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CONVENTION 2000
Pastors, delegates challenged to develop church naturally


Pastors from all across the country came to hear Christian Schwarz elaborate on “Natural Church Development” at a Church Leadership Conference on Thursday prior to the Canadian MB Conference convention.

Christian Schwarz is director of the Institute for Natural Church Development in Germany. He has researched churches around the world and from this has developed “eight quality characteristics” of a healthy church. (He originally surveyed 1000 churches in 32 countries, but has since duplicated the research in thousands more churches.)

Schwarz began his presentation to the 311 church leaders with an illustration of a cart (representing the church) with square wheels hauling a load of round wheels and being pushed and pulled by two hard workers. Although the chilly wind of secularism is blowing in the faces of the workers and the road leads uphill, the main problem these workers face is that they are not using the tools that are available to make the work go more smoothly.


The church growth movement in the past has concentrated on quantity: the more people, the better the church. Schwarz proposed that a church needs to combine both quality and quantity. He then went on to list the eight quality characteristics of a healthy church, which formed the basis for his presentations the rest of the weekend. While there are healthy churches which are not growing, and growing churches which are not healthy, Schwarz stated that he has never yet found a church that is healthy in all eight areas which has failed to grow.

Eight Essential Elements of a Growing Church

Empowering leadership: Some pastors think they need to do all the jobs in the church (like an “egg-laying-wool-milk-pig”); however, a church grows more when pastors invest in people so they contribute as well. Gift-oriented ministry: Every believer has at least one spiritual gift. If church workers focus their ministry on areas in which they are gifted, they will enjoy their ministry and growth will take place. Passionate spirituality: The secret here (as in the other elements) is in the adjective rather than the noun. Spirituality must have enthusiasm and power to be effective. Functional structures: The most important aspect of structures is that they work. Structures are always a means to an end, not an end in themselves. Schwarz illustrated this by telling of a pastor of a house church in China who thanked God for China’s communist government. He stated that the communists had sent Western missionaries home, put pastors in prison and confiscated church buildings. This was a blessing because, with the missionaries gone, the pastors free from Western control and the church no longer dependent on buildings, renewal happened. Inspiring worship services: The format of worship services is not as important as that they are inspiring. Holistic small groups: Groups need to meet the needs of the people participating, whether they be Bible study groups or groups more devoted to sharing and prayer. Need-oriented evangelism: This involves not just sharing the gospel but also caring about the person being witnessed to. Loving relationships: Growing churches have a higher love quotient. Love consists of concrete deeds and actions and is therefore visible and measurable. Laughter is typical in growing churches.

The shortest stave determines the amount of water the barrel can hold.

Schwarz then brought out his illustration of a barrel made up of eight staves of different lengths. Water (representing church growth) can be poured into this barrel only to the height of the shortest stave. The staves represent the eight essential elements of a healthy church. Schwarz explained that a church cannot grow beyond its weakest element.

Action steps

In his second presentation, Thursday afternoon, Schwarz stated that quality is the root and quantity is the fruit. The church cannot control the fruit (quantity), which comes from God, but the church is responsible for improving its quality. He then offered eight action steps which a church can use to improve its quality:

Build spiritual momentum. Prayer, although essential, is not the only thing. A genuine desire to win people to Christ and to serve the Lord should be the underlying motivation. Determine your minimum factors. The least developed characteristic is the most important one, since the level of the quality of the church cannot rise above it. Set qualitative goals. Qualitative goals are precise, measurable and time-bound. Identify obstacles. Resistance will be encountered when changes are suggested. There will be a fear of loss of power and a fear of being hurt. These fears need to be addressed in prayer and in a spirit of love. Exercise your strengths. Use the strengths of the church and of the members to improve the minimum factor. For instance, Schwarz stated that research had shown that 10% of people in almost every church have the gift of evangelism, but that many direct this gift toward other Christians rather than to the non-churched. Utilize Natural Church Development tools. These tools are designed for small groups to use to raise the quality of the church. Monitor effectiveness. For example, ask, “What kind of changes have been made in one year?” Address your new minimum factors. After one year, the level of the minimum factor will have risen, and other factors will now need to be addressed.

