When we mentioned that H2H is now offering coaching, we got a variety of replies: some positive, some not, and some that indicated we should clarify what coaching is. I’ve asked John White, H2H board member and coach extraordinaire to give us a hand with this. ~ Paul
Coaching and Mentoring Both of these skills are vitally important in the world of organic church. They are similar in that they both help people and groups grow and mature. But, they are different in the way accomplish that goal.
Tony Stoltzfus in Leadership Coaching (AffLnk) helps us understand the difference between these two words. “A mentor is a more senior individual who imparts what God has given (wisdom, opportunities, and counsel) to a more junior person.” Mentoring is more about pouring into someone. Mentoring involves more telling and teaching. Mentoring is more appropriate for someone who is just starting out in the learning process.
Stoltzfus suggests that a coach, on the other hand, “draws out the abilities God has put in someone”. Coaching is more about asking important questions and listening deeply. Coaching is helping people learn instead of teaching them. Coaching is more appropriate for someone who is farther along in the learning process and is critical for reaching maturity. In mentoring, the person is seen more as a bucket into which wisdom is poured. In coaching, the person is seen more as an acorn full of potential which must be drawn out.
Both mentoring and coaching are necessary. Determining where someone is on the journey will determine which skill is emphasized. Quite often in the past, mentoring alone has been emphasized in the world of traditional church. In the world of organic church, it will be critical that all of us have people in our lives who can both mentor and coach us depending on where we are on the journey.
Here’s a great paragraph on coaching from Tony Stoltzfus in Leadership Coaching. “In our generation, a seismic change is occurring in the way that leaders are trained and developed. The way we lead and the way we learn to lead is already quite different than it was a few decades ago. Top-down systems are giving way to team models that empower many more people to lead, and in a much wider variety of roles. This shift toward teamwork and empowerment puts a premium on having great interpersonal skills. Much more than in the past, ministry leadership means influencing and empowering rather than ordering – working together with others, instead of telling them what to do or simply doing the work yourself. In short, to be an effective leader means being a coach.” p. vii.
Why pay for Coaching? Jesus gives us the principle in Lk. 10:7. “The laborer is worthy of (or deserves) his wages.” Paul gives his commentary on this principle in quite a lot of detail in 1 Cor. 9:4-14. Verse eleven seems particularly important. To paraphrase: “If we have invested spiritually in you, it is appropriate for you to invest materially (or financially) in our ministry.”
Of course, in practice, all of us frequently invest spiritually in one another without any financial consideration. However, at times, the Body may decide that it is of special value to the Kingdom that an individual be financially supported so that they can invest more of their time in a particular ministry. That is exactly what the Board of House2House Ministries has done with Katie Driver. The Board believes that it would be of value for the Kingdom for Katie to be released from earning money through ordinary means and that her “wages” be provided through her coaching ministry.
For more information on organic church coaching, see here. A few other bits before I call it an e-letter.
- Our friends at CMA have announced “Lifetime Permission” to adapt their Life Transformation Group Cards. The LTG cards are a great resource, and being able to customize them makes them that much better. Information here.
- Maurice Smith recently published An Open Letter To The Christian Community of Vanderbilt University – a good and timely read.
- We are working on locations for regional Momentum conferences this Labor Day. Based on your requests these will be smaller, much more interactive, and much less expensive. Details and registration in the next few weeks.
- We are still looking for more micro-donors, and for house churches to support H2H as a group. More information here. We now offer Razoo as well as PayPal for making donations. Razoo is easy for you and costs us less.
Over my limit already!
For the House2House team,
Paul H. Byerly
The House2House book store is a part of Amazon – giving you the best prices and shipping possible.
The Inextinguishable Blaze: God’s Call To Holiness, Repentance, Intimacy and Spiritual Awakening
by R Maurice Smith
The Church of the early 21st Century needs something that only God can give. He has done it in the past, and He can do it again. But it will not come by means of any program, activity or act of self-effort. It is a sovereign act of God in response to and in fulfillment of the heart-cry found In Isaiah 64:1, “Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down”. The Church of our generation desperately needs a divine visitation, a burning coal fresh from God’s altar that turns smart Christians into flaming radicals – carriers of that “inextinguishable blaze” which, throughout the history of the Church, has set the world on fire for Christ. In this book, organic church advocate and revival historian Maurice Smith argues that God is preparing His Church for a season of spiritual awakening by calling out “Children of the Burning Heart” who will seek Him in genuine holiness and fear, personal repentance and renewed intimacy with Him. Are you one of them? This book is your call to become a carrier of “The Inextinguishable Blaze”.
by Tim Kurtz
No Longer Church As Usual breaks down the historical first century church model of gathering and fellowship and makes it plain. For those who truly want God’s best, after reading this book you will see how far away the Church as a whole- has drifted from God’s best.
While others just write about Simple/House Church and theorize new concepts on how Simple Churches should gather, Tim Kurtz, author of No Longer Church As Usual, is living Simple/House Church daily.
Tim Kurtz brings a unique perspective to Simple/House Church. It is a perspective that not only needs to be read but heard, in order to bring truth to a 2010, Barna Group study stating that, “blacks make up three-tenths (30%) of its house church attenders.” I’m just saying…
This book is a clear and compelling confirmation to me that the 21st century church model is a train wreck. But wait! No Longer Church As Usual has come with a Godly directive to not only help clean up the wreckage, but to also help repair the tracks. ~ Frederick L. Anderson, Author of: Clever Lies and Assumptions
Viral Jesus: Recovering the contagious power of the Gospelby Ross Rhode
By returning to what we once had…
We can recover what we once enjoyed.
In the early centuries Christianity was an explosive, viral movement that spread by word of mouth. Persecution could not stop it. In fact, it often helped to spread it.
But today, the gospel is no longer spreading like wildfire throughout the Western world. Slowly, Christianity has morphed into something much different…a stable institutionalized religion that no longer grips us with the excitement and spirituality of the early years.
Ross Rohde believes that this excitement and passion can be recaptured. In Viral Jesus he uses examples from the Bible and today to explore how we can return to our roots and once again enjoy the excitement, simple spirituality, and explosive growth of early Christianity.
House2House
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Clayton, WA 99110-0229
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