Natural Church Development

Yesterday was a great day to be in our church! I don't often go home thinking this, which is really sad, but I am so thankful that God allowed both John and I to be there. We had a speaker come in from the MB (Mennonite Brethren) denomination. Our church is I think one of 6 in the province that belong to the EMMC (Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference) and along with every other church in Wynyard, it is a very small struggling church. Fortunately, the MB has offered to "partner" with us and help get something going here. Originally I believe the MB wanted to do a church-plant here, but frankly they changed their minds because why would they waste their money to support another empty small-town church? So they are helping with their resources, etc.

We have attended WGC (Wynyard Gospel Church) for almost 3 years. It is a very bland, senior-oriented, hymn-loving, non-changing church. We currently have some interim pastors that are also from the MB. They are partially retired but they are excited about their faith, they want to involve everyone, and they want to see progress before their time here is done.

Yesterday we all filled out a survey related to our church's health, or rather, lack thereof. This survey is done through Natural Church Development which I found out today is affiliated with Willow Creek Canada, where my friend Jacqui works. NCD compiles all of our answers and analyzes where our greatest weaknesses are. Usually they only take about 30 surveys, but as this is the majority of our congregation we all filled one out.

I am so glad that our voices will be heard! We are only one of 2 families that have ever been in a growing church before so we know what we are missing. Our 2 families had our surveys completed long before anyone else. Questions were ranked on a 1-5 scale. Let me just say that most of my answers were a 4 (hardly) or 5 (not at all). I am hoping that the seniors will have given honest answers and that their stubbornness would not get in the way of seeing some much-needed changes. Realistically, this church is going to die, unless we make some major changes to invite new members and those who are seeking God. It is very sad to see people staying within their comfort zones and never trying to adapt for the needs of others.

We are only here for another 2-ish years. I am now hopeful that we will see some positive changes before we have to move! Yay!