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This week, my wife, Marty, and I had the honor of attending a church planter's retreat sponsored by the Converge Northwest District and held at the beautiful Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center on the rugged Pacific coast in northern Oregon. Read on to discover just a small amount of what was seen and heard at that relaxed gathering. Maybe you and your church can learn from my observations.
Every church pastor and leader needs to frequently ask and answer three big questions of their churches. The big three are no strangers, for you might even have preached on one or more of them recently. These questions rise up from the pages of Scripture like giant pillars of polished granite truth for the church and all followers of Jesus. They are applications of Matthew 22:34-40 and Matthew 28:18-20. Let me share the questions with you so you can apply your answers.
I will never forget an initial coaching session over the phone with an ethnic pastor. I was born and raised in the US and he was born and raised in a Middle-eastern location where Christians are frequently persecuted. I had known him for about a year and wanted to establish a coaching relationship to help him in his ministry. The purpose of my first coaching call to him was to establish a relationship with him as his coach. I also wanted to explain what our coaching conversations would be all about. After our conversation, it dawned on me that sometimes, coaching ministry leaders will not work, at least initially. My story and commentary may help you understand more about when coaching may not work.
When coaching someone, there is power in using a "what if" question. In this blog, I want to encourage you to use the "what if" question as you coach others and seek to help them assist others to come up with solutions to the problems they might face in life, leadership, and ministry. Read on to discover more about using this helpful "tool."
Have you ever been to a business meeting and after 20 minutes wondered why you are even there? Are others who are there thinking the same thing. If your answer to these questions is yes, then you need some help. The following suggestions can increase the meeting's effectiveness.
I struggle with preaching. Like any challenge in ministry, some good coaching can help. This coaching can be self-coaching. Better yet, ask someone who knows preachers and preaching to coach you if this is a challenge for you. Since effective coaching involves asking good coaching questions, here are some to ask yourself or someone you are coaching.
Candidating for a new ministry as a lead pastor can be exciting and rewarding. But it can also be challenging. If God is leading you to leave your present situation and candidate, you will want to go prepared. One of the ways of doing that is to prepare a list of questions for when you are at the church. They are more for yourself than to be published for the church leadership. Read on for an introduction to some suggested questions. This is Part 2 of a two-part blog.
Candidating for a new ministry as a lead pastor can be exciting and rewarding. But it can also be challenging. If God is leading you to leave your present situation and candidate, you will want to go prepared. One of the ways of doing that is to prepare a list of questions for when you are at the church. They are more for yourself than to be published for the church leadership. Read on for an introduction to some suggested questions. This will be a two-part blog.
I've spent many years coaching and consulting churches and pastors and have heard many questions. However, there are questions I have seldom if ever heard. Here are some for pastors and leaders that you might consider asking when you have the opportunity.
This evening I received in my inbox an evaluation to fill out for my local gym. I try to go to this local workout hangout three times a week, at least thatâ°°s my goal. Unlike many surveys of such kind, I chose to let the gym know of my experiences this time. As I reflect on this opportunity, it made me wonder why local churches donâ°°t do that for those who visit or attend. My reflections turned into a blog, so here goes.
Coaching can be a very helpful and effective tool for leadership development in your church or ministry organization. Here are some helpful coaching questions you can use in your ministry.