This is a follow up to the article I wrote for the June edition of the Crier, where I gave a brief report on the results of the second survey that was done as part of the Natural Church Development program. In that previous article I gave a generalized and written description of those results. Now I would like to provide you with more of the specifics, and also do that in a visual form. Here are the scores for each of the eight quality characteristics, from both the first survey (July 2006) and the second survey (March 2008), presented side by side in a chart.

Being able to see all the scores in this form may help to provide a clearer picture. You will notice that six of the eight went up -- Gift Oriented Ministry, by 13 points! Only in two areas did the score go down-- Passionate Spirituality and Loving Relationships -- and not by much in either case. Thus the average score rose by 5 points, from an average of 48 in 2006 to an average of 53 in 2008 (as was reported last month).

Another significant finding here is that although Need Oriented Evangelism was our lowest score in 2006 and again in 2008, that number did see an increase -- from 39 to 44 -- which signals some progress having been made in one specific area we have been working on over the last couple of years.

Along with highlighting that progress, though, the results shown above also point out an ongoing challenge that remains before us. It seems we are still hesitant when it comes to sharing with others what is happening in the life of Holy Cross -- graciously inviting others to take part in the ministry of the church, where the Good News of Jesus Christ is both proclaimed and lived out. Offering ourselves to God to be used as His instruments in the world -- people through whom God's love, compassion, and forgiveness are made known, become real, to others.

The Natural Church Development program is a tool, designed to help congregations become stronger and more healthy as communities committed to serving Christ faithfully in what they say and what they do. Hopefully the above results will serve as an encouragement to us in that growth process, as we continually seek to become more mature as disciples of Jesus -- both individually, and together.

In Christ,

Pastor Rich