In a recent Journey blog post, we addressed the question, “Which young ministers get the most from walking with a pastoral coach?” Based on our years in coaching, as well as the expertise of other pastoral coaches, we were able to identify twelve qualities that mark the young minister who thrives as he or she […]
Pastoral coaching, though it is biblical ministry and central to the ministry and mission of Jesus, is often a new thought for some followers of Christ. Oddly enough, non-Christians seem to instinctively “get it.” They see that Jesus talked to thousands, but He walked with twelve. In conversations with Christians and non-Christians about pastoral coaching […]
Study after study confirms that ministers deal daily with higher than normal levels of stress. Many studies and statistics are available, but consider just the following seven statistics: 90% of pastors (all ages) said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be like before they entered the ministry; 75% of […]
I have a confession to make: I am a pastoral coach. And I love it. Many in the church are unfamiliar with pastoral coaching, usually assuming it is what it isn’t. They’re always intrigued when I explain pastoral coaching and then specifically how we do it at Journey. Many in the church are also intrigued […]
Recently, I heard someone say that Christian leaders often “appear out of nowhere.” Like a magician waving a wand, repeating the magic word, “abracadabra,” and pulling rabbits out of a hat, God pulls Christian leaders out of the air, magically equips them, and then places them. The speaker’s point of reference was Joshua and his […]
Two Questions . . . Studies of the past all too reliably predict that many young ministers of the Gospel gave up this Tuesday, August 1, 2017: They walked away from the ministry. Many of them even walked away from the church itself. How many more will walk away Wednesday, August 2, 2017, and in […]
Over the past year, I’ve had far more, shall we say, “conversations” with health professionals than I would like. I’ve had more examinations, tests, blood work, etc than I ever thought possible. Doctors have worked hard for my health, not only endeavoring to find and fix my problems, but to help me build well and […]
In Part I of Journey’s blog post on Self-Coaching, we briefly considered David’s habit of self-coaching, a discipline that sustained him through the pressures of leadership, issues like: his own internal stress; gossip against his person and leadership; impending danger; the attacks of the people he led; the possible breakup of the community. I […]
I Samuel 30.6 records an incident in the life of David that speaks to every Christian leader: “David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Who […]
He disappeared. He just disappeared. For several months he and I had been walking together in a pastoral coaching relationship. Pastoral coaching is based and built on relationship and trust: when these two intangibles are present and active, tangible results are present and active – anything is possible. But when these two are not present […]
© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching