Coaching network6.12.11

Editor's Notes

1. “ Church-planter support groups do give every indication they are effective in helping planters plant larger and more successful churches. One denominational study shows that church planters involved in peer support groups lead churches that are larger during the first 4 years of their new church.22 The largest margin is seen in the first year as church planters involved in peer support groups lead churches that are more than twice as large as those who did not participate in peer support groups.23” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
2. Just being prepared and understanding what to expect raises survivability!!!
3. How do you know when a core group has incubated long enough? When ministries and target group match, core values defined, staff is trained, location prepared, etc. Prayer and fasting is an important part of this phase
4. At a Network meeting a few months ago a Pentacostal Church Planter saw this slide and one following and he almost jumped out of his chair. He said, “Pastor, if I had only known this 6 months ago. My church plant collapsed because we had not trained the core team and they were not a good match!!”
5. Failure to initiate such a mechanism will result in weaker churches and a higher rate of attrition. Finally, anyone seeking to plant a church will likewise be unwise to forego a behavioral assessment. A church-planter assessment is well worth the effort because it affirms gifted and called church planters, while saving untold heartache, failure, and embarrassment for those who are not. “ Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer Do you know how to quickly identify a potential church planter? http://humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp ENTJ, ENTP profile The Entrepreneur Spirit/Ability is a prime indicator
6. Membership burnout is caused by not having enough influence over a project and by not seeing enough results. Leaders need to know what is expected of them when they are given assignments. What are the parameters of their authority? Who do they work with? What resources can they expect? What monies can they spend and what are the guidelines to spending it? We have seen Youth Leaders frustrated to the point of quitting because they had to justify spending money in their fund for pizzas at a Youth Event. Or, the Youth Leader had to go to the Finance Cte, then the Church Board to get approval to do a Youth Event. Clear the obstacles for these leaders to work and set them up for success.
7. Acts 11:22,25 Barnabas joins Saul Acts 11:30 Barnabas and Saul Acts 12:25 Barnabas and Saul Acts 13:42 Paul and Barnabas What impact did Barnabas have on Paul and his growth as a disciple?
8. We have observed a very strong and clear pattern of those who are most successful and have the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God. There are spiritual dynamics that are reflections of Christian values that cue us as to how God works. The kingdom of heaven is based on a “Body” principle where Jesus is the Head. We as individual members must work “together as one body”. God has created us to be mutually interdependent. When we work alone or in isolation we simply cannot have as great of an impact as when we work in unison (unity) with other Christians.
9. “ Mentors, supervisors, and coaches have demonstrated that they are invaluable to church planters and church-planting systems. All three of these roles fulfill separate functions in most settings. Mentors tend to focus on church-planter spiritual development. Coaches tend to focus on the strategy and development of the church plant. Supervisors tend to focus on church-planter accountability. All three are important and often occur simultaneously within the mentoring process or even with a single mentor/coach/supervisor. Also, it is not uncommon, and even advisable, for church planters to meet with separate mentors, coaches, or supervisors. There is no set rule regarding the frequency of such meetings. Some church planters meet with mentors and coaches weekly, some monthly, and some less frequently. Church planters benefit from these meetings not only because of their frequency but also because they have regular access to a trained and experienced church planter during their church-planting experience. Church planting is an extremely and often lonely experience that can wear down church planters — especially lone church planters. The opportunity to regularly dialogue about personal and strategic issues provides encouragement, accountability, and expertise. Thus, this important relationship guards the spiritual health of the planter and his church. Mentors, coaches, and supervisors are a necessary resource for most, if not all, church planters.” Equipping Church Planters for Success, By Ed Stetzer
10. “ The International Church of the Foursquare recently discovered that two-thirds of their current planters use a coach during their church-planting experience.15 They explain, “77 percent reported that coaching had ‘some’ to ‘very significant’ impact on their personal effectiveness and productivity, with 54 percent reporting coaching had ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ influence.”16 Equipping Church Planters for Success, By Ed Stetzer
11. Pastor Obidike & Hernon “ The past 20 years have taught us that church planters need direct field support. The rigors of church planting are well documented. Planters need encouragement, strategic and emotional support, as well as accountability. Church planters who receive mentoring, coaching, or supervision gain an important partner for their task. Given the personal effort and potential spiritual fatigue that accompany church planting, a mentor becomes a valuable line of accountability, plumb line for the church’s strategy, and encourager when sailing in deep waters. Church planters are better equipped to face the turbulent and challenging environment of church planting when partnered with those who have already traveled the path of church planting. They possess an ever-ready source for insight, perspective, and perseverance. Sending bodies understand this truth and are making efforts to provide qualified mentors for every church planter. In fact, any church planter would be wise to seek out a mentor, coach, or supervisor, whether his sending body provided one or not.” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
