Transforming Church

Christ the King and ten other congregations have been partnering with Community Church of Joy in Phoenix to revitalize congregations for evangelical growth. Through conferences and ongoing coaching, we are retooling and revitalizing congregations. Mission minded church leaders are empowered with confidence and skills to lead their congregations through change and healthy growth.

We’ve attended many conferences over the years and hosted the “Planting Seeds Evangelism Conference” each year. We’ve found not much change happens in congregations unless there is continued encouragement along the way. Mentoring is a positive force that encourages, directs, and empowers leaders. The process supports timely advances of change, and greatly aids in the leaders’ and congregations’ ability to overcome obstacles and sustain healthy change.

This seems to happen best in two ways. One is through teams in congregations. Strategic leaders (including volunteers, not just paid staff) attend conferences and catch the vision. While at the conference, they covenant with each other to work toward a particular positive goal of evangelical change over the next year. The conference leaders help facilitate the teams’ work in doing this. Second, outside coaches are paired up with leaders and congregations. This second step works best if the first step has already been done.

Joy’s coaching process trains missional leaders to walk beside other mission minded church leaders. This supports their growth, confidence and sustained change into vital, healthy, evangelical congregations. Currently, more than a dozen trained coaches in congregations around the country coach from 2-4 congregations each. The idea is that each of the coached congregations and their leaders would be able to be a coaching congregation and leader over time. The multiplication of this would spread throughout the ELCA.

The vision of the Church Coach Network is this: To create thousands of church leaders, inspired with vital faith, a fresh vision for their churches, skills to bring about change, and a passion to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

In this second year of the Church Coach Network, support has been given through annual training at Community Church of Joy, support for coaches by Kevin Ford (TAG group) on a monthly basis, support through articles and coordination provided by the network, and an annual simulcast conference.

10 other congregations around the country carry the simulcast conference from Joy. Each of these congregations gathers leaders and teams from their area to participate in the conference and facilitate learning opportunities from the topics addressed. Each of the simulcast congregations also provides strategic workshops that support dynamics for healthy change and evangelical growth.

To learn more about the Church Coach Network or the simulcast conferences visit Joy Leadership Center. You can click on the link to “Church Reborn” to learn more about the upcoming conferences in February and register for the Joy site or a site nearest you. Prices may vary for particular sites.

Pastor Craig Bollinger,
Christ the King Lutheran Church
Charlotte, NC 28278