For the past two days I have had the honor of spending time with Chris Holmes of Holmes Coaching Group during the first part of Coach Approach Skills Training in the National Capital Presbytery. During this time I sat in as a Pastor/Coach. For the past few years I have been working out ho to integrate coaching with the pastoral life. This time of training was not only affirming of this hard work but also my commitment to using coaching in every aspect of my life and ministry.
Watching the students, many of whom I know from other forums, discover how powerful coaching and being a coach can be was a truly awesome experience. Within a few hours I saw a certain amount of skepticism or fear melt away and coaches begin to emerge.
I also found myself in a place where I was challegned to double down on my coaching aspirations. Hearing from other pastors about how they can see the deep possibilities of coaching to transform how they lead makes me want to coach more.
I want to help create a culture of coaching that in many ways was modeled by Jesus himself. More and more I see how those that are trained as a coach often follow the model of Jesus. Jesus was often approached to simply solve a problem or alleviate a burden. More time than we might want to acknowledge, Jesus sought to transform the person through his or her own agency. The account of Jesus and the woman at the well was lifted up as a prime example of how this worked. She came to him with a certain understanding of herself and the world. Jesus helped her redefine those views through the use of imagery, questions, imagination, truth telling and many other coaching core competencies to do this. It’s amazing to me how spiritual coaching actually can be.
I am thankful and honored to have been part of this special time of spiritual, professional and personal development. I also look forward to continuing this journey in the National Capital Presbytery with my new colleagues in coaching.