Coaching Deniers: 10 Life & Death Facts
At Journey Pastoral Coaching we focus first on the minister, second on the ministry; first on being and then on doing. Being leads to doing. Therefore, as we give our attention to building the minister, we naturally build the ministry, and we do so for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry. This is pastoral coaching. Still, many are confused by pastoral coaching. Some reject it outright (even though they’ve had “coaches” all of their life in ministry). Let’s respectfully call them “coaching-deniers”:...
Journey’s Best Reads of 2018
As the year ends, we offer our list of favorite reads for 2018. This is not a list of books published in 2018, but books read in 2018 whatever the publishing year. If a book is on this list, I recommend you give it a read this coming year. In 2018 we read a number of good books, a few great books, some why-the-big-deal books, and a couple of why-was-this-ever-published books (partially). 2018 was another great...
Future Church: Young Ministers Predict the Future – Part II
This is the second in a two-part series on a recent Journey study in which we asked young ministers to predict the future of the church. The question we posed was a simple one: “What major changes do you see coming to the church? Time frame: the next 5 years.” Negative vs Postive Changes Respondents were asked to offer one to three changes, identifying each change as either “Positive” or “Negative.” No “Neutral” changes were...
Future Church: Young Ministers Predict the Future – Part I
How Did He Do THAT? I remember years ago sitting in a meeting room in Bled, Slovenia (see the picture) with a group of missionary pastors from across the Continent as our executive director talked to us about the future of Europe. In some detail he told us that Europe’s future would be determined and defined by demographics, economics and politics. He asked if we and our churches would be ready strategically and logistically to...
Church Makeover: Young Ministers Dream – Part TWO
In our most recent blog post we presented the results of a Journey survey in which we asked young ministers to identify the “magic wand” changes they would make in the church if they had the power to do so, the changes they see as most necessary and significant. In that post (October 15, 2018) we presented only the “headlines,” the single sentence statements they made. In this post we offer their explanations. In our...
Church Makeover: Young Ministers Dream – Design Stage 1 of 2
Journey surveys our members every month asking young ministers to “coach the coach” with their thoughts on discipleship, the ministry, the church, and culture. It’s one critical way our members EARN pastoral coaching rather than PAY for it. The insights given are invaluable. From time to time we open those surveys to non-members (but still young ministers) to participate. In September we did just that. The question we posed to young ministers was a simple one:...
San Diego Josh & Me: An Earth First Guy Meets a Jesus First Guy
A “Chance" Meeting Several years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit San Diego, California. We loved our time there, discovering that its reputation as one of America’s most beautiful cities is well deserved. One day we went downtown to see the city on foot, a custom we came to appreciate during our many years living in Europe. Instead of “doing” a city as Americans are want to do, our life in...
A Chalet In Switzerland & My Journey – L’Abri & Me
As a missionary to Europe I visited Switzerland many times, vacationing and ministering there. It remains my choice as the most beautiful place on earth. It is also among the most influential in my life as a Christian and pastoral coach. The story begins with a chalet in the western Swiss canton of Vaud near the French border. Francis and Edith Schaeffer Francis Schaeffer was a 20thcentury American pastor and Reformed theologian known and...
The Unknown History of the Church – Young Leaders
One of the complaints often lodged against each new generation of ministers is its ignorance of church history: for many young ministers, church history begins the day of their credentialing or with their first ministry position. It was true in my own life. When I was a young minister, though I was a history buff – I loved world, American, and Ohio history (I’m a Buckeye by birth) - I didn’t value church history or...© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching