Church health at the Allison Gap First Church of God using the Natural Church Development model

"Church health at the Allison Gap First Church of God using the Natural Church Development model" begins with the need for church health (chapter one) and then examines Natural Church Development as the model for church health (chapter two). What follows is how Natural Church Development is compared and contrasted with other church health literature (chapter three). The project continues with a response to the critics of Natural Church Development as well as some observations in to interviews of churches who have used Natural Church Development (chapter four).;The final three chapters focus on the impact of Natural Church Development at the Allison Gap First Church of God in Saltville, Virginia. The plan at the church incorporated two, fifteen month cycles, starting with taking the church survey, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the church, developing a strategy of working with the minimum factor, and then implementing the process of improving the weakest quality characteristic. The first minimum factor revealed from the survey was inspiring worship and a theology of worship is provided (chapter 5). The second minimum factor revealed from the survey was holistic small groups and a theology of holistic small groups is revealed (chapter 6). The project concludes by implementing the first minimum factor strategy of inspiring worship and the second strategy for improving the minimum factor of holistic small groups (chapter 7). This professional project confirmed the thesis that healthy churches are growing churches and validates Natural Church Development as a helpful resource.