STORIES OF SUCCESS

Countless churches have been deeply impacted by the work of a TIPS Pastor. Here’s a great story of one of our successes, helping Fort Myers Church of the Nazarene in their transformation to Anthem Church — a thriving, vital church in the Fort Myers area.

FIRST STEPS

Entering a season of transition can be scary, difficult, and cause anxiety! But with a TIPS pastor, this season can be carefully navigated. Here’s how one of our TIPS helped a church in need!

“In the Summer of 2018, Darla and I were asked to do the assessment for Fort Myers Church of the Nazarene.

Now, a trip to Florida is always an exciting time, but we were asked to do it on 4th of July weekend!

When we got there, we realized the church was — let me be kind here — mired in the 1970’s.

They had a choir of 12, with a modesty rail, large palm trees (fake) to the left, and an organ to the right.

No one was more surprised than us that they not only contacted NCS, but they chose Darla and I to be the pastor and wife!
We found that the church was in a beautiful position. They had a beautiful piece of property. A lovely building, they were all set for growth, but they had a pastor there for 25 years and they saw themselves as a church that was pretty well content with who they were.
We at NCS work with a thing called the Natural Church Development. We did an assessment of that church based off the 8 Characteristics of a Healthy Church. When the report was given in the fall of 2018, we found that every one of those 8 characteristics was a score well below average. Because of that, they had a lot of work yet to do.

Often, entering a season of pastoral transition can give way to a transformation of how the church operates. Our TIPS pastors don’t just offer prescriptions, but they seek to see how God is working and honor the vision He’s given you!

NEXT STEPS

We know how deeply you care for your church. Our mission is to partner with you in what God is doing, to build relationships that feel like family, and see you through anxiety to anticipation!

“What we found is the Leadership and the Transition Team wanted to grow!

They wanted to see change in the church. So, as I met with them once a month, in what was normally for two hours - this team would meet for 3-4 hours! We would eat together, we would laugh together, we would plan together, we would pray together.

When we were done, we had a plan that not only took that church from it’s anxiety of losing their pastor of 25 years to now an anxious anticipation of what God was doing to do for that church.

When we were done, we had a plan that would enable the church to be all that God called them to be.”

Through the journey of pastoral transition, our TIPS pastors are here for you. The road may feel long, and the season may be difficult, but finding that perfect fit is one of the most powerful catalysts for growth in the life of the church!

A STORY OF SUCCESS

Through the whole process, NCS helps provide tools and resources that the church needs to discern their vision for the future. When Fort Myers Church of the Nazarene finally found their new pastor, they also found a fresh vision of what God might do through them, which still thrives today as Anthem Church!

“They called Steve Rhodes to be their pastor! Steve was very familiar with Natural Church Development, which was the premise of our entire assessment! Natural Church Development is taking the church you have, in the land that God gave you, in the city that God put you, with the people God gave you and building a church! That’s exactly what he did.

When we left, we had a retreat with the Transition Team and with the Church Board and we invited Steve to that retreat. He listened and listened and heard all of the plans and dreams we had, that we’d developed over the last twelve months.

And then, he shared his dream with the church. He was familiar with the plan we had used, Natural Church Development. That’s a book written by Christian Shwarz, which basically says, you don’t have to be a megachurch, you don’t have to be a Saddleback or a Brooklyn Tab church, you can be the church that God has called you to be right where you are, with the people God gave you, in the building God allowed you to build, in the city God placed you, you can be the church that will naturally develop into what God’s plan is for you.
Fort Myers Church of the Nazarene is now Anthem Church, and they’re a vital church in the Fort Myers community. They are growing and doing an excellent job in reaching their community for Jesus Christ. They’re the poster child of NCS — not because of anything we did, as much as how they allowed the Holy Spirit to use us in making the church what God called them to be!”