How to be a Great Cell Group Coach

marioby Mario Vega

Defining the role of a coach is something that took Elim, our church, several years. Although we have had coaches since our model began, it was thought that their main function was to ensure that every leader would reach their growth goals. Additionally, each coach would make his or her own additional rules, according to the needs in the district.

For several years I tried to find a proper formulation of the coach’s responsibilities. I read several books and manuals but could not find anything that met our needs. On one occasion one of our district pastors even suggested to eliminate the coach’s role and simply turn everyone into a leader. Then I read Joel Comiskey’s book “How to be a Great Cell Group Coach.” In that book, Joel presents seven habits of effective coaches: receive/prayer, listen, encourage, care for, develop and train, plot strategies and challenge.

When reading the book I could finally clearly understand the key role of the coach. Joel himself summarizes the work of a coach as to “serve the leader and ensure that he/she is healthy.” Joel’s book seemed to me so appropriate and practical that in our recent internal conference on church growth, I taught the seven habits to our leaders and coaches.

It was a very rewarding experience for everyone. He set the benchmarks that should guide the work of our coaches in the future. Unfortunately, the Spanish edition of the book is out of print, but I believe the English version is available. I strongly recommend reading the book. It will solve your many problems and will help you fill many gaps.

Comments?

Mario

translation into Spanish:

Cómo ser un excelente supervisor.

Definir la función de un supervisor es algo que tomó a nuestra iglesia Elim varios años. Aunque hemos tenido supervisores desde que nuestro modelo comenzó, se pensaba que su función principal era la de velar porque cada lder alcanzara las metas de crecimiento. Adicionalmente, cada quien imprima elementos extras como responsabilidades del supervisor.

Por varios años traté de encontrar una formulación adecuada de las responsabilidades de un supervisor. Le varios libros y manuales pero no puede encontrar algo que respondiera a nuestras necesidades. En una ocasión uno de nuestros pastores de distrito incluso sugirió eliminar la función de supervisor argumentando que seran más útiles como lderes. Hasta que llegó el momento en que conoc el libro de Joel Comiskey ‘Cómo ser un excelente asesor de grupos familiares’. En ese libro Joel presenta siete hábitos del supervisor: Reciba, escuche, anime, cuide, desarrolle y entrene, trace estrategias y desafe.

Al leer el libro pude, finalmente, comprender con claridad el papel clave del supervisor. El mismo Joel resume la tarea de un supervisor como ‘servir al lder y asegurar que se encuentre saludable.’ El libro de Joel me pareció tan adecuado y práctico que en nuestra reciente conferencia interna de crecimiento de la iglesia, enseñé los siete hábitos a nuestros lderes y supervisores.

Para todos fue una experiencia muy gratificante. Colocó los puntos de referencia que han de guiar la labor de nuestros supervisores en el futuro. Lastimosamente, la edición en español del libro se encuentra agotada, pero supongo estará disponible la versión en inglés. Recomiendo encarecidamente la lectura del libro. Le resolverá muchos problemas y le ayudará a llenar muchos vacos.

1 thought on “How to be a Great Cell Group Coach

  • I want to thank Mario for helping so many of us SETTLE this issue. I believe that taking this blog post to heart and making the 7 points in “How to be a Great Cell Group Coach” our central focus for coaching will keep us from experimenting with everything available and getting poor results.

    Our coaches discussed this yesterday and decided to follow Mario Vega’s lead and sharpen our coaching approach. Thanks Pastor!

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