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

Q61

  • Allow more time than usual in an upcoming meeting when you will visibly put aside the agenda, your diary, your phone and all other distractions to purely focus your interest and attention on the person or people with whom you are meeting.
  • Ask anyone you come across in your church or small group, who seems to have some longer-term tension with another person, to tell you one or more positive things about that person, then encourage them to communicate those to the other person in some way.
  • Connect with members of your ministry team in a social context where there is no agenda other than enjoying each other's company and relating to one another.
  • 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.
  • Find one area of church or small group life where communication is poor and work with the leadership to improve it.
  • Take note of how many times someone in your church starts a conversation with you by saying something like, "I know you're busy...". Think about what message they are receiving about the time you have available for them.
  • Take the 3colorsoflove.org Fruit of the Spirit Test on your own or in a group.
  • Use your church's annual report to work out what percentage of the annual budget is allocated for training and equipping leaders of key ministries, especially small group leaders.