New Life Fellowship Church

Strengths

1. Senior Pastor. The senior pastor has led this church plant to have good growth in a relatively short period of time. He preaches and teaches the Word well. His spouse helps people get connected and feel comfortable as part of the congregation. They make a good team for the future.

2. Openness. This congregation was started to make people feel welcomed who might not have felt welcomed in other churches. This goal has been achieved. People have stated that they have been welcomed here even though they thought that might have not been the case. The future of this congregation depends upon its ability to remain steadfast in welcoming the unwelcomed.

3. Children and Youth Ministries. Parents attend church with their children and young people. Fortunately, this church is doing those ministries with effectiveness. Both ministries not only reach children and youth within the church, but are reaching outside the church as well.

4. Relationships. People have expressed their ability to connect easily with others in the life of the congregation. Others have said that they appreciate the fellowship that occurs in the Life Groups. This congregation places a high value on developing relationships because they occur with relative ease.

5. Facilities. The facilities are attractive and well maintained. Though limited in scope, they enhance the respective ministries that occur throughout the week. It is obvious that they will need to be expanded as the congregation grows.

Concerns

1. Mission/Vision. The functional mission (purpose) of the congregation has become more and more inward. The church has been attracting more people from churched backgrounds than the unchurched. As a result, a number of people want New Life Fellowship to be a church designed to meet the needs of Christians.

Originally the vision of this congregation was to reach lost people who would not feel comfortable attending other churches. This vision has never clearly been articulated, although it has been the passion of the leaders. As a result, there is no clear articulation of the vision.

2. Evangelism. Over the years, a number of people have come to Jesus through the life of this congregation. However, that number has been on a decline. As the mission has turned inward and the vision has become unclear, the number of new disciples for Jesus has lessened.

3. Assimilation. Little is done to help new people connect to the life of the congregation. Nothing is being done to help new attendees determine their gifts or find their place of ministry in the Body of Christ.

4. Communication. The leaders do not communicate well with the congregation. There is no regular or consistent communication about key decisions and how some of those decisions are made. The leaders do not communicate a vision and how that vision is being achieved.

5. Finances. There is no surplus of operating funds, no savings, and a large debt on the property. Financial trends indicate a revenue shortfall for 2006.

Prescriptions

1. The senior pastor and elders need to formally make a decision that the focus of the congregation will be outward. This decision must be made by September 15, 2006. Once this decision is made, staff members must submit goals to the senior pastor demonstrating how their respective areas of ministry will meet this purpose. The senior pastor will communicate a compilation of these goals to the elders by September 30, 2006. The elders and senior pastor will evaluate how well these goals have been achieved by June 30, 2007.

2. The senior pastor and elders shall articulate a clear vision of how NLF will achieve an outward-focused mission. This vision statement will describe how God will use this congregation to reach its community within the next decade. The consulting team is suggesting to the leaders the following vision statement:

X% In T (ten years): Two Transformed Counties

The statement that is finally adopted by the leaders needs to be in place by October 1, 2006. Once the vision is articulated, it needs to be put on any document or brochure of the church. It also needs to be stated in some way in every worship service. The vision statement as it is adopted by the pastor and elders needs to be an accurate reflection of the vision the leaders had when the church was started.

3. Every staff member must state goals of how many people will come to Jesus through their ministry this year. The senior pastor and staff must plan three events during the church year (September to May) that are designed for outreach into the community. Each Life Group must do one activity this year that will bring them into relationship with unchurched, unbelieving people. All of these goals and activities need be achieved by June 30, 2007.

4. The senior pastor and his staff need to develop an assimilation program. The purpose of an assimilation program is to help new people become mobilized to help NLF achieve its vision. The entire program needs to be developed in concept by December 31, 2006. The initial implementation, including orientation classes for new people, needs to occur as soon as possible.

5. The senior pastor and elders need to conduct congregational town meetings at least once every two months for twelve months. The first meeting needs to be held by November 1, 2006. The purposes of these town meetings are:

To communicate how the mission and vision are being achieved.
To provide updates on the implementation of this report.
To inform the congregation about key decisions.
To answer questions anyone might have.

(The purpose behind this recommendation is to foster communication between the leaders and the congregation. These town meetings are not designed for critique and criticism. Those kinds of issues need to be handled with the leaders in smaller settings. If the town meetings degenerate into negative communication, it is the recommendation of this team they be stopped. These meetings will be moderated by the mentor from Trinity Fellowship who is walking alongside this congregation for one year.)

6. The senior pastor and elders need to prepare a special presentation to the congregation. The purpose is to challenge the congregation to give over and above their normal giving to kick off a renewed focus on mission and the achievement of the vision. This presentation needs to be made by November 15, 2006. The congregation will be asked to make sacrificial year-end giving to help start the new year with financial resources to do awesome things for God. The senior pastor and elders need to conduct a feasibility study in order to initiate a capital stewardship campaign to both retire debt and add to the facilities. A decision needs to be made about such a campaign by March 1, 2007.