Intentional growth

As some of you know, I enjoy coaching ministers, especially bivocational ministers.  Usually when one asks me to coach them it is because they are feeling stuck.  Often, their church has plateaued or started to decline, or they may feel they are stuck personally and having difficulty sorting out what they need to do next.  In either situation, having a coach to guide you through the process of getting unstuck and moving forward can be very helpful.

Most of us do not drift into better behavior.  Several years ago I had a bass boat that I enjoyed a great deal.  The funny thing is that the only times I ever got into trouble in that boat was when I was drifting.  One day I got caught in some logs that were submerged in the river because I drifted into them.  I was afraid I would break my props if I started the engine so it was very difficult to get my boat loose.  The current had jammed me into those logs and brush pretty good.  Not once did I ever get into trouble when I had either my big motor or the trolling motor running.  The reason is that when my motors were running I was moving towards a destination.  I was intentional about where I wanted to go.  However, when the motors were off I was willing to allow the current to take me whereever it wanted, and sometimes that wasn't where I wanted to be.

I find the same principle is true in our personal growth and in church growth.  To achieve the best for ourselves we must be intentional about where we want to go and what we want to achieve.  That is where coaching can benefit us the most.  I experienced first-hand the benefit of coaching when I had some decisions to make.  I worked with a coach for most of a year sorting through my options, and with my coach's assistance I was able to make some decisions that I felt honored God and enabled me to move forward with my life.  One of those decisions was to return to school and earn my Doctor of Ministry degree, and I am now planning my oral defense with an expected graduation in May.

Coaching was so instrumental in helping me get unstuck in my own life I determined to coach others who were ready to move forward in their lives as well.  Since being trained as a coach it has been my privilege to coach a number of bivocational and fully-funded ministers.  In fact, my DMin project involved me coaching five bivocational ministers and reporting on how the coaching helped them move forward in their lives.  Each of them were required to report on their experience, and every one of them reported that it was helpful in numerous ways.

If you think having a coach would benefit you to take some intentional actions to help you or your church move forward, please contact me.  My fees are much less than those charged by most life or executive coaches because I see this as part of my ministry.  The initial discussion doesn't cost anything, and it might help you decide whether or not coaching would be right for you.