Category: Rebound

How to Lead a Powerful and Transformative Group Coaching Session for Pastors

Group coaching is an excellent resource for the leadership development of pastors.

“When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.”

Brenda Ueland

Group coaching is a beautiful and powerful way to help coachees learn from others with similar needs and experiences. Jennifer Britton suggests, “This peer learning is often as important as the interaction with the coach. Many clients find coaching in a group puts them “less on the spot,” giving them more time to reflect and integrate their insights.”[1] In this model, coachees receive support from the coach and one another.

What Does the Bible Teach about Group Coaching?

While the Bible never directly speaks to group coaching, it offers significant structure about encouraging and supporting one another. For example, fifty-nine “one another” statements exist in the New Testament. We may do these behaviors out of an overflow of our relationship with Jesus, but other people must be involved to fulfill them. Group coaching provides a perfect setting for obedience to these commands. For instance, Jesus teaches his followers to “love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34, New International Version). This commandment plays out perfectly as group members seek and work toward loving and encouraging one another toward resolutions of problems, healthy relationships, and helpful problem-solving.

Another helpful example of applying the “one-another” statements to group coaching comes to us from Colossians 3:16. As Paul reminds the church that they are, indeed, one body, he calls them to “let the message of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom…” (Colossians 3:16, New International Version). Pastors, as church leaders, are still part of the body of Christ. Unfortunately, they are not often the recipients of teaching and admonishment. Group coaching allows these leaders to let down their guard and receive support, education, and counsel from colleagues experiencing similar roadblocks in ministry. The group coaches and cheers one another to God’s best.

What Is Group Coaching?

Group coaching occurs when a coach takes a group of individuals through a coaching journey together to achieve a desired outcome. There is a specific energy and group wisdom in group coaching compared to one-on-one sessions. This energy and wisdom can rapidly help group members achieve their goals. The group becomes a shared learning space where the members can learn from one another. To be clear, coaching groups is not just about getting a bunch of people together and then coaching them for 5 minutes each until everyone has had a turn. Instead, it is the delicate balance of allowing each member to achieve their resolution and providing an overarching direction for the group.

What Are the Benefits of Group Coaching?

The Evercoach organization reminds us that “coaching groups are about more than the act of coaching and being coached. It’s about the connection, communication, and community that comes from not just you interacting with your clients, but group members interacting with each other.”[2] This is the sweet spot. Evercoach suggests that some of the benefits of the group coaching model include the following.[3]

1. Problem-Solving. When group members get together to work on an issue that concerns all of them, the solution will be better because of the multiple viewpoints and perspectives in the room.

2. Higher Engagement. More people interacting with each other will lead to more positive engagement for the group members and more positive results for them from the coaching sessions.

3. Constant Improvement. Group coaching leads to overall improvement for all the group members over time, as the members will be helping each other achieve their goals and collectively work together.

Becoming a Powerful and Transformative Group Coach

A powerful and transformative group coach must employ a model focused on steering every session in the right direction. One of the first skills a group coach needs is setting group goals. A good group coach sits down with the clients and helps them identify and develop their plans, individually and as a group. This promotes a collaborative effort within the group to work together towards their goals with a clear picture in their minds. Secondly, a powerful and transformative group coach facilitates communication. In every group, there are multiple people with very different personalities. A good group coach finds a way to make everyone comfortable enough to open up and communicate. Finally, the group coaching sessions’ main goal is for the group members to grow and work together. So, it is essential that the group coach improves relationships within the group and promotes the best environment possible.

How To Lead Powerful and Transformative Group Coaching Sessions

Group Coaching has five key characteristics that bring the group together and move them forward. First, the group comes together around a shared problem. In my personal experience facilitating group coaching with pastors, their shared problem was a lack of leadership development. The group came together to explore and receive coaching around resolving their need. Each coaching session revolved around a specific ministry problem whose resolution increased the leadership capacity of each group member. Secondly, to solve a problem, group coaching encourages members to ask powerful questions. Powerful coaches help promote a culture of introspection and clear reasoning by asking questions. Thirdly, the coach must teach the group to think of solutions themselves and take action. As each member in the group grows and learns, this benefits the entire group as they collaborate in their effort. They can then apply these learnings outside the group coaching sessions, and continue their growth. Through all of this, the coach assumes a secondary position in the group. While they have a crucial role in ensuring everything goes smoothly, the coach eventually transfers the responsibility to the group so the members can learn to trust themselves.

In an efficient way, here’s how I have used this process in my group coaching experience. The group comes together around a specific teaching topic at the designated time. For example, one of the best topics for coaching pastors revolves around self-care. This area is often a large gap for clergy. At the beginning of the session, this theme was announced, and teaching occurred, offering suggestions for prioritizing the coachee’s needs in ministry. Following the learning, the coachees were asked to clearly define what they wrestle with regarding self-care. After clearly defining the problem, the group was asked to reflect upon their current reality. How is this problem affecting their ministry, family, or self? What obstacles keep them from fully realizing the life and experience they want? Finally, the group worked to develop a roadmap toward achieving their preferred future. Amid all this reflection and conversation, group members listened to, commiserated with, and offered solutions to help one another grow beyond the obstacles to fulfilling their best life. While all this was happening, the coach kept the group on track through all the essential steps.

