At Journey, this November means two great occasions:

1. Thanksgiving: the opportunity to reflect on the blessings of God in our lives and thank Him. 

As we like to say at Journey, we thank God for the grace He gives us directly and indirectly:  grace direct from His heart to us; grace given by Him to us through others. Direct and indirect, we have so much to be thankful for:  eternal life, abundant life, precious promises, and people. 

2.  Journey’s Fifth Anniversary:  It was five years ago this month that we officially launched Journey Pastoral Coaching.  Beginning as a heartbeat of possibility, confirmed by faithful brothers in the Lord who echoed God’s voice, we stepped out by faith and received our first Journey members in November 2014. In just a moment, by way of celebrating this significant anniversary, we want you to read what ten current Journey members have to say about their membership in this coaching community – why they are thankful for Journey. 

And so, five years into Journey’s life, we pause to thank God for all He has done in us and through us in this coaching community where each one invests in everyone.

Before Journey Members Share Their Thoughts About JPC, Here Are Just a Few of The Highlights of Our First Five:

1. 6000+ coaching hours

And that’s just for the Journey coach.  We have no way of knowing the number of hours Journey members have invested in each other through peer coaching.  And we have no way of counting all of the hours in “off-book” calls, face-to-face meetings, and Journey retreats. 

2.  Our members

Members include college campus pastors, a missionary to New England HS campuses, lead pastors, staff pastors, missionaries in sensitive nations, church planters in Europe, Christian counselors, pastoral coaches, missions directors, education, bi-vocational ministers, missional ministers, regional ministry directors, rescue and redeem ministers. And again, we can’t say enough about the great chemistry between all of our members.

3.  Peer Coaching

Every month, every JPC member talks with at least one other member in what we call “Emmaus Calls.” Jesus is always faithful to join their journeys, enter their conversations, and reveal Himself to them as they coach one another as peers.  

4.  Resourcing

Journey members share resources of all kinds with each other – books, podcasts, blogs, apps, conferences, exams, etc.  We’ve created a virtual library of unlimited and unbelievable resources. 

5.  Research

Journey members – and we often appeal to non-members – help with monthly research on issues of concern to U40 ministers and the church.  The knowledge gleaned is invaluable. Many of our blogs are based on this research – see the Journey website blog archives (they’re searchable; just plug in a keyword).

6.  The Journey Cohort

Through the Journey Cohort, we train Journey members on how to coach others. The future of leadership is coaching – less vertical, more horizontal; less dictating, more influencing. Cohort members are ready and growing ever more prepared to be effective ministers wherever they serve.

7.  Coaching Multiplication

Many Journey members are now coaching others, not just within Journey, but in their own places of service across the country and overseas.

8.  Consulting

Journey offers consulting to pastors, churches, groups of leaders, states, and cross-denominational ministries on implementing a Journey coaching model where they serve.

9.  Impact    

The impact of Journey members. Traditional and non-traditional ministries. Missional ministries and church ministries. Cutting edge national podcasts and blogs. Music and curriculum development. Authoring books.  

10.  Traveling Ministry

As busy as we are, we continue to travel the US in ministry – Sunday services, retreats, conferences, etc. There’s nothing like meeting people and sharing God’s Word. Everywhere we go, people always respond so wonderfully to our ministry and to the idea and practice of coaching.

Members Share Their Thoughts . . .

Here’s what several of our members have to say about Journey on the occasion of our fifth anniversary:

“Journey brought me out of the island I was on. It wasn’t that I knew I wasn’t alone; it was the fact I knew I didn’t have to be. Journey has brought me joy and pain, struggle and triumphs all with men and women of God who genuinely want to be there for you and need you there for them. I’m so blessed to be a part of this family.”

“Words can’t describe the importance that Journey plays for young ministers. I was in a trying time in ministry (feeling pressure/loneliness/frustration). Having read many Journey blogs, I sent a message about joining. It has been incredible to join and share in community with other ministers in the same boat; to offer prayer and support. It’s great to be able to bounce ideas off of one another as well so that we can all be better minister the gospel right where we are.”

“As someone with a calling to ministry, a bible college education, and no clue about where to start, the ministry of Journey Pastoral Coaching has been invaluable to me. Journey is a great community to be a part of and has been so encouraging to me both professionally and personally. It has certainly had a positive impact on my life and ministry.”

“I stumbled on Journey about two years ago in a troubling time in my life. Desperate for any lifeline, I reached out to Journey for help.  I have received so much more than just help, Journey has blessed me with a community in which I can invest in other pastors and be invested in by them. I have now spent countless hours chatting with other members who have encouraged me in my faith and have helped me grow in Christ.  Finally, no words can express the value I have found in my bi-weekly calls with P. Baker.  With his voice comes encouragement, refreshment, and the power that can only come from the Holy Spirit working through him. I am truly thankful for the ministry of Journey.”

