Greetings all,
Geneva Push has made no secret of how important we think coaching is in the life of the church planter. Assessment is a great start to any new work, for the planter as well as the plant. However it's not just about finding good ground and a good model for your new congregation. The pastor has to be watered as much as his congregation. Under God, this is where a Geneva coach comes in.
Our network teams up new planters with trained coaches drawn from similar areas of ministry. They regularly meet with the planter to not only problem-solve the planting isses that arise, but to help them to grow and gain maturity as ministers of the Gospel. And since the Geneva network is growing rapidly, it's not surprising that we're looking for more mature pastors to be trained up as Gospel coaches.
This month we're devoting our website to all things coaching, and in particular those resources that will help every pastor consider their role as a Gospel coach. You may be planting in virgin territory, developing the reach of your congregation or reviving a work that has long struggled – it doesn't matter. As Andrew Heard puts it, “Every minister should be coaching,” – and every minister can benefit from becoming a coach.
So, if you're feeling your way through the topic let us suggest you start with these great articles:
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Coaching links insight, culture and endurance which appeared in Eternity newspaper this month, followed by,
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Australian coaches make the difference which appeared in Sydney's Southern Cross magazine.
For those of you struggling to separate coaching, mentoring, discipling etc. and what each means in the life of a Christian, check out:
- Veteran ministry coach Col Marshall of Trellis and the Vine fame, who delivers this short talk on An Introduction to Coaching
- David McDonald's helpful summary article on the differences between Mentoring, coaching and training, and also
- Keynote talks from business experts Peter Mayrick and Stephen Linderman on key coaching tools from Geneva's 2014 Coaches Conference
We also have some important words of wisdom on the subject from two stand-out Geneva coaches:
- Andrew Heard talks about The benefits of coaching for the coach, and
- Eugene Hor talks about how coaching runs in his church, and how helpful it would have been to have Someone looking over my shoulder
Excited by the potential of Gospel Coaching yet? We are, and so this is the year that Craig Tucker will be taking on Geneva's coaching ministry. For this month's Planter Session he talked with Scott Sanders about the various Church planter reefs that can wreck a ministry, which coaches can help people avoid. Craig is also running coaching clinics where you can pick up the best skills for coaching members of your own ministry team. They're running in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth so don't miss out!
Yours in Him,
– Ed.
