Coaching for Disciple Making Leaders
Are you finding it difficult to change the culture of your small group ministry from merely assimilating new people to forming disciple making communities? If you find yourself in this predicament you are certainly not alone. 

Written By Gary Reinecke

ICF Master Certified Coach, Resource Designer, Mission Strategist : InFocus

Many churches are seeing relational cracks, lack of focus on making disciples, and intentional leadership development in the foundation of small groups ministries. Gently exposing these flaws is only the first step to  repurposing your small groups to become more fruitful.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Chances are you’ve seen change to discipleship programming attempted but fail to be lasting. The organizational life cycle of even the healthiest churches are prone to create small group systems that establish a life of their own. Over time, if small groups are not engaged in disciple making from the inception, refocusing those groups is extremely challenging. The good news is churches have transitioned from traditional small group ministries to disciple making communities.  

Here are three major pitfalls that cause stunt successful change. These are especially important to avoid when Transitioning Small Groups to Disciple Making Communities.

  1.  Too much change in a short amount of time
  2. Shortage of leaders who really embrace the vision
  3. Lack of preparation 

Tips to avoid pitfalls

If you are considering making this shift in your small group ministry, here are three ways to avoid the pitfalls above:

Tip #1: Reflect on the implications

Think through the implications of transitioning to disciple-making communities. There are real seen and unseen implications that you might not be able to anticipate on your own. Recruit your most engaged people to help you navigate the right way to shift in the new direction you are asking your small group leaders to take. 

Tip #2: Try a pilot and learn

Seasoned leaders tend to experiment with this more often than newer leaders. Notice that I did not say older vs. younger. Experience is the best teacher. There is wisdom in testing an idea before broadly implementing it. A small pilot program is a safe place to learn to recognize pitfalls. 

Tip #3: Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!

Communication with your key leaders and the congregation throughout the process will make the journey more attractive and more fruitful for everyone involved. The most important things to keep in mind are who you need to communicate with and what you need to communicate. The amount of change you are introducing will inform how much to communicate, how to communicate it, and how often it must be communicated.  

Coaching Leaders

Are coaching leaders who are transitioning small groups to disciple making communities? This series of questions will help them assess what needs to be changed and decide on action steps.

  1. Who can you ask to help you assess your current small group ministry?
  2. What is currently working in your small groups?
  3. Where are you seeing resistance to your vision to make disciples through your small groups?
  4. What changes do you need to make?
  5. When is a realistic timeframe to make those changes?

Resources 

Are looking for resources to help you to transition your small groups to disciple making communities? These two resources will help you look at what is involved in the Change Management process.

   

 

Photo by Pedro da Silva on Unsplash

Cover Photo by Mario Purisic on Unsplash

Coaching to Develop Problem Solving Skills

Your clients come to you because they are stuck and need help moving forward. Often, because you are experienced and have the benefit of objectivity, you can pinpoint the problem and have a good idea where the solution lies. It’s tempting just to provide that help, knowing that clients will find it helpful. 

22 Questions to Ask the Mid-Sized Church

On the surface, finances might be healthy, facilities appear sufficient and staff are content. Underneath the veneer however there may be a high level of dissatisfaction – and reason for concern! What strategies do you use when coaching pastors of mid-sized churches? 

6 Strategies for Landing New Clients

You are poised and ready to help people and you are getting a lot of interest in coaching. Now you need to turn those potential clients into contracted clients.

Coaching the Small Church Pastor

There are wonderful things about working with small congregations, but just as with any church, there are potential pit-falls to be aware of from the perspective of a coach.

6 Ways You Can Upgrade Your Coaching Questions

You don’t just want to get your clients talking, you want the conversation to get deep, meaningful, and actionable. Upgrade your coaching questions from good to powerful.

5 Challenges Every House Church Faces

House Churches are becoming more common. Are you ready to coach their leadership toward effective ministry?

When church planters need coaching the most

No one likes feeling stuck. Coaching church planters when they are at critical sticking points helps them move forward with clarity and confidence. 

How to reboot your church board

If you feel like your board is tying your hands from moving forward effectively in ministry—or if your board members feel like you are tying their hands—there’s need for a reboot.

The best investment you can make in your church

It’s not a building or hiring additional staff members. And it’s not coming up with a new program. The best investment you can make in your church is to help develop the innate leadership skills in the people who are already there.

Slow Your Roll and Establish Disciple Making DNA

One of the pitfalls of launching small groups after the corporate gathering is established is that the DNA of disciple making can become secondary rather than primary.  This is a common problem when coaching church planters who, in their compulsion to “go public”, have found themselves relaunching two years later.  You as the church planter coach have influence in this decision.