Caught More Than Taught



We are in a season of change.  Churches are seeking to get more engaged in their communities.  Christian non-profits, especially those who serve people of high need are struggling to make ends meet.  It seems that the pace of change is increasing with each passing day.  The real question that I believe we have to ask is, “how do I learn the new skills and approaches that will allow my ministry to turn the change corner?”

Here are some of the challenges:

-We are applying new technology and skills from diverse fields to our work with ministry and community.  Many of these skills come from outside traditional ministry training and can’t be found in the normal places.  How do we quickly identify and implement both skills and technologies that are foreign to the world of ministry with which we are familiar?

-We are taking roads that our sponsoring churches and “ministry parents” haven’t walked.  We cannot look back to find the innovation that we need to implement.  Some of these choices leave us feeling isolated and without support because they don’t feel very spiritual to those who have supported us.

-We need access to combination of gifts and talents that haven’t been mixed before: evangelism and social marketing; Christian leadership in community settings; missional AND attractional; stable and trustworthy with innovation.

I am convinced that these skills are better caught than taught and more effectively coached than just studied.

We need to change the way that we are learning the skills we need for the future.  The coaching process that is being used so effectively with executives and church planters, especially when practiced in the context of a coaching group, holds the most promise for taking us to the next level in a variety of areas.  We can be coached in a group of other innovators in a way that maximizes practical skill development and allows us to learn with our peers.

The coaching group, along with effective content delivery can get us up to speed more quickly than any other method.  Learning approaches that are not relational, such as webinars or books alone don’t allow for the transmission that only occurs through fellowship.

Fostering personal leadership growth and new skills for innovation is a contact sport– much is better caught than taught.

Join me as I commit to and participate in more coaching environments– places where “action people” join other “action people” to share ideas and make progress together.