Final Thoughts

Group coaching is an excellent resource for the leadership development of pastors. The process provides collegiality, shared wisdom, helpful accountability, and the fulfillment of the biblical admonishment to care for one another. Key to the whole process, however, is the willingness of the coach to take a secondary role. They do not make transformation happen. Coaches guide the group, trust the process, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to and among the participants masterfully.

[1] Jennifer Britton, “What is Group Coaching,” The Coaching Tools Company, July 18, 2022, https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/group-coaching-the-what-and-why-guest-author-jennifer-britton/#:~:text=1%29%20Lead%20from%20your%20core%20coaching%20skills%20Group,focusing%20on%20action%20and%20awareness%20along%20with%20accountability.

[2] “A Beginners Guide to Group Coaching,” Evercoach, last modified 2023,  https://www.evercoach.com/coaching-guides/group-coaching/#Chapter1.

[3] Ibid.

Four Steps for Creating a Powerful Coaching Ministry to Pastors

When it comes to providing consistent leadership development, coaching has significant benefits.

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” George Eliot

Leadership can be a lonely experience. Churches count on pastors to cast vision, preach, lead effectively, and care for membership. Often these same pastors, by circumstances or choice, don’t have others with whom they can relate. When they feel stuck or have a problem, they don’t have anyone outside their church to turn to for advice. For many, a great option is coaching.

When it comes to providing consistent leadership development, coaching has significant benefits. Effective coaching will…

Push you out of your comfort zone

Assist you in creating a ministry plan

Help you overcome obstacles

Help you achieve life/ministry balance

Your vision of creating a coaching ministry for pastors that accomplishes these outcomes will require a plan. But a clear picture will always precede the plan. I began with this specific plan when I developed a coaching ministry for pastors in my region. It may help you.

The vision for this ministry is to develop confident, equipped, and supported supply pastors who can effectively serve in leadership ministry in the local church.

This vision was inspired. The need for coaching to develop confident, equipped, and supported supply pastors originated from several sources. First, the personal pleas from Franklin District supply pastors. Secondly, the dissatisfaction of the District Superintendent in the appointment-making process. And third, the inadequacy of the already established training and development process. Pastors want help. They want to change; they want to see results. Supply pastors want to be successful in ministry, not placeholders. Coaching can accomplish this, but it must be developed efficiently. Starting a coaching ministry that achieves such a vision can be exciting, rewarding, and daunting. Here are four steps to help you get started.

Step 1: Establish Your Goals

Before you begin, defining the goals you’d like to achieve with your coaching ministry is essential. Once you clearly understand what you’d like to accomplish, you can start designing the program accordingly. I would suggest that your goals include helping pastors navigate four core aspects of ministry.

  1. Coach pastors to continually develop their relationship with God. This will include not only devotional time but self-care and Sabbath.
  2. Administrative responsibilities. Depending upon your ecclesiastical structure, there are different expectations about paperwork, meetings, and denominational responsibilities.
  3. Pastoral Care. Not every church member is alike. Coaching pastoral care helps develop confidence and skill in working with various church members.
  4. Preaching/Worship Ministry. While preparing for coaching supply pastors, I discovered they lacked the knowledge and ability to plan worship over extended periods. Before becoming supply pastors, these coachees only preached occasionally throughout the year. They were never required to prepare weekly or special services like Christmas and Easter. The goal of this coaching ministry quickly became resourcing the supply pastors with practical tools.

Step 2: Develop Your Program

The program you design should be tailored to the needs of your group. Consider the group’s makeup, its strengths and weaknesses, and the goals you’ve established. This is also the time to determine the program’s length and the sessions’ frequency.

Upon creating a ministry development plan, I, along with the advice of the district superintendent, chose to develop a coaching ministry that was informal, relational, and short-term. Since this ministry was new, we wanted to test a less rigid format tailored to the supply pastors’ needs over six months. We met in a group setting once each month for one and one-half hours. The session was divided into two parts: a thirty-minute teaching time covering an aspect of the core mentioned above ministries, and sixty minutes of guided, group coaching highlighting a challenge they were currently facing in the core ministry.  

During each session, John Whitmore’s GROW model was implemented. This model is one of four popular models employed by coaches. Any chosen model is how the coach engages the coachees. The Coach Foundation website suggests that “when you select a coaching model, you will be able to visualize ‘how’ you can help your client to achieve their goals. Every unique coaching model carries the advantage of having a precise, well-defined method that you can use to create change for your clients.”[1] The GROW Coaching Model is the most popular and well-known model of coaching. This model’s approach is in its name.

