Cycle Starter Plans

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Having understood your church a little better with the help of the NCD Church Survey, its now time to start cycling together towards a healthier church. You’ve chosen to start experimenting and learning more about the topic to the left. Now, select one of the cycle starter plans below and write number 1 in its box. Put this sheet on your wall, then, go do it!

Next time you are meeting with others who are also working through a topic, ask each other the questions from the cycle, starting at “do” and finishing at “plan”. After a cycle you may decide the most important thing to do now is to keep going with the same plan, modify it, or choose another option from below. If choosing another from below, just write 2 in its box and so on.

If you’d like more cycle starter options, or to work on another topic highlighted by your NCD Church Survey results, just visit ncdchurchsurvey.org/cycle-starters

Gift-based Ministry

  • Ask someone you know well with a mature Christian faith to suggest the kind of challenge you could undertake to stretch your faith. Be accountable to them for taking up that challenge.
  • Ask three people in your church who are close to you, "If you could do anything in ministry, what would make you feel the most alive?" Then, determine if and how you can help them with that, or who you need to speak to to try to make it happen.
  • Ask your congregation/small group/team/family/friends what they personally brought to worship this week in order to bless God and encourage the church.
  • Establish exact dates (no more than 6 months away) for reviewing the current ministry of every person under your leadership to help them grow in the role, find a more suitable ministry, or take a break if needed.
  • On a weekly basis, update those under your leadership as to the current priorities they should be focusing on. Ask them if there are other tasks that would also seem important to them at that time and resolve together where those points fit in the overall plan.
  • Share with someone why you believe they have a particular gift that is better developed in them than in yourself.
  • Take the 3colorsofministry.org Gift Test on your own or in a group.
  • Ask a leader in your church to tell you how they see your contribution fitting into the overall direction of church life.