Natural Church Development survey result, November 2025. Learn more in result summary.

GROWING IN COMMUNITY

Church Health Team Report, October 2026

Last November, the Church Health Team conducted the NCD (Natural Church Development) survey. Although All Saints is a healthy and growing congregation, the survey helps to see areas where the Holy Spirit might be guiding us. In January we held two workshops to report the results and engage members in identifying priorities and developing goals. The workshops were well attended and members were enthusiastic and had many creative ideas and suggestions. 

People identified two main areas to work on:

• How we care for one another as members, and 
• How we serve those in need in our community.

Members developed three tangible church health goals for the year.

1. Reach Out and Build One New Connection

This goal encourages each of us to get to know other members and to help new people become integrated into the groups and relationships that already exist in our congregation.

One ministry that supports this goal is the Fellowship Crew. Over the past year, this ministry has grown into a steady, reliable part of our Sunday rhythm. By providing refreshments and a welcoming space for fellowship each week, the Fellowship Crew has naturally aligned with our church health goals. Their work enables us to connect with one another before heading to Sunday School and Bible study, creating simple but meaningful opportunities for new relationships to form.

Shared service has also helped us build connections: Vacation Bible School, the Fall Festival, Trunk Hop, and especially the Quilting Group and Yard Crew, which both enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship after each work session. Anyone whose schedule and body allow is warmly invited to join.

Our seasonal small groups, including Giving Challenge groups and the upcoming Lenten groups, have served this year’s church health goals well. These short‑term, six‑week groups give people a light, accessible way to meet others, grow spiritually, and form new relationships. Their seasonal nature makes them a meaningful addition to our regular Bible study offerings and a natural support to our connection‑building efforts.

2. Share Needs, Offer Help

One idea early on was to create a physical bulletin board for sharing needs. Instead, we discovered that our website announcements page works very well for this purpose.

We have already seen encouraging examples of members reaching out for help—and receiving it. Some of our members posted needs related to their moves, and members responded by showing up and providing the assistance they needed. These moments demonstrate that when needs are shared clearly, our congregation is willing and ready to help.

3. Serve Together in the Community

The workshops generated many ideas for community service projects, like visiting nursing homes or serving together at a community kitchen or the KidVantage donation center. Several members enthusiastically showed up to find out how they could participate; however, identifying a person to coordinate a team of volunteers is often a challenge. Ideally, the person would be a strong advocate for the project and would be able to support and encourage other volunteers on the team. We still have work to do on the previous goal of Empowering Leadership.

One initiative that has taken shape is a proposal to volunteer with Bellevue’s Adopt-A-Street Program to clean up litter. This project offers a simple, recurring way for members to serve together in the community. Want to serve? or have ideas? click HERE to email us or go to our "Serve the Community" page.

Looking Ahead

The Church Health Team will continue working with leaders and members on all matters related to church health and congregational development. Our aim is to build trust, strengthen relationships, and encourage each person to live out the gifts God has given them. We want to walk alongside the Holy Spirit in what He is doing among us—helping this congregation grow in grace, connection, and shared service.

Thank you for your continued support and participation in this work.

Church Health Team: Debbie Gessert, Joel Jackman, Marjaana Kuivalainen, Pat Roley, and Pastor Dolby

A healthy church is a growing church. 

In a healthy church, spirituality is passionate, relationships are loving, small groups are holistic, worship service is inspiring, evangelism is need-oriented, ministry is gift-based, leadership is empowering, and structures are effective. These characteristics can be reliably measured by the Natural Church Development survey, and developing the minimum factor area will improve the health of the whole church.

The Church Health Team helps the church move forward in the Natural Church Development process.

Once the church has completed the NCD survey, CHT will be responsible for suggesting a course of action regarding the church’s minimum factor. Alongside the church leadership, CHT will be responsible for setting a plan with a timeline and guiding the church through the process. They involve other people in the assessment, planning and implementation of the plan. Continuous and intentional prayer for God to release the church’s full potential is critical!

Would you like to serve on the Church Health Team?

We need people who are willing and gifted by God to

• lead the team
• create strategy and provide accountability
• research the church resources: ideas, spiritual gifts, people
• intercede – vital for the success of the team
• communicate with the whole church and the leadership

All Saints has a Natural Church Development coach!

Our member Marjaana Kuivalainen is an NCD coach by profession. Just like in many other churches in our district, she also trains the All Saints Church Health Team and facilitates the natural development process in our church.