Natural Church Development is the primary model among churches for discovering and improving the health of your church.  Using a diagnostic survey with 30 participants in the parish, a measurement is made of the parish health in 8 quality characteristics of healthy churches:

Empowering leadership
Gift-oriented ministry
Passionate spirituality
Functional structures
Inspiring worship service
Holistic small groups
Need-oriented evangelism
Loving relationships

Christian Schwarz, who founded NCD, uses the illustration of a barrel with eight staves to symbolize the eight quality characteristics. The barrel can only hold water to the height of the lowest stave. So too, Schwarz argues, a church can only grow as far as their 'Minimum factor,' which is the lowest of the eight quality characteristics in their church. He challenges churches to resist the temptation to work on improving areas in which they already excel, for by doing this they do not increase their minimum factor or their church quality.

NCD=Natural Church Development and has been studied in over 60,000 churches world wide. 

ONCD=Orthodox Natural Church Development.

The following prayer was written by Fr. Dennis Rhodes while he was Rector of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church in Waterbury, CT, and was offered during divine services during their first ONCD cycle in 2009-2010.

 O Lord of the harvest, who planted the seed of Your Word in us and watered it with Your grace,

look upon us now as we work to prepare the soil of our hearts

so that the seed may grow and produce fruit in abundance, both in us and in our parish community.

Show us how to build each other up for the work of ministry.

Help us to use the talents and abilities You have given us for the well-being of the Church.

Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that our hearts may be aflame with love for You.

Enable us to structure our lives and our community that Your love and mercy

may more effectively be shown in the world.

Inspire us as we gather in community to worship You

and to receive You in the holy Gifts of Your Body and Blood.

In our daily lives, help us to maintain our fellowship for the building up of ourselves and our community.

Show us how to reach out to those around us with the Word of Your Kingdom.

Help us to love each other that the light of the Gospel may shine in and through us.

O Lord, Jesus Christ our God, look now upon our Parish and bless our efforts.

Enable us, through Your great love for mankind, to search out our strengths and weaknesses.

Where we are strong, give us the understanding to increase our strengths.

Where we are weak, give us the courage and insight to overcome our weaknesses.

In all we do, make us witness of Your Kingdom.

For You are a merciful God who loves mankind, and to You we send up glory:

to Your Father who is without beginning and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit;

now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.