12. Certain factors, when present, correlate with higher baptisms. Over 100 factors were tested and the following were found to be statistically significant: engaging in ministry evangelism (i.e., food banks, shelter, drug/alcohol recovery) starting at least one daughter church within 3 years of the church plant having a proactive stewardship development plan enabling the church to be financially self-sufficient conducting a mid-week children’s program conducting a children’s special event (i.e., Fall Festival, Easter Egg Hunt) sending out mailers for invitation to services and church events conducting a block party as an outreach activity conducting a new member class for new church members conducting leadership training for church members receiving church-planting training in terms of a boot camp or basic training by the church planter working full-time over part-time as the church planter being assessed prior to the beginning of the church plant as the church planter delegating leadership roles to church members.1 Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
13. Your personal, visible support will mean much to a leader you are encouraging to take on a new or larger responsibility. Let them see you at their meetings and events. Talk to them about what they are experiencing. Come along side of them and show them that you are deeply interested in helping them succeed. Your investment of time will be larger at the beginning and will decrease as they gain confidence and experience. After a few months you will be able to pick up a new leader to develop. It is not unreasonable to be able to develop 2-4 leaders a year that are leading large faith ventures. The variables are determined by your time management and leadership skills than any other factor. “ I discovered similar results in a study of one denomination that showed 60 percent of their church planters had a relationship with a mentor during their church-planting experience.17 Furthermore, it is likely that church-planting networks and missional churches possess far higher rates of mentor and coaching use. Such groups tend to be more hands-on and involved with their church planters.” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer “ Mentoring is a growing practice among church planters and shows no sign of slowing down. Mentoring is also enjoying strong results. In one study, church planters who meet with a mentor or coach plant larger and more effective churches than those who do not.18 Church planters with mentors lead churches that are 12 percent larger during the first year, 13 percent during the second year, 16 percent during the third year, and 25 percent during the fourth year.19 Furthermore, the frequency of the mentoring meetings also impacted the success and size of the church plant. Church planters who meet weekly with a mentor lead churches that are 50 percent larger than church planters who only meet monthly or quarterly and are 100 percent larger than those who do not meet with a mentor.20 Statistics for supervisor meetings are even more pronounced indicating that church planters who meet weekly with a supervisor lead churches that are twice as large as those who meet only monthly.21 Without question, mentors, coaches, and supervisors increase the effectiveness of church planters. The more intentional a church planter can be in this area, the better.” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
14. Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
15. “ In 2003, I studied several hundred church planters and discovered that assessed church planters substantially outperformed those who had not been assessed. Assessed church planters led churches with at least a 20 percent higher attendance each year during the first 4 years than planters who were not assessed.8 In year three, churches led by assessed planters were 27 percent larger than their counterparts.9 Assessment is also a strong indicator of evangelistic effectiveness. By the fourth year, assessed church planters average approximately 25 conversions annually, while non-assessed church planters average 12.10” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
16. “ BootCamps ensure that planters address weaknesses in their strategy and make adjustments. Planters have the added benefit of developing strategy while having access to experienced church planters that typically include their field supervisor or mentor. The presence of a mentor enables higher degrees of accountability while planting their church and during other stages of the church-planting system. These experts are responsible to ask hard questions to assist the planter to define vision and approach. Planters leave a BootCamp with a comprehensive, contextualized, and more clearly defined strategy.” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer “ Planters participating in BootCamps or basic training are clearly more effective than those who are not. In one denominational study, those who did not participate in a BootCamp were leading churches that were 23 percent larger at year one than those who did participate in a BootCamp. However, planters who had participated in BootCamps were leading churches that were 30 percent larger by year three and 27 percent larger by year four.14 This statistic emphasized the effectiveness of BootCamps and basic training.” Equipping Church Planters for Success , By Ed Stetzer
17. We have 24 topics (2 Years) A Network Multiplication Program Pastors come in Thursday evening Friday we cover Six Topics Rationale for Lay Led Planting Demographics - Receptive groups in NA to lay planting, multi-ethnic benefits, Anglo options Conference support of lay planters—appreciation banquet, rally, NCD survey, Evangelism funds, pastor’s meetings, Link2lead, coach (meals, mileage?) Navigating model with Conference Structures (size of lay led, support of conference). Support of area pastors for lay plants and planters. Quality control –requirements…consistency of coaching key to non-pastor dependency. Praying for Laborers- Identifying potential leaders- leadership lid Finding a mid-wife (importance of mother churches). Coaching/Network Structure Friday evening – Worship Sabbath morning: Visit to local plants on Sabbath morning…survey to take with them. Sabbath Afternoon: Network Meeting with local Church Planters/Lay Planters Debrief
18. Training (60 minutes) general content: -Biblical foundation -conference role or relationship in particular application. -coaching questions (for active and incubating plants). -evaluation tool or dvd -include pairs, triads, table, group opportunities -resourcing (books, videos, power points). Coaching and Commitment Questions
19. Note: The above format is designed for a network of 8-12 individuals. Every church planter should bring two other leaders from their group. In addition, the pastor/coach for the lay plant should attend. This results in a total of 4 individuals per lay church plant. Larger networks will need to adjust the last three exercises above by dividing into table groups with coaches. Worship should be assigned to a different pastor or conference leader each month (scheduled by network leader). This helps create a unity in the community regarding lay planting. Network training is led by the certified network leader. It is recommended to utilize personal testimonies from lay church plants participating in the network that have been successful or failed in the application of the subject presented.