Schwarz stated that he did not want to give the impression that people can get a church to grow. There are always obstacles, but “if we do our homework, God is reliable to give the increase.”

Thursday evening: The “all-by-itself” principle

At the worship sessions of the Canadian Conference convention Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, Schwarz continued to develop the ideas introduced at the Church Leadership Conference.

Schwarz stated that Natural Church Development does not take a technocratic approach, where the church is treated like a robot and the ready-made pieces are simply assembled according to a step-by-step plan. Rather, NCD takes a biotic approach, where the church is considered a living organism which grows naturally cell by cell. The biotic approach, according to Schwarz, utilizes the “all-by-itself” principle. According to Mark 4:26-29, “The seed sprouts and grows. (All by itself the soil produces grain.”)

Friday evening: Experiencing God

At the centre of the Christian faith, Schwarz stated on Friday evening, is God. God is perceived by different people in different ways, and He has revealed Himself in different ways: Creator, Jesus and Spirit. Believers need to experience God in all three ways or they don’t experience Him at all. In practice, Christians need the wisdom of God, the commitment (self-sacrificing service) of Christ and the power (gifts) of the Holy Spirit. Schwarz then described six characters in Scriptures who possessed various combinations of these qualities, and asked, “Which of the following six biblical characters best describes you?”

The sceptical believer (Thomas), who is strong in wisdom but lacks commitment and power. The controlling believer (Martha), who is strongly committed but wants to manipulate others and lacks wisdom and power. The spiritualizing believer (Mary), who has power and sometimes gives the impression of being more spiritual than others but lacks commitment and wisdom. The burnt-out believer (Moses), who is strong in commitment and wisdom, but lacks power. God sent Jethro and Aaron to compensate for this lack of power. The fanatical believer (Peter), who is totally committed and has power but lacks wisdom. Yet Jesus said, “On this rock I will build My church.” The detached believer (Jonah), who is strong in wisdom and power but lacks commitment.

Schwarz challenged delegates to discern where they fit into this spectrum and determine what they needed to do to grow into a balanced spiritual life.

Saturdy evening: Unspectacular suggestions

In his final presentation, Schwarz gave six “unspectacular suggestions”, which, if put into practice by hundreds of churches simultaneously, would change the world.

Apply the “all-by-itself” principle. Committed persons often want to help God achieve results, rather than “removing the barriers to growth and letting the church grow naturally”. Moving from models to principles. The “model” approach to church growth leads a church to imitate one other successful church, while the “principle” approach allows a church to discover the universal principles behind the success of many churches and then find its own style to grow to maturity. Targeting the small church. Most church growth material is taken from mega churches, and this can be counterproductive. On a per-member basis, small churches (with 100 people or less in attendance) are times more effective than mega churches (with over 1000 in attendance) in winning people for Christ. Smaller churches also usually rank higher on almost every aspect of church health. Shifting to qualitative goals. Setting qualitative goals rather than quantitative goals means that energy is concentrated on the quality of the church and as a natural consequence the church grows. Celebrating God-given diversity. People come to the church with different gifts and strengths. When these are moved toward God in the centre, growth happens. Reformation. Without changes as radical as the Reformation in the 16th century, all attempts at church development will not be much more than church cosmetics.

Schwarz ended his presentations with reference to his opening illustration of the cart with the square wheels. Now, however, the round wheels had replaced the square wheels, and a sail was attached to the wagon so the church could move along apace. 

 – SBB

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The eight Natural Church Development principles were presented in more depth in eight workshops offered twice on Thursday morning.

Mark Johnson, pastor of Glencairn MB Church in Kitchener, Ont., told how the “Natural Church Development” and “Refocusing Your Church” programs had been brought together for him and his church last autumn. It was a time of honestly wrestling with unhealthy aspects of the church, and it brought about both discomfort and joy. He stated, “It has been freeing to see God’s agenda resulting in changes; it has allowed the church to openly wrestle with sins and weaknesses.” The church has been seeking God’s agenda, asking, “God, what are You doing?” rather than “God, bless my idea.” Through this time of evaluation, the church has corporately come to a much deeper trust in God and a renewed sense of its unique purpose and calling in Kitchener.

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Last modified December 4, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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