I was in Tasmania last week. Spent some time with the good people at New Directions. We debriefed their Natural Church Development profile. Celebrations all around. New Directions is one of the healthiest churches in Australia, and it shows. I sat in their cafe and watched local high school students pass through on the way [...]
Tag Archives: Church health
Good to great in the social sector
30 March, 2007 – 5:52 PM
I like Jim Collins. Built to Last and Good to Great are classics in business literature – full of transferable principles for fueling dynamic movements. I’ve recently finished Good to Great and the Social Sectors, Jim’s contribution to what greatness looks like in the not-for-profit world. The good and great news is he rejects the [...]
Skyping Liam
13 October, 2006 – 5:35 PM
Had a great Skype conversation with Liam Glover the other day. That’s Liam without the hair and me in the tiny box. Skype video adds a lot to the relational dynamic of a call. I’m running the v2 beta on a MacBook. Back to Liam. He’s leading the pack in applying the NCD health paradigm [...]
The trouble with Melbourne Anglicans
26 September, 2006 – 10:09 AM
The Melbourne diocese of the Anglican church is in trouble. Whether they know it is another question. But they are in trouble. In 1981 there 235 Melbourne parishes. Today there are 216, a loss of 19. In the same time period average Sunday attendance has fallen from 50,000 to 29,000. 40% of those attending are [...]
Hope Chapel, Hawaii: How do they do it?
19 September, 2006 – 10:08 AM
In 2001 Hope Chapel sent out one quarter of its congregation (350 people) to start two new churches. . . two weeks before moving into a new building. Since then, they’ve planted at least one new church a year by hiving off 100 to 150 people each time. One of the new churches is now [...]
Bigger, smaller or more?
14 September, 2006 – 10:08 AM
Another great debate ruined. Should we grow big churches bigger? Should we plant more churches? Are small churches better? Wrong question says Bob Logan. Most pastors think about growing healthy churches or growing large churches, but they typically don’t think of growing multiplying churches. . . . The best way to reach the harvest isn’t [...]
Healthy churches reproduce. Reproducing churches become healthier.
12 September, 2006 – 5:07 AM
According to NCD (Natural Church Development) research, church planting is both a sign of church health and a promoter of health. The research as found that multiplying churches are healthier than non-multiplying churches. NCD health survey scores for churches that multiply are consistently higher than the scores of those that don’t. Research also shows that [...]
Tim Keller ruins debate and ruins me
10 August, 2006 – 8:42 AM
We’re in trouble. Tim Keller has done an outstanding job of clearing up the whole justice vs evangelism thing. Drop in on the Reform and Resurge conference and download theses audio files: Preaching the Gospel Doing Justice Or subscribe to the Resurgence podcast. You’re after sessions 7 & 8. Take the time to listen and [...]
NxCD
17 July, 2006 – 4:02 PM
Liam Glover at NCD Australia is doing some thinking on how NCD can be applied to church planting. Liam knows his NCD and he’s planted a church. He’s running training events in Queensland in August and October, 2006. Here’s the link: NxCD Church GrowthChurch PlantingNatural Church Development
What leaders do
14 July, 2006 – 6:04 AM
According to John Kotter this is what transformational leaders do: 1. Establish a Sense of Urgency 2. Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition 3. Create a Vision 4. Communicate the Vision 5. Empower Others to Act on the Vision 6. Plan for and Create Short-Term Wins 7. Consolidate Improvements and Produce Still More Change 8. Institutionalize [...]
