N O R TH N S W CO N FE R E N CE N E WS
AUG 2015
NNSW Conference hosts meetings with NCD specialists On 14 and 15 June, the North New South Wales (NNSW) Conference played host to special Natural Church Development (NCD) meetings with national and international NCD specialists Adam Johnstone (Director of NCD Australia) and Christian Schwarz (Director of NCD International). The main meeting, held on 15 June, was the NOW! Gathering, which is an NCD event that gives attendees a full day where they learn how to become agents of change, committed and empowered to make a difference in the world for God. The NOW! Gathering was held at Wallsend Church, and was attended by a number of pastors and administrators from the NNSW Conference, as well as church leaders from other denominations in the region. “Never forget that church development is people development,” Christian told attendees. He said that churches are measured by the people, rather than “the quality of the pipe organ or the quality of the pews.” The principles of NCD aim to promote quality in churches, and the research and development that has gone into creating NCD has been significant. “NCD is built on solid biblical principles. The most comprehensive research we have done has proved that these are the key principles. They are ones that God laid out in the Bible 2000+ years ago,” said Christian. “The strategy of NCD is to increase the health of churches through a focus on NCD’s eight areas of quality characteristics.” He noted that numerical growth comes naturally to healthy churches, and that behavioural changes that release God-given energies come from confidence in the principles, as well as committing to them, knowing that God will fulfil His promises. “God does everything,” Christian said. “We have to discover what we have and put it into the right place. It involves putting time, energy and money into the right areas. We already have the right tools with us — we just have to use them. God will guide and lead us. Every believer can put into practice everything necessary for growing the church immediately and without needing permission. Some things take time, but there are other things you can do immediately.” Christian was inspired in his NCD work by Thomas Bonhoeffer, the son of Klaus Bonhoeffer (brother of Dietrich — both were executed by the Nazis). Karl wrote to his family before his execution, sharing some advice for their lives. The principles he shared were to be demanding of yourself; not to strive for recognition; to take people as they are; not to be of the strange or unfamiliar; not to be a victim of pious sentiments; to strive for clarity kindly; and to inhabit the Bible. “Thomas literally lives out every one of these sentences,” said Christian. (Continued on page 3)
In this issue:
Page 2: From the President: Women’s ordination and North New South Wales Pages 3: NCD: What is NCD and how does it affect me? Pages 4: Uplifting “Songs of Ascent” concert series tours Mid-North Coast N O RT H P O I N T // 1 Page 7: Macksville has kittens over Week of Worship!
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