Part of the ministry role I have now in my life is coaching ministry leaders. Way back, when I was praying through my calling before going to college, I had considered being a high school coach. I ended up a pastor—a church planter and pastor. Now I am coaching pastors and church planting pastors. Its part of my story.
Gary Collins wrote, “Coaching is the key element in producing good leaders. To be a good leader you must be a good coach. And to be a good coach you must recognize that coaching is a significant form of leadership” – Christian Coaching.
If you think back on your life, I suspect that there was a coach who had an influence on your life—good or bad. For some, it might be a football coach. Others it had to do with the arts or science or scouts. Maybe it was a neighborhood dad who took a real interest in you and some others around. Coaching had a major impact on you.
When you consider your church ministry, let me ask you a question: Who is often the most under-resourced person in the church? Who gets the least amount of support and attention? (Besides you I would add).
Some chief complaints of leaders in the church are they feel uncared for, under-resourced and under appreciated—they are pooped. So often we get someone to volunteer for a leadership role—elder, deacon, small group leader, Sunday school teacher, or music—maybe give them a one day training event and then turn them loose. We delegate to them the responsibility to make it work. And they get pooped.
Here is a Principle: There are organizational systems that free leaders to lead and some that are ministry “stallers” and “stoppers”.
In church planting, studies show that a church planter who meets regularly with a coach will start a church that is two times the size of one where the planter isn’t coached. And if the planter meets regularly with a group of peers, it increases the survivability of the new church 135%. Pretty amazing influence of what coaching can do for a leader.
Coaching is essential to the ongoing health and survivability of your leaders in your church—to cut down on the pooped-out leaders. But not just any kind of coaching methodology will work. Gospel Centered, grace-saturated coaching is the kind your people need…and maybe you need as well. More on that later!
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Ministry Coaching 101 — Getting Past Pooped
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