Who’s Your Coach?
by Rob Campbell
Joel’s post yesterday was a call for willing pastors to have a cell coach. He wrote, “People need more to be truly effective. They need constant practice…Successful implementation happens when leaders are held accountable to put into practice the principles learned.” He quoted Thomas Henry Huxley: “The great end of life is not knowledge but action.” I like that quote. It seems on target.
Let’s build on this challenge by answering the following three questions (Click on ‘Comments’ tab below):
1. Is having a cell coach necessary or is it overrated?
2. If you have a coach, how did you find him/her?
3. What other thoughts/ ideas do you have about coaching?
Michael Sove said,
May 13, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
I believe having a coach is necessary. I am Cell Champion at Allen Memorial in Salisbury Maryland. We are a church of about 600 making the transition to become a cell church. We treasure having someone we can talk with and bounce things off of. We appreciate the positive feedback and the the questions that keep us on track.
We have a coach (Joel Comiskey) and found him through this web page.
I believe coaching at all levels in the cell church is important. I meet my leaders for the purpose of coaching one on one every month. The important thing is to have resasonable spans of care so you can really invest in people.
Iain said,
May 13, 2008 @ 6:16 pm
I like what Michael said about reasonable spans of care. Don’t want to stretch yourself too thin. I wonder how you figure out what a reasonable span is.
Michael Sove said,
May 14, 2008 @ 7:42 am
For a staff pastor I can handle 10-15 but prefer 12 as ideal. For those who are coaching that are not on staff we keep their span 1-3. In our system all staff pastors and coaches lead cells as well. We don’t ever want to lose touch with leading a cell. So even though I coach many of our current leaders I still lead my own cell. So as cells birth out of other cells I try to raise that leader up as the coach of that cell since there is already a relationship between those leaders. I ask that my coaches meet for a monthly one on one with those who are under their care just like I’m doing with them. As far as visiting that cell once a quarter is fine. We see the one on one as the most important link in the chain of care.
Bishop Joseph Kimani said,
May 14, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
Dear brother Rob Campbell,
I believe having Cell”s co-workers coaching is very necessary and should not be underated at all in the ministry.Brother we want you to also visit us in Kenya in July/August 2008 as you go to Uganda I wait for your response.
House(Cells) churches should be stressed so that the believers realize the true discipleship and Eclessia Mission”s truth.Bishop Joseph Kimani
Daniel West said,
May 14, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
When we started our cell church in 2004, the only coach we had was Joel Comiskey’s books! They were very instructive and inspiring, but the presence of an actual coach or team of coaches or mentor was crucial in seeing our cells take off. Its one thing to read theory and testimonies, but quite another to have someone experienced in cell ministry to evaluate your groups and give feedback.
When the Lord blessed us to work with our coach/pastor from Guatemala, we began to multiply the cells. We started the mentoring with 3 cells and in 2 years have grown to 19.
Interpretado en Español
Cuando empezamos nuestra iglesia celular en el 2004, el único que nos sirvió de mentor fue los libros de Joel Comiskey! Nos educaron muy bien y nos inspiraron, pero la presencia de un mentor vivo, o equipo de mentores es crucial en ver un crecimiento contundente. Es una cosa leer la teoría y los testimonios, pero otra cosa completamente tener a un hombre experimentado en el ministerio de células para evaluar sus grupos y darle su opinión.
Cuando el Señor nos bendijo con nuestro mentor/pastor de Guatemala, empezamos a multiplicar las células. Iniciamos con la relación con el mentor con 3 células y en 2 años hemos llegado a tener 19.