Pathways Forward

What I have come to appreciate about Fordelm working through Natural Church Development is that our time together is much more than just a church growth programme. Our time is more about connecting to a renewal movement. Fordelm helps our churches become healthier, more alive and more fruitful without asking them to abandon their traditions. Fordelm reminds us that genuine growth is not something we manufacture through programmes or effort; our role is to cultivate the conditions for life and cooperate with what God is already doing.

Our five-year partnership with Fordelm and Natural Church Development has transformed ministry across Ontario's 89 Salvation Army churches. By prioritizing church health over numbers, we've fostered healthier disciples, leaders, and congregations through meaningful conversations and tailored support. The result has been sustainable Kingdom growth and a renewed confidence that healthy churches are the foundation for lasting mission impact.

I am grateful to Fordelm for the individual support given when navigating some of the challenging aspects of Church health and leadership. Individual coaching has provided new skills, held listening circles, and led to a deeper sense of personal spiritual maturity.

As The Salvation Army’s appointed Natural Church Development (NCD) partner, and coach for the UK and Ireland, Fordelm has provided outstanding leadership and guidance to our Division. Fordelm’ s expert coaching offers measured discipleship support, that is rooted in Christ and evidenced in and through the eight NCD Quality Characteristics (Discipleship areas).

One of the privileges and challenges of episcopal ministry is helping churches across different traditions flourish in very different contexts. Fordelm’s work with NCD has given us a thoughtful and practical way of nurturing healthier churches - not by imposing a model, but by helping each congregation discern where God is already at work, celebrate its strengths, and address its weaknesses with grace and confidence. The Fordelm team are always a delight to work with: insightful, encouraging and deeply committed to helping churches flourish.

By passionately promoting the core principles of a healthy church, Fordelm seeks to empower local churches to assess and improve their communal vitality. Fordelm have expertly guided and coached leaders and congregations to understand how to cultivate sustainable, natural growth, understand their spiritual style and discover spiritual gifts.