by Jeff Tunnell
www.bigbearchristiancenter.org
I followed Rob’s direction from yesterday and enjoyed the dialogue and exchange in response to Joel’s Blog “Starting Over”. Now I am curious concerning the coaching and overall cell structure mentioned there. And Randall Neighbor’s comments about “coach laziness or cluelessness” lit a fire in me to pursue all of you blog readers to tell us what your coaching arrangements are. What is “required” of the coaches in your cell church (supervisors, district overseers, or whatever title you apply here)? What is their regular “practice” in helping the cells they oversee? How do these requirements and practices “benefit” the cells? Are they required to report to the Cell church pastor, and if so, how and how often? Jay Firebaugh says “The Coach is the Key”; how is this true for you?
Strategic question: ‘What is “required†of the coaches …? What is their regular “practice†in helping the cells they oversee?’ (Some say ‘mentor’, others ‘coach’.)
Where new cells are being organised too rapidly for staff members to provide most of the coaching, new apprentice leaders empowered to train newer ones, in turn, require a model that works for them. Based on Jesus’ practice of instructing before sending, then listening upon workers’ return, we recommend :-
1. Keep the coaching session small. You must take time to help each apprentice.
2. Model shepherding skills. Work in a way that is easy to imitate.
3. Listen to each apprentice’s report. Each apprenticemust report on what he and his cell have done since your last session, and on what are the needs of his cell.
4. Help each apprentice to plan activities. Write down what he and his flock will do to meet their needs. (Develop activities that the New Testament requires and are still lacking or are weak. Avoid spending much time on problems. Aim in every mentoring meeting to add something new that builds up the new cell.)
5. Ask apprentices to tell to you what they read. What did they learn from the reading assigned last time?
6. Assign new reading. Look carefully over the list of available studies and choose ones that fit each apprentice’s plans. The apprentices will not all study the same thing.
7. Pray for each other. Pray for guidance and power, and for those whom you are serving.
There is some free stuff you can modify for your needs at http://paul-timothy.net/menu_15.html
We try to have this setting
1. Coaching one on one once a month minimum
2. Coaching with the wife (each second month). It is amazing how things lookd different with the eyes of the wife.
3. We try to cover the 3 areas : to be, to do and to know. That includes personal life (time wiht God, personal problems, marital problems and family problems.
4. There is also a meeting once a month with the G12.3
Difficulties : not enough time to see how things really function in the cells. We have to find a way.
Coaches follow the following…..
#1 Weekly contact
#2 Monthly One on One
#3 Occasional Social / Ministry time
#4 Annual Banquet
Coaching is all about relationship with refridgerator rights. So we focus on the one on ones. We focus on personal growth, before ministy growth.