G – Goals

R – Reality

O – Options

W – Will

Here is how this model works during a coaching session. The first movement is to establish the coachee’s goal. What do they want to achieve? At this stage, it is crucial to work with the coachee until they are crystal clear on their outcomes. When they are clear, they will know what they will need to work on and the results they may be able to expect. Secondly, the coachee must take stock of the current reality of their problem. By assessing the truth of the situation, they can see where they have been in the journey and what potential next steps might entail. Thirdly, once they have identified their current reality, they can now understand all the options they have for moving toward their desired future. Sometimes, another variation of this step is to identify ‘obstacles’ blocking their path forward. Finally, the coachee will consider viable next steps. This step is the most obvious! ‘What WILL you do now?’. The main idea at this step is to help the coachee understand how to move forward from their current Reality and toward their Goals while keeping their Options or Obstacles in mind.

Step 3: Choose the Right Coaches

Once you have your program in place, it’s time to select the right coaches. Look for people who have experience in the areas you are trying to focus on, as well as an understanding of the group’s needs. The right coaches will be able to help your team reach its goals. If you are developing a coaching ministry to develop the leadership capacity of pastors, you will recruit experienced pastors who have received appropriate coach training. The best scenario is that the pastor/coach is certified by an accredited International Coaching Federation training organization. If that is not possible, resources such as Keith Webb’s The Coach Model and Robert Logan’s Coaching 101 are influential texts for training.

Step 4: Prepare Your Participants

Before the sessions begin, prepare your participants. For many, coaching remains a new discipline and needs to be more understood. Webb, for example, reminds us that “there’s a lot of confusion about what exactly coaching is and how to effectively coach. Coaching is an unregulated field. Anyone can, and many do, call themselves a coach.”[2] Provide them with an overview of the program, expectations, and the goals they should strive to achieve. Be sure also to discuss the coach’s role and the importance of their input. It will also be helpful to model a coaching session with your group so they can see what to expect.

Final Thoughts

Starting a coaching ministry can be a great way to help pastors develop as leaders and reach their goals.  Furthermore, leaders need the best resources and development with the changing landscape of church life and ministry in the twenty-first century.  Coaching is an investment in pastors that can produce a win-win scenario through its positive ripple effect that leads to healthier leaders and churches. With the proper preparation, you can ensure everyone receives the most benefit possible.

[1] Sai Blackbyrn, “4 Proven Coaching Models You Should Know,” Coach Foundation, 2023, https://coachfoundation.com/blog/4-different-coaching-model/#type-of-coaching-model-grow.

[2] Michael Webb, The Coach Model, 12.

Who Gave You Permission?

Core values are your fixed position. The consistent and reliable way you respond time after time. They are your north star. Whether you are aware of them or not, core values will always show up in your actions and decisions.

You need a line in the sand.

When I was younger and starting a career I didn’t have a line in the sand. I was too busy trying to impress my boss, my co-workers, and the people I served. I would do whatever they wanted. My mission was squashed day after day. I was miserable. I felt like I couldn’t say “no.” And I really couldn’t. I didn’t know what I stood for.

I didn’t know my line in the sand.

One of my favorite presidents and historical leaders is John Adams. He was the philosopher and idea man behind the American Revolution. After becoming the second president of the United States, Adams revealed the values he used as guiderails. He wrote, “I must study politics and war, so my sons may have liberty to study painting and poetry, mathematics and philosophy.” Adams knew why he did what he did. He was grounded in his daily decisions. When his back was against the wall he knew the response he would make time and time again.

You and I need lines in the sand. Core values are lines in the sand.

Core values are your fixed position. The consistent and reliable way you respond time after time. They are your north star. Whether you are aware of them or not, core values will always show up in your actions and decisions.

When I got serious about my mission, I knew I needed to discern my values. Here’s what flowed out of me.

I value…

Excellence

Self-improvement

Truth

Optimism

These are the values which guide my decisions and actions – no matter what. These show me when to say “yes” and more importantly, when to say ”no.”

You might be asking, how do I discern my values?

Make a list

Here’s the way to start. Find a comfortable place, get a note pad, and start writing words that you believe describe you. Some words might be “courageous, stubborn, helpful, loving, compassionate, driven, faith, excellence, commitment…”

Spend time with this and write what comes to mind. You may even want to think about positive words others have used to describe you.

Choose 3-5 Words

Once you have your list, go back and highlight three to five words that resonate deeply with you. These are words that warm your heart and put fire in your belly.

Only choose three to five words. These are characteristics and habits that you will live by when your back is against the wall.

Will they last?

These values will need to be your line in the sand. You’ve got to ask yourself, “Will these things I’ve chosen to guide my decisions last when it gets hard? Or will I respond oppositely?”

If your core values don’t work when you have to make a hard decision they’re not values, they’re wishes.

You’ll know if your values are right the first time you need to say “no” to someone.

Have fun with this exercise. I’m here to help. Let me work with you as you get a clear handle on your life mission and core values. Schedule a free 30 minute consultation with me.