Why Coaching?

By Joel Comiskey, How to be a Great Cell Group Coach

Someone has said you must fail at least three times in cell ministry to get it right. I agree.

One of those failures occurred when I was part of a pastoral team. We decided we needed to do small groups. “Wasn’t everyone doing them?” We identified some mature leaders and sent them out to lead small groups. We offered practically zero oversight and would occasionally hear a report about how they were doing.

All of them failed.

I learned from that failure that coaching is essential to maintain small group momentum.

David Cho, the founder of the largest church in the world, once said that supervisors held the most crucial role in his church. But why?

My good friend, Jim Egli, statistically showed us why when he polled 3000 cell leaders. He writes in Small Groups, Big Impact:

Of all the survey questions, one emerged as the most important. That question asks small group leaders: “My coach or pastor meets with me to personally encourage me as a leader.” Leaders who respond with “often” or “very often” have groups that are stronger in every health and growth measure!

The important question is not: Does a church have coaches? Most churches with a sizeable number of groups do. But very often these individuals are not actively coaching their leaders or groups. Often this is not their fault. They are not coaching because they don’t know how, were never coached themselves, and are not currently being coached in their own ministry as coaches. 

A healthy coaching system requires committed coaches who are trained and actively supported in their coaching.

We might know statistically that coaching/supervision are essential, but the big question is how to implement them.

For October, let’s explore this question. Click here if you’d like to receive these blogs in your email inbox. Here are the themes we’ll cover:

  • October 06-12: Scriptural reasons for coaching: Coaching is present throughout the Bible, specifically with Jethro and Moises, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Barnabas, and the Holy Spirit, who comes alongside believers to “coach” them.   
  • October 13-19: How to coach. Listening and asking questions form the basis of coaching rather than talking and teaching. Small group leaders have needs, and effective coaches listen and ask questions.
  • October 20-26: Caring and friendship. Relational coaching is critical in coaching. Some coaching structures demand fruit, but biblical coaching first comes alongside friendship that builds trust.  
  • October 27 to November 03: Planning to make disciples. The goal of cell ministry is to make disciples who make disciples. Coaches help leaders make disciples by assisting them in seeing potential leaders, ensuring everyone is equipped, and emphasizing reporting. Vision casting is also an essential part of planning. 

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