Natural Church Development

Dr. David Daubert was the featured presenter at the 2008 Academy of Parish Clergy Annual Meeting. Below is a description of the Natural Church Development program and contact information.

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Churches have a tendency to become focused on fruit - growing attendance, dynamic programs, funded budgets, expanding facilities. In this pursuit, it is often forgotten that the root produces the fruit. Abundant fruit can only grow from a healthy root system.

Natural Church Development provides a reliable survey tool for measuring the health of your church in eight critical areas. These Quality Characteristics have proven themselves essential in building healthy churches.

--Empowering Leadership
--Gift-oriented Ministry
--Passionate Spirituality
--Functional Structures
--Inspiring Worship Services
--Holistic Small Groups
--Need-oriented Evangelism
--Loving Relationships

All eight of the Quality Characteristics are needed for a healthy church. Just as a person cannot live by bread alone, a church cannot grow to health on any one quality.

Natural Church Development also relies on six principles of growth to facilitate the health and growth in these quality areas:

--Interdependence
--Multiplication
--Energy transformation
--Multi-usage
--Symbiosis
--Functionality

These six principals are often referred to as Biotic Principles because they release the church's ability to grow all by itself. Together, these eight qualities and six Biotic Principles provide potent tools for bringing health and growth to your church.

Natural Church Development and the Church Growth Movement have large areas of overlap, yet are different. One of the major differences between the two can be highlighted in the area of quantitative versus qualitative goal setting. In NCD the quality of a church is the root, the quantitative growth the fruit. Growth in quantity is not the strategic goal of NCD, but a natural consequence of a healthy church.

Dr. David Daubert, a consultant in NCD, was the major presenter as the Academy of Parish Clergy's 2008 Annual Conference (Cleveland, OH, April 29-May1).

He may be contacted at ddaubert@ARenewalEnterprise.com and www.ChurchSmart.com.

Academy of Parish Clergy -- 2008 Book of the Year

The Academy of Parish Clergy, Inc. announces the 2008 Book of the Year Award to be God’s Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America by E. Brooks Holifield (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company). The Book of the Year Award is given to the best book published for parish ministry in the previous year.

In addition, the Reference Book of the Year Award is given to Empire: The Christian Tradition, New Readings of Classical Theologians ed. by Kwok Pui-lan, Don H. Compier, and Joerg Rieger (Fortress Press).

These awards will be made at the Annual Conference of the Academy, April 22-23, 2008, at the Jesuit Retreat House, Cleveland, OH.

In addition to the Book of the Year, the Academy has selected the following books as the Top Ten Books for Parish Ministry published in 2007.

E Brooks Holifield. God’s Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company -- Book of the Year

The remainder of the list, alphabetically by author:

Gerald W. Calabash, Editor. Just Policing, Not War: An Alternative Response to World Violence. Liturgical Press.

Pamela Couture Child Poverty: Love, Justice, and Social Responsibility. Chalice Press.

John Dominic Crossan, God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now. HarperSanFrancisco Publishers. -- reviewed by Robert Cornwall, Winter 2007, Sharing the Practice.

Antony Flew. There Is A God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. HarperOne Publishers.

Eugene Peterson The Jesus Way: A Conversation of the Ways That Jesus Is The Way. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Alister McGrath. Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution - A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First. HarperOne Publishers.

Ben Quash and Michael Ward, Heresies and How To Avoid Them: Why It Matters What Christians Believe. Hendrickson Publishers.

G. Lloyd Rediger. The Toxic Congregation: How To Heal the Soul of Your Church. Abingdon Press.

Larry Witham. A City Set On A Hill: How Sermons Changed the Course of American History. HarperOne Publishers.

Sharing the Practice -- Winter Contents

The Winter issue, the last of 2007, is in the mail. Here is a listing of the articles and reviews -- author, title, reviewer.

The focus of the articles in this issue is preaching.

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Articles

• Preaching Re-Imagined, Doug Pagitt 3
• "Is There any Sorry Like My Sorry?" Jerry Gladson, APC 5
• Paul Tillich as Preacher, Courtney Wilder, 8
• Writing Our Way Home in Teaching, Preaching, and Soul Tending, Kent Groff, APC 11

Reviews

• John Killinger, Enter Every Trembling Heart, William Tuck, APC 20
• John Killinger, God, the Devil, & Harry Potter, William Tuck, APC 20
• John Killinger, Ten Things I Learned Wrong from a Conservative Church, William Tuck, FAPC 21
• James Nieman and Thomas Rogers, Preaching to Every Pew, William Tuck, FAPC 21
• Jon Meacham, American Gospel, Lawton Posey, FAPC 21
• William Tuck, Christmas is for the Young, John McFarland, FAPC 22
• Paul Kitley, The Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Donald Shilling, FAPC 22
• John Eaton, Psalms for Life, John LaVoe, APC 23
• Eric Elnes, Asphalt Jesus, Robert Cornwall, APC 24
• Scott Thumman & Dave Travis, Beyond Mega-Church Myths, Robert Cornwall, APC 24
• N.T. Wright, Paul, John LaVoe, APC 25
• John Dominic Crossan, God and Empire, Robert Cornwall, APC 26
• Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan, The First Christmas, Robert Cornwall, APC 27
• Daniel Karslake, For the Bible Tells Me So, Robert Cornwall, APC 27
• David Gibson, The Rule of Benedict, Robert Cornwall, APC 28
• Timothy Carson, Your Calling as a Christian, Robert Cornwall, APC 29
• Robert Stewart, Ed., Intelligent Design, Donald Shilling, FAPC 30
• Peter Steinke, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times, David Nash, FAPC 31
• Beth Gaede, ed. When a Congregation is Betrayed, Paul Bauman, APC 31
• Stephanie Spellers, Radical Welcome, Robert Cornwall, APC 32

