You can find someone marketing themselves as a coach on just about any topic. If you do what they tell you to do, they guarantee success. But what if you can’t? What if it doesn’t fit with your personality or circumstances? Like David in Saul’s armor, the system won’t work. A different kind of coaching is needed.
What if we turned the system on its head? What if the system recognized people as the experts in their own lives? How about a system that empowers them to live more fully into who they were uniquely created to be? Now infuse that system with the way of Jesus and the fruit of the Spirit. How might that impact your life? What if your whole community had access to it?
A Different Kind of Coaching
What does a church or ministry look like when there are more people within it who listen, are curious, and ask good questions? And how might it benefit you and your organizational mission?
If you lead a church, ministry or organization, you can take steps toward creating a whole culture of this kind of coaching—one where basic coaching skills are integrated into everyday conversations not only by coaches but by everyone who is a part of your organization.
Imagine community groups filled with people asking questions, displaying curiosity and other-centeredness. Imagine people really listening instead of trying to change each others’ minds or just waiting for their turn to talk. If one person like that can make a big difference (and they can!), imagine what a whole host of people like this spread throughout your ministry could do.
Why change what isn’t broken?
You have a thriving church, people are engaged and growing—you don’t want to change what isn’t broken! Absolutely not! But be sure you are considering a wide range of metrics. Below are some common issues in churches. It is a red flag if any of these are surfacing at your church. The good news is that a widespread culture of coaching could help resolve these issues:
- Lay leader burnout and turnover: “I don’t want to do this forever.”
- Lack of oversight and support of small groups: “No one in the leadership even knows what’s going on in my small group!”
- People not fitting well in their service roles: “I’m doing this to serve the church, not because it’s my calling.”
- Leaders stagnating rather than growing in their skills: “I’ve been doing this forever and I know how. There’s nothing else I need to learn.”
- Pastoral burnout: See Jethro’s advice to Moses: “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.” (Exodus 18:17-18)
- Lack of infrastructure to support growth: “Right now we’re a small church, healthy and growing, with six community groups. It works for now, but it won’t work in a couple more years.”
Widespread Help and Growth Opportunities
Everyone wants to meet with the Pastor but that is not sustainable. It makes a stunning difference to have people who are trained to listen, pay attention, and engage with others in ways that matter. Together, they’ll spot things well before you do as a senior leader. And when issues like these get resolved sooner rather than later, you’ll see a multiplying effect through your ministry that results in both health and growth at the same time.
How do you make coaching like this happen at your church?
If you are ready for a different kind of coaching a simple starting place is to learn more about what churches with a healthy coaching culture look like. Even better is to do so we key people who you will need to help you shape this culture. Becoming Barnabas* is a quick read that offers vision and biblical grounding for a church coaching culture and outlines a clear pathway for how to grow the number of informal coaches within your organization.
If you are ready to go, Barnabas Ministry Training is a turn-key training kit that you can download today and start training coaches this weekend!
Your church culture is unique. If you think you might need an approach to training that fits your unique culture, we would love to talk with you to learn your specific needs. We have trained hundreds of coaches and have developed customized coach training programs for churches, denominations, and nonprofit organizations—we can help. Email admin@loganleadership.com to set up a free 30-min introductory consultation with Dr. Bob Logan today.