided to carry out a survey to check the health of your Church. What’s next? Get in touch with us by telephone or email and we will create an account for you on the Church Survey website.
This is your shopping list
1. An Administrator : the administrator will be the linch pin between NCD UK and your church. There is absolutely NO RESTRICTION on anyone contacting us, but it is easier if we can send emails and contacts through to the same person each time.
2. A Health Team : The Health Team is the group who are going to take responsibility to do something with the information the survey provides. They are in place to take the results and decide on a course of action. If you have a coach, they will work most commonly with the Senior Pastor and this team.
3. The Church: You will be asking members of the church to complete a questionnaire. These members should include Senior Pastors, those who lead Worship, Small Group Leaders, Ministry Leaders, Active Workers, those that give financially, Meeters and Greeters and so on. These are the people who care about the church. The optimum number is 30. Once you exceed 30 the results tend to change very little, but you can have as many as you wish. DO NOT include visitors or new members as they will not know enough about the church to answer accurately.
Your members can complete the survey on paper or on line. Typically it takes 10-20 minutes to answer the questionnaire. If you meet together to do this on paper, great coffee and cake always help in the process.
4. A Coach: NCD UK will provide you with a Coach, unless you already have one. The coach will help you unpack your results and help you get underway with the journey to a healthier church. How often you call upon the coach is up to you, but we have found 3 or 4 coaching sessions during the course of the year have proved beneficial, helping to keep your health team motivated and on track.Your ‘unpacking’ coaching session is included in the cost of your survey, but any further coaching calls are charged at £49 for a 50 minute session.
5. £349: the cost of a survey. Once you are underway further annual surveys are charged at £299.
When you take your follow on tests your results are compared to your previous surveys thus giving you the opportunity to gauge what has worked best, and again help you take a more informed course of action.
Please remember NCD is a paradigm to help you on the way to a healthier church. We cannot grow your church, only God can do that.
All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. Mark 4:28
To book your survey email info@ncd-uk.com
2 Cornfield Road, Woodley, Reading, Berks, RG5 4QA
Tel: 0118 944 1965
Mobile: 0797 003 9031
Email: info@ncd-uk.com
NOTICE:
NCD International wishes to advise that Lynn Chetcutti has retired from her position as the National Partner for the UK and Ireland. Lynn has been a stellar advocate for growing churches naturally and many of us across the UK, and at NCD International, are in her debt. A pastor at heart, she blessed many pastors and churches with her counsel, and especially during the pandemic. We wish her and John all the best in this next phase of their journey together.
We also wish to advise that Bill Bickle, our National Partner in Canada, is taking Lynn’s role. Bill has worked with Lynn from time to time in both countries, so we envision a smooth hand-off and transition. Much of the role can be carried out by tele-conference, and Bill plans to be on the ground in the UK and Ireland several times a year. Bill has been our partner in Canada since 2008 and brings that experience and wisdom to his expanded role. Please welcome Bill and be in touch with him by email at bill@ncd-uk.com or by phone at +1 416 804 6158.
There may be some issues while we amend the website and processes behind the scenes. If you experience any difficulties connecting with NCD, please be in touch with Bill.
Christian Schwarz & Adam Johnstone, NCD International