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Years ago, as a music teacher, I discovered I only had so much time to dedicate to the weekly training of students outside the classroom. Developmental lessons take an enormous amount of time, too much time to help all those who wanted or needed help. I soon discovered there were other ways to share my experience and help students who wanted help.
After limiting the number of full-time students I would allow, I added time for specific, “event-focused” vocal coaching. These lessons were short-term and had a specific goal-usually they helped prepare a student for one specific performance. This was my first experience with vocal coaching.
Vocal coaching and ministry coaching are similar in scope. In areas where you have specific practical knowledge and success, you should consider offering your support as a coach. At times when you are facing new challenges, seeking a seasoned coach is wise. Here is a more in-depth description of Ministry Coaching:
Coaching—A Primer
Looking for a way to get leaders trained for action in the Kingdom? Check out this information about coaching as a means to help people develop and use their gifts.
“Whenever you invest in developing people,
your own workload decreases.”
-Robert Logan, Coaching 101, p. 14.
A coach assists the player in bridging the gap between concept and action, idea and implementation, preparation and practice, theory and thumping. Players have the knowledge and concepts. They can quote the theory and philosophy. Where they need help is getting it to work for them, putting it into practice on the field, making it their own where they are serving. A good coach helps players get from process to performance. Ministerial coaching is providing feedback, a different assessment, another perspective and, when appropriate, a nudge to move someone forward.
In leadership development many terms are used interchangeably. Coach is the latest buzzword in a category that includes mentor, consultant, trainer, counselor, guru, etc. However, coaching, while often using the methodology of these, has a different goal.
Coaching vs. counseling: Counseling tends to delve into the past searching for causes of personal present actions that need to be altered. Coaching tends to focus on the present, the here, the now, and the future as it pertains to professional issues, skill development, and public actions.
Coaching vs. consulting: Consulting addresses organizational issues and targets organizational changes for improvement. Coaching seeks to unleash the potential of the player so the team/organization receives the benefit.
Coaching vs. mentoring: A mentor uses experience in a specific task/career to advise a client. A coach assists players to reach a specific goal from the base of knowledge they have. Mentors suggest. Coaches show. Mentors inform. Coaches inspire. Mentors prompt. Coaches persuade. Mentoring usually means some close friendship has or will develop while coaching can be done almost entirely with a skill-level relationship.
Coaching vs. training: Training is telling the players what to do or think by providing set solutions to problems. Coaching seeks to lead players to compare their present state to their potential as seen by the coach and then convince the players they can reach that potential.
All of these have a place in leadership development. However, for ministerial development the coaching model would seem to be the most useful. It may be the answer for districts where mentoring has not clicked. Coaches can be assigned while mentors require some natural affinity or relationship.
By merit of the office a minister is an influence in the church. The degree of influence most often depends upon the perceived effectiveness of the minister by the congregation. Those who are inadequately prepared try to respond outside their comfort zones but do not know how in their particular context. Many try to compensate by self-improvement. However, while books, conferences, and resources abound, there is often a disconnect between those events and the ministry context. After a few starts and failures the minister gets discouraged and returns to the old rut.
For change and improvement there needs to be someone outside the loop who helps identify the transitions and transformations that need to occur and motivates the player to action.
Coaching is a proactive attempt to unleash potential effectiveness within the minister.
Coaching transcends books and conferences, which often add to a minister’s discouragement and sense of failure.
Coaching helps ministers gain the skills to reach the levels of expectations they were led to believe they could achieve by these venues. Therefore, not only is coaching practical, but it promotes self-esteem and success in the efforts of the minister as well.
This question is a major focal point of ministerial development. Some suggestions are:
New senior pastors and new staff. A new minister who is coached has a better chance of getting acclimated more quickly and is apt to stay longer. Such ministers should be automatic candidates for coaching. If they are new on the district, fresh from university, Bible college, or seminary, or entering the position for the first time, they get a coach. If the minister is taking a first-time position as senior pastor or staff, then it is imperative they have a coach. We all know war stories of rookies who committed career suicide because they lacked skilled input. Even a new pastor on the block with long experience needs orientation. A coach can do that in a short time. It saves frustration, embarrassment, and estrangement.
Ministers whose churches tend to fade at a particular point. Many ministers have a history of being able to bring a church to a certain level but cannot seem to lead to the next. The growth of the church ceases and discontent begins. The minister leaves and repeats the process at another church. A little coaching may help such a minister to perceive the potential within and be able to advance the church as well as maximize personal effectiveness.
First-time situational events. Constructing a new facility, expanding community ministries (day care, school, compassionate ministries, ministry to minorities, etc.), searching for staff, infrastructure reorganization are critical events that will impact the life and ministry of the church. Coaching ministers through such events can give them confidence and add credibility to their ministry.
A church staff needing a jump-start. A staff that has lost the passion for ministry needs to refocus. Bringing in a coach for a staff retreat to help the individual ministers evaluate where they are and where they want to go can be an effective tool to ignite a new enthusiasm in the staff.
A minister whose church has not advanced in the last three years. The minister may work hard, pray often, and preach well, but his or her level of expertise needs to be improved and methodologies upgraded. Most ministers have a deep desire to hone their skills, enhance their leadership abilities, and be more effective. Providing the services of a coach can be the medicine needed to activate knowledge into productivity.
A minister in crisis. A minister facing a personal, congregational, or community crisis needs someone alongside to help. A coach can remain outside the turmoil and give insight and perception not seen by one embroiled in the dilemma. Such a coach can save the minister, the church, and the good name in the community.
— Modular Course of Study, Leadership, p. 65. |
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Vol. 2, No. 18
In This Issue
Coaching—A Primer
• What Coaching Is
• What Coaching Is Not
• Why Coaching?
• Who Needs Coaching?
ISI – a practice of ministry component of the Soul Care ministry of Clergy Development, USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism Department of the Church of the Nazarene. Daniel Copp, director.
Developed and edited by
Dan Whitney and Neil Wiseman
Visit the Clergy Development website
by clicking here.
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