Everybody Needs A Coach

Love them or hate them, coaches have a purpose and they will do whatever it takes to get the best out of their players. They work hard, stay up late and are always coming up with new strategies to put the check mark in the W column. One week the fans love the coach and the next week they are calling for his head on a platter. If you think being a church planter is hard, you should try coaching a church planter.

I am the kind of person that sticks out his neck away too often and I am going to do it here. If you do not have a relationship with someone who is coaching you one on one through the church planting process, then discouragement, loneliness and doom will set in. You cannot be so cocky to believe that you do not need a coach. If you feel that a coach is a waste of time, do us all a favor and go sell cars (no disparagement meant to car salesmen). Having a coach is essential for your spiritual health and the health of the new church plant.

In the process of planting Bridge Church, I actually had a team of coaches. I would classify them as a head coach and several assistants who were training me for the Big Game of launching a new church. You might be thinking that you don’t have any coaches to help you through this process, but you are dead wrong. I do believe that your head coach has to be someone who has planted at least one church. Someone who acts as your head coach will not have all the answers, but he will have experience and that is what you are looking for.

Call me what you may, but I want someone who knows how to go about setting up systems for a new church. I want the coach who knows what step to take and when to take it in the correct order. Coaches are not there to make you feel good and to always be patting you on the back. They are they to use their experience to kick your backside when needed. The old adage, “Been there, done that”, is the experience you are looking for  and when you find it, you have found a friend who has the tools to help you succeed for the kingdom.

My head coach for planting Bridge Church was Brad Graves. Brad had planted a church in New Hampshire where Southern Baptists are considered a cult and people do not go out of their way to befriend you. Brad came to Cleveland from New Hampshire to be the Church Planter Strategist for the Initiative, Cleveland Hope. It was Brad’s job to be a coach to several church planters. I had the opportunity of knowing Brad before he actually came to Cleveland through the World Changer’s student missionary project that was taking place in New Hampshire. Brad was instrumental into first coaching Julie and I into planting Bridge Church.

Throughout the launching process, Brad was there to encourage us, to give us pointers, and to share his church planting playbook with us. One of the things that I appreciated about Brad was that he intentionally made me figure out things on my own. He would give me enough information to get me started, but would never make the decision for me. That is what it you need – a coach who will coach you and not do the job for you. When finding a coach, don’t recruit one that wants to hold your hand every step of the way. If you want one that does hold your hand every step of the way, find a nice established church to pastor and leave the hard work for others.

A coach is there to help you secure the win. He will be on your side cheering you along the way and he will be one of your worst critics. Take it in stride and understand that a coach does have your best interest at heart. I am looking forward to coaching new church planters as they come through Bridge Church and our new church plants. I look forward to watching young men have a kingdom goal of reaching North America and beyond for Christ through church planting.

If you do not have a coach, stop the presses! You need to make this a top priority before you go any further. If you do not know where to look, start calling people. Contact your local or national denomination if you are part of one. You probably have already met pastors in your area that can be a great resource to get you plugged into church planting. There are coaching networks that you can join where you have to pay a fee for the services, not the best scenario, but there are some great men out there providing this service who have been very successful at church planting. The onus is on you! You have to be the one who pursues a coach and you keep looking until you find one. If you go forward without a coach, it will be one of the biggest mistakes you make in the church planting process.