How it Works
Coaching-as-Ministry is a collective of people as well as a way of “getting somewhere” in life. It is first and foremost a relationship, between a guide and a person being guided, with the understanding that guidance - like gifting - is a two-way street.
The role of the guide - or coach - is to walk alongside the person being guided as they make their way from the life they’ve been living to a more purposeful life. ‘Walking alongside’ might include listening, encouraging, being understanding, offering guidance or direction from the coach’s own perspective and experience, asking questions to elicit clarity or insight, and pointing to what the person can’t see for themselves.
The methodology of coaching - identifying an outcome, or destination, and taking steps to realize it - is invaluable in ministerial coaching, both in service of achieving a result and more importantly, perhaps, in service of getting to know ourselves and what we were uniquely made for. Regardless of whether or not we arrive at the original intended destination, the aim is to discover who and what we were made for along the way. From that place - of being and doing what we were made for - results will happen in our lives, which may closely resemble the original intended outcome, or may look very different. But, either way, they will be good!
Faith is fundamental to Coaching as Ministry. Connection to and relationship with Divine - on the part of both the guide and the person being guided - inspires the coaching conversation, from which springs forth ideas for material outcomes, and the means through which to achieve them.