Some Emergent Websites of Note

With Doug Pagitt among the contributors to the Winter issue of Sharing the Practice, here are a couple of suggested web sites and blogs to take a look at. Chief among sites is Emergent Village (www.emergentvillage.com). This site is self-described as: “Emergent Village is a growing, generative friendship among missional Christians seeking to love our world in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” It includes weblogs, podcasts, and more. This should be your first stop in researching the movement. And if you like video, try out Emerging Church TV (http://emergingchurch.tv) , where you’ll find video of Emergent figures such as Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt. Of course you might want to check out Doug’s website and blog (http://dougpagitt.com). Other emergent leaders also have blogs, including that of Brian McLaren (www.brianmclaren.net) and Tony Jones (http://tonyj.net). So, if you’re interested these sites should quench your thirst for knowledge, at least for a moment.

Web sites of Note

Loren Mead, one of the founders of the Academy of Parish Clergy, sends along two web sites that would be of special interest to clergy:

• www.congregationalresources.org. This site is self-described as: "An effort of the Alban Institute in consultation with the Indianapolis Center for Congregations and other specialists, the Congregational Resource Guide (CRG) exists to help congregational leaders connect with resources that will enable them to face challenges and foster vitality in their communities of faith."

• www.resourcingchristianity.org. The site is described as: " This web site seeks to assist leaders and participants in Christian communities, scholars and other interested publics in better understanding the impact, trends and trajectories of Christianity in American society. By providing both information and reflection on selected projects funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc., it offers a unique vantage point for discerning the character and contributions of this tradition within American religion and culture."

Enjoy these two sites, which are full of interesting and useful information for churches.

Consecration of David Epps

EPPS TO BE CONSECRATED AS BISHOP

Father David Epps, FAPC, Pastor of Christ the King Church, will be consecrated as a Bishop in the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC) on Friday, November 16 at 7:00 p.m. The service will be conducted in the sanctuary of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, Highway 54, Peachtree City, GA.

Epps, 56, was elected at the House of Bishops in Orlando during October to serve the Mid-South Diocese which includes Georgia and Tennessee. The election was made necessary when, in June 2007, the Diocesan Bishop, The Most Reverend John W. Holloway, 53, suffered a debilitating stroke. Epps will serve as Auxiliary Bishop with Bishop Holloway remaining the Diocesan.

The consecrators for the service will be The Most Reverend Charles Jones, Archbishop of the Southeast Province, The Most Reverend David Simpson, Bishop of Florida, and The Most Reverend Gene Lilly, Auxiliary Bishop of the Southeast Province.

Epps, who first began ministry as a Youth Worker in 1971, was licensed to preach by the United Methodist Church in 1975 and was later ordained in the Assemblies of God (A/G) in 1978. In 1996, he was ordained a priest in the ICCEC.

Prior to 1983, Epps served United Methodist and A/G churches in Tennessee, Virginia, and Colorado. In June 1983, he became the pastor of Fayette Fellowship Assembly of God, Peachtree City, GA, which later relocated to Sharpsburg and was renamed Trinity Fellowship. In September 1996, Epps and 18 other people planted Christ the King Church which met for six years at Carmichael-Hemperly Funeral Home in Peachtree City.

In November 2002, the church relocated to its present location on 12 acres in Coweta County. The church currently has approximately 250 people who claim their church as their home. In addition, Christ the King has assisted in the planting of other congregations in Hogansville, GA, Fayetteville, GA, and Champaign, IL.

Epps is a graduate of Berean College of the Assemblies of God, East Tennessee State University, the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, International Seminary, and Berean Graduate School of Divinity, an institution founded by Carrie Nation. He is a current Doctor of Ministry candidate at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. Epps, a karate black belt and former instructor, also received an honorary doctorate for his work with youth and martial arts ministry from Great Plains Baptist College and Seminary. For 18 years, he has served as the chaplain for the Peachtree City Police Department and is a graduate of the police academy in Fulton County.

Within the ICCEC, Epps has served as Canon to the Ordinary for the Mid-South Diocese, Canon to the Ordinary for the Archdiocese of the Armed Forces, Chair of the Diocesan Commission on Ordained Ministry, as a member of the Mid-South Diocese Bishop’s Council, and as a member of the Provincial Council for the Southeast Province.

A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Epps also served with the Tennessee Army National Guard and served as a Chaplain (with the rank of captain) for the Georgia State Defense Force, an auxiliary of the Georgia Army National Guard.

He is married to the former Cynthia Douglas, a professor of Nursing at the University of West Georgia. The Epps’ have three adult sons and nine grandchildren. The consecration service, which will be followed by a reception, is open to the public.

Web site of note -- Teens and Technology

Kim Shimer, marketing director, for Judson Press, sends along this recommendation -- the web site -- Teens and Technology. This site is dedicated to understanding teens and the technologies they love so much. As a parent of a teen myself, I understand the phenomenon.



This site is owned by Peggy Kendall, author of two books on the subject of teens and tech -- one for parents and the other for those in youth ministry. Check it out.