Plan
Set your course
“Aim at nothing and you will hit it every time” is the old saying. Not to mention, “speed is only useful if you are going in the right direction.”
There is no point in regularly testing and accumulating knowledge then not doing anything to bring about transformational change. Momentum is maintained by applying your new and growing Understanding to the life of the church: doing something. This requires a plan.
An NCD plan is as simple as deciding (1) what you are going to do to remove the barriers to growth you have identified, (2) who is going to work with you to do this, and (3) how often you are going to discuss progress. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just a commitment to action and a willingness to be consistent in implementing it.
Transformation starts in the everyday
If you want to transform the health of your church, you must transform the lives of the people. This means their everyday lives, and yours. A plan must begin with the everyday lives of the people, because that is where the barriers to growth are anyway.
Most of your survey results emerged out of ordinary day-to-day decisions, responses and activities, not out of a special event. Therefore, an action plan aimed at improving the quality of your church should not need to be anything more than a set of changed everyday behaviours applied consistently until they become the 'natural' way of doing things. You'll be amazed what God starts doing in the world around you on the basis of such a simple plan.
Key Influencers
It is important that these changed behaviours are modeled by the key influencers in the church as opposed to spending lots of energy trying to get 'the people of the church' to change their ways. If the key influencers 'get it', the rest will 'naturally' follow.
Simple 'natural' plans
Simply put, this stage shouldn't require the church to shut down and engage in lengthy documented planning meetings. The flow of church life should be able to continue - with steady improvement in quality - if simple action plans are developed that-
- are modeled by the key influencers of the church
- are clearly in line with the outcomes of the previous stages
- contain an element of ongoing accountability
- contains a 'letting go' of something
Not more... wiser
This last point is important because NCD is not about adding more activity to church life. In fact people who've engaged in NCD for at least 3 surveys and have seen the quality of their church increase, state that they also now have MORE time for hobbies. Remember, people in very healthy churches have 168 hours in their week just like people in unhealthy churches. Therefore, your action plan must in some way be about wiser activity, not more activity.
Considerations for NxCD churches during the 'Plan' stage
On to the 'Do' stage
Helpful Tools for the 'Plan' stage
3 Color Life Cycle - NCD Survey Workbook
A process for your leadership team download
Your Diary
...and some form of reminder that the NCD results need to consistently speak into your everyday activities.
External Assistance
Experienced NCD Pastor's or Coaches capable of providing additional wisdom, objectivity and accountability-
- NCD Key Contacts - Denominational and Non-denominational
- NCD 'Davids' - Pastor's and Lay Leaders with extensive experience
- 'The Vine' - Find an NCD church in your area
- NCD Australia - Contact us to discuss any aspects of the process