Natural Church

Development

An Evaluation of the

Implementation of Natural

Church Development Within

Seventh-day Adventist

Churches in the United

States and the Resulting

Church Growth

Natural Church

Development :

Does Church Health Matter?

Natural Church

Development :

Does it work within the SDA

Church?

The Problem

There is a hesitancy among SDA pastors and Church leaders to utilize NCD as a tool for church health and growth.

Questions persist regarding NCD’s value for the SDA Church in the United States.

Justification for ProjectNeed for a study comparing a local SDA

church’s experience with NCD against other SDA churches across the United States.

Need for a study clearly defining those churches which sought to implement NCD in their congregation and their resulting church growth.

Justification for Project

Focus of the study examine whether there was a significant difference when a church worked with the NCD process.

Compare 100 SDA churches with the experience in Milwaukee Central church.

Method Used in Selection

Random selection of 100 churches.Evaluated for their implementation

process in working on minimum factor

50 churches in two groupsNCD ChurchesStatus Quo Churches

Method Used in Selection

Random selection of all churches with data stored at N.A.D.E.I. which had taken the survey multiple times.

Additional SDA Conferences which store their own data were also contacted.

Method Used in Selection

Additional churches which only took the survey one time were also randomly selected to reach 100 churches.

Churches were contacted to verify their implementation of NCD in their local setting.

Method Used in Selection

The only criteria was the answer to the following question?

Can you tell me what your church did to work on the minimum factor to improve your church’s health?

Method Used in Selection

After all churches were selected, the Conferences were contacted for the growth statistics:TitheLocal GivingMembershipBaptisms

Evaluating NCD - Tithe

NCD Status Quo

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

StartEnd

NCD Status Quo

0102030405060708090

IncreasedDecreased

Amount Given % of Churches Changed

Evaluating NCD - Tithe

NCD Status Quo

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Percent Change Over Time

% Change

Evaluating NCD – Local Giving

NCD Status Quo

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

StartEnd

NCD Status Quo

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

IncreasedDecreased

Amount Given % of Churches Changed

Evaluating NCD – Local Giving

NCD Status Quo0

5

10

15

20

25

Percent Change Over Time

% Change

Evaluating NCD – Total Giving

NCD Status Quo

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

StartEnd

NCD Status Quo

0102030405060708090

IncreasedDecreased

Amount Given % of Churches Changed

Evaluating NCD – Total Giving

NCD Status Quo-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Percent Change Over Time

% Change

Evaluating NCD – Membership

NCD Status Quo

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

StartEnd

NCD Status Quo

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

IncreasedDecreased

Church Membership % of Churches Changed

Evaluating NCD – Membership

NCD Status Quo

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

Percent Change Over Time

% Change

Evaluating NCD – Baptisms

NCD Status Quo0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Year 1Total

Evaluating NCD - Summary

NCD Status Quo

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

TitheGivingMembership

Comparing Central - Tithe

Start End0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

NCD

Central

% Change

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Amount Given Percent of Change

Comparing Central–local giving

Start End0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

NCDCentralStatus Quo

Increased0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Amount Given Percent of Change

Comparing Central –total giving

Start End0

50000100000150000200000250000300000350000400000450000

NCD CentralStatus Quo

Increased-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Amount Given Percent of Change

Comparing Central – Membership

Start End0

50

100

150

200

250

300

NCDCentralStatus Quo

Increased

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Church Membership Percent of Change

Comparing Central – Baptisms

NCD Central Status Quo0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Year 1Total

Comparing Central - Summary

NCD Central Status Quo

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

TitheGivingMembership

Focus on Health

Harvest the Fruit

Leave Results to

God