“With Journey’s help, this past year has been a year of enjoying and understanding God’s freedom and grace. It’s truly been a year of BEING the follower God’s called me to be instead of DOING what I thought I HAD to be doing. When I started Journey, it was about what could I get. Now it’s about what can I give.”

“Pastor Baker, what an honor it is to celebrate JPC’s 5th Anniversary with you and with every other member of this amazing network of ministry leaders! From Day 1, I knew I would be challenged and changed, inspired, and informed by my interactions with you as my pastoral coach. That has proven true in more ways than I can count. What I did not expect was how much the same pattern of growth would take place in me, by way of the peer-to-peer networking you have built into the culture of Journey Pastoral Coaching. We all do this life of ministry together—and we are truly better together! Praise God for the Journey! We’re just getting started, and the best is yet to come!”

“It’s the whole package of Journey that makes it so important to me. Walking with someone who has so much experience in ministry: marketplace, church, pastoring, overseas missions, evangelism, Bible College, pastoral coaching. Walking with other men and women in ministry who are in the same place I am AND being able to invest in their lives, too. And the fact that these great ministers want me to invest in them has been such a confidence builder for me. Journey really is a coaching community – I invest what I have in it, and then I receive so much more. I thank God that I can be a part and look forward to all God will do in Journey in the future.”

“One of the reasons I’m most appreciative of Journey is how, through bi-weekly and monthly calls, I’m encouraged to spend more time thinking about and working toward being a better husband and father. Starting at Journey, I shared some specific things I wanted to grow in, and through the process and intentionality by Pastor Baker, I have grown in those areas. Thankful for the impact it’s had on my life.  Conversations are life-giving and encouraging each time.”

“There are ministries that impact society because they are trendy, and there are ministries that impact society because they are Biblical. Journey is the latter. Walking with Ps. Baker and my peers in Journey gives me a greater understanding and conviction for God’s design for Christians (especially church leaders!) to walk together in an authentic and vulnerable community. Journey works because it points us back to God’s intended design.”

A Final Word of Thanks

Before closing, we must thank God for the individuals and churches who make this ministry financially possible, our Journey Partners.  Through their monthly giving, one-gift gifts, and underwriting special projects such as our retreats, they are the unknown benefactors who make it possible for us to pastor pastors, missionaries, and ministers of all kinds. To them, we say from our hearts, “Thank you for making these five years possible. You are a part of every life and story: Every broken minister made whole; every lonely missionary now linked to others; every pastor seeking to survive who now thrives. For each of them and for all of us, thank you.” 

Journey Pastoral Coaching is more than a bi-weekly phone conversation with an experienced minister. It is a coaching community, one built on each person investing in the community as a whole, and as a result, receiving far more than is possible from a conversation with a coach. For five years now, from our daily coaching calls to our annual retreats in Orlando – and every day and way in between – we at Journey are doing everything we can to fulfill what has been our mission from day one:  helping young ministers build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry. 

We thank God for our first five years. And we anticipate even greater things in the next five, as God wills.

Note:  This is part II in a two-part celebration of Journey’s fifth anniversary.  We invite you to read the first part, “Built to Last,” also here on the Journey website.  

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Special Note: We invite you to consider purchasing our recently released book, “When the Call Comes,” written to help ministers as they walk with those who mourn. Unexpected, or after an extended illness, there is no pastoral responsibility, or privilege, that compares with shepherding people as they say their final goodbyes and mourn their loss. “When the Call Comes” helps pastors serve those who mourn, from the initial call to the end of the funeral.  We address issues like:

“What is the purpose of a funeral and how do I conduct one?”

“What is my role as a pastor, walking families through grief?”

“What should I say when I meet with the family?”

“What do I do in the case of a difficult death: suicide, violence, or infant death?”

“Why do we conduct funeral and graveside services?”

“What do I do when ‘the call’ comes?”

You can read the preface to the book by clicking on THIS LINK or you can purchase your copy by clicking HERE.

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NOTE: Journey Pastoral Coaching exists to provide pastoral coaching to Millennial ministers.

Saddled with large student debt, just beginning to set up homes and start families, and serving in low paying first and second positions, Millennials are those who most desire but can least afford to pay for pastoral coaching.

So we offer it to them at NO COST: Our members do not PAY for coaching; they EARN it by investing in each other.

We are able to do so thanks to the faithful and generous support of individuals and churches like yours who want to see young leaders not only enter the ministry, but remain in the ministry. If you or your church would like to help Millennial ministers in 20 US states and 5 nations build strong for a lifetime in ministry, please click here to contact us by email or to support Journey monthly or with your one-time gift. Thank you.

We also invite you to click and subscribe to our twice-monthly blogs at journeypastoralcoaching.com

“In the early years when I was becoming a pastor, I needed a pastor.” 

 Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir