One of my favorite movies is the 2001 classic, “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks. Who wouldn’t love a movie where the best friend (or pastoral coach) is a volleyball named Wilson, right? Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a high-energy, driven, FedEx systems engineer who loves traveling the FedEx world and fixing it – it’s not just […]
Yes, you read correctly: the church world will end just 23 years from now – the year 2042. That’s what the current studies and literature are saying. You just have to know how to interpret the studies and read the literature. Actually, no, the studies do not say the church world will end in 23 […]
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 […]
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) […]
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 […]
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 […]
In a recent issue of a denominational bi-monthly publication for ministers, leaders cited two “killer” statistics within that denomination: Today, in 2018, the average age of an ordained minister is 60 years of age; In the year 2000, the average age of an ordained minister was 55 years of age. Clear evidence that the pulpit is […]
INTRODUCTION At Journey Pastoral Coaching our mission is helping young ministers build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry. One of our tools in this mission is research, research that takes place in three primary ways: asking experienced ministers to give us the benefit of their experience in ministry; posing a monthly Insight […]
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 […]
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 […]
© [2015] — Journey Pastoral Coaching