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Coach’s Training

Posted on March 28, 2012 by in Church Development, Leadership

For a number of years LDR (Leadership Development Resources) has been training church coaches. We currently have over 70 coaches.

This summer we have expand our training to include church planter coach’s.

If you have;

  • A passion to help churches or church planters
  • Have credibility in your arena of ministry
  • Have the basic coaching skills (active listening, using questions, relational skills)

We encourage you to check out if the LDR coaching might be for you. You can find more information at

http://www.ldrteam.com/church-coaching/coach-training-2/

 

You can now register for most coaches training on the pubic website (www.ldrteam.com). In the “SHOP” you will find:

1) Church Development Coach’s Training

2) Church Development Coach’s Training refresher (for those who have attended in the past)

3) Church Development Coach’s Training spouses

4) Church Planter Coach’s Training

5) Church Planters Coach’s Training Spouses

In this year at the Church Development Coach’s Training, we will be emphasizing how to coach one church (not just a cohort).  This year’s training is filling up fast, so if you plan to attend be sure and register soon.

For the first time, we are also offering our Church Planter’s Coach’s training. For many who are already using our development caching, this will complement it but be focused on church planting. This is not meant to replace a boot camp experience, but add ongoing coaching for the church planting team.

Hope to see many of you this summer at one of the coaching weeks,

Mel

Twelve Trends for 2012

Posted on January 22, 2012 by in Church Development, Idea Sharing, Research

Thom Rainer, the President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, shared twelve trends for 2012. These trends were developed based on research and observations of America’s healthiest churches. The list includes:

  1. Churches have a high view of Scripture.
  2. A large number of church members read the Bible daily.
  3. The churches have a priority and focus on the nations.
  4. The churches have a missional community presence.
  5. The congregations have membership that matters.
  6. The members are evangelistically intentional.
  7. These healthy churches have pastors who love the members.
  8. The churches allow their pastors to spend time in sermon preparation.
  9. There is clarity of the process of disciple making.
  10. These churches do less better.
  11. The process of discipleship moves members into ongoing small groups.
  12. Corporate prayer is intentional and prioritized.

For Thom’s commentary on each of these trends, see the first article in this series.

http://www.thomrainer.com/2012/01/twelve-in-2012-trends-in-healthy-churches-trends-1-to-6.php

For the remainder of the list, check out this second article.

http://www.thomrainer.com/2012/01/twelve-in-2012-trends-in-healthy-churches-trends-7-to-12.php

Many of these correspond to the systems measured in the Church Health Survey.

11 Questions Church Leaders Should be Asking

Posted on January 2, 2012 by in Church Development, Idea Sharing, Leadership

As we start a new year, I though these 11 questions from Tony Morgan were worth reflecting on.

Have a missional 2012!

Mel

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“11 Questions Church Leaders Should be Asking”

January 23, 2011 in Growing Strategies,Leadership

By Tony Morgan

A friend in ministry recently asked me what questions church leaders should be asking…. Here are the first questions and some bonus thoughts that came to mind:

  1. When was the last time I heard from God? Am I doing what he called me to do? This is the “Acts 6″ question. Acts 6 is a great reminder that it’s possible to be doing the ministry of God without doing the ministry God has called us to do.
  2. What should our church be known for in this community? For a moment, ignore anyone who attends your church. What does the rest of the community know about your church? That’s a better reflection of whether or not you’re really accomplishing your vision.
  3. Are we really focusing our time, money, leadership, prayer behind the things that will produce life change and community impact? If not, there’s a good chance that “fairness” is driving these decisions. Fairness never produces revolution.
  4. Is our church growing both spiritually and in numbers? Churches that are stuck and not bearing fruit hate this question. As I’ve shared before, I don’t believe healthy churches are necessarily big churches, but healthy churches are growing churches.
  5. Is there a clear path to help people take steps in their faith with the ultimate goal of them becoming fully-devoted followers of Christ? Having a vibrant Sunday worship experience is only one component of that. I’m amazed at how many churches haven’t really established a discipleship strategy beyond Sunday morning.
  6. Have you taken the time to identify what a fully-devoted follower of Christ looks like? Most churches haven’t done this, so they end up just “doing church” without any intentionality of purpose or process.
  7. Are you empowering the people of God to do God’s work? This is the “Ephesians 4:12-13″ question. Declining churches pay people to do all the ministry. Growing churches challenge people to use their gifts.
  8. Are you developing leaders? This includes both spiritual discipleship and leadership mentoring, and I think it’s what’s going to distinguish the churches that last longer than one generation.
  9. Is my community any different because of my ministry? We may need a whole new set of measures to confirm whether or not our churches are really making an impact.
  10. Do believers see their ministry happening only at the church or have they become missionaries to their families, their neighborhoods, their workplaces, their schools, etc.? Honestly, I’m really tired of Christians thinking God saved them to go church on Sunday and then eventually experience Heaven. Our purpose is much bigger than that.
  11. Do I have the right leaders around me to accomplish the vision? Read Exodus 18:18-23. This isn’t some new business leadership principle. This is biblical advice that’s been around for thousands of years and still applies today.

What are the questions you are asking as a leader in the church?

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