by Gary Reinecke | Dec 30, 2016 | Disciplemaking, Leader Development, Uncategorized |
The last two blogs I’ve shared questions to help you reflect on your accomplishments this year (2016) to prepare for the year ahead (2017), by envisioning where you believe God is encouraging you to grow. These questions are also intended for you to use with those you coach. It is always energizing to put the final touches on one year and anticipate the possibilities to come.
As I reflect on the year ahead I am reminded of the words of the the prophet in Jeremiah 29:11.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I encourage you to rest in that knowledge.
Moving into next year, I am excited about the many ways God wants to use you and your unique gifts to catalyze disciplemaking movements. InFocus is committed to your success and E.source is a vehicle focused on that vision. Here is what you can expect every month as we move into the New Year.
- Week #1: A Coaching Tip
- Week #2: A Question of the Week
- Week #3: A Leader Development Tip
- Week #4 & #5: A Resource &/or Book Review
May the Lord richly bless you, may He surround you with a team of people that will make your vision a reality and provide the resources to fulfill what he has called you to accomplish.
by Gary Reinecke | Nov 12, 2016 | Church Growth, Church Multiplication, Coach Training, Disciplemaking, Focused Ministry, Leader Development, Personal Development, Uncategorized |
I’ve trained leaders around the world in the coaching process (commonly known as the 5 Rs – see below) who are catalyzing disciple making movements, planting churches, empowering leaders, leading teams and pioneering networks. A conversation with one missionary reminded me that the five elements of the coaching process are more descriptive than prescriptive. It was evident this gifted woman was wrestling with the process. When I gave her freedom to come up with her own language to describe the process she uses, she lit-up!
- RELATE – Establishing a coaching relationship and agenda
- REFLECT – Discover and explore key issues
- REFOCUS – Determine priorities and action steps
- RESOURCE – Provide support and encouragement
- REVIEW – Evaluate, celebrate and revise plans
That is the way I present the 5-R coaching process. Once people become familiar with the five elements then I challenge them to personalize it so that is fits their context. Find language that captures the essence of what they do and how they do it. And most of all – begin using it!
Below are five questions to help you identify the coaching process you use:
- How do I connect with people I coach?
- How do I help people analyze their situation?
- How do I help them envision the future?
- How do I help people identify resources to implement their plans?
- How do I help people I coach review their plans, celebrate success and capture insights?
Answers to these questions will help you uncover your coaching process. The more transferable, the better. If you have a process you’ve created, I’d appreciate you e-mailing me or sharing it with the InFocus coaching community below.
by Gary Reinecke | Nov 6, 2016 | Disciplemaking, Leader Development, Uncategorized |
Normally I’ve seen one or the other emphasized:
This last year I’ve been part of a two-pronged training process combining Disciple Making Movements (DMM) with Coaching in 5 regions around the world beginning with India and Turkey, followed by the US, then concluding with Spain and Hong Kong. Each event lasted 5 days with the morning dedicated to DMM and afternoons focused on Coach training. Participants were forced to live in the tension of learning the technical side of DMM utilizing Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) in combination with the relational side of Coaching.
Why was this approach taken? For obvious reasons, I won’t reference the organization nor the leaders because they are planting churches in under-resourced and under-served areas of the world (10-40 Window); however, this is what they learned when they interviewed other mission agencies taking this approach:
In talking to other organizations that have implemented DMM training each and every group has said they should have taught coaching principles in coordination with DMM to give their workers the skill of coaching.
Typically, I present coaching as a non-directive process; however, in this training approach the “content” is assumed to be the Bible in the context of a DBS. Further, when a person is ready to reproduce a DBS into the second and third generation, the focus of the coaching relationship shifts to leader development. Through this process, churches are planted with coaching embedded in the DNA.
Here are three lessons I’ve learned:
- Synergy – utilize practitioners from each discipline to maximize the strengths of both systems.
- Progression: explain how the two disciplines are distinct – then show how they compliment one another.
- Structural Tension – allow participants to live in the tension of making disciples AND coaching leaders to reproduce.
What lessons have you learned training leaders to catalyze disciplemaking movements? I would love to read your reflections. Please share your insights below.
by Gary Reinecke | Oct 9, 2016 | Church Growth, Church Multiplication, Disciplemaking, Focused Ministry, Leader Development, Uncategorized |
You are probably familiar with a Level 1 church. It is a church bent on survival. In 1988 I began a long and arduous journey with Historic First Church in Phoenix, AZ. The only way out of the dismal decline, from my perspective, was to plant a new and vibrant church with the intent of revitalizing the parent church. To work within the denominational polity we were led to plant a church within a church – aka “venue”. Some 25+ years later that new congregation has evolved into an urban, multi-ethnic community of faith call Urban Connect relocated in the revitalized warehouse district. Lot’s to report from that experience but for now, this Level 1 church serves as a good example of a church that has taken the leap to become a Level 4 church – read more below.
Previously, I introduced the book “Becoming a Level FIVE Multiplying Church Field Guide” (by Todd Wilson and Dave Ferguson with Alan Hirsch) and five levels of church multiplication as follows:
- The primary characterization of Level 1 churches are “subtraction, scarcity, and survival.”
- The primary characterization of Level 2 churches are “tension, scarcity, survival, and growth.”
- The primary characterization of Level 3 churches are “addition, growth and accumulation.”
- The primary characterization of Level 4 churches are “discontent, new scorecards and reproducing at all levels.”
- The primary characterization of Level 5 churches are “multiplying, releasing and sending.”
I found the book with the self-assessment helpful to determine where congregations are on the multiplication continuum. Read “Becoming a Level FIVE Multiplying Church Field Guide” and administer the self-assessment to determine where you are on the multiplication continuum. Here are a few questions to help a Level 1 church reflect and move forward, based on a self-assessment the authors created:
- Are we content being a Level 1 church?
- What options do we have to grow and reproduce?
- What level can we, by God’s grace, realistically become?
- What steps can we take to get from here to there?
- What steps will we take?
In the upcoming blogs I will take a closer look at the 5 Levels of Multiplication to illustrate the characteristics above with questions to coach your team to the next level.
by Gary Reinecke | Oct 2, 2016 | Church Growth, Church Multiplication, Leader Development |
Last year my home church, Crosspoint Community Church established it’s first “site” or campus in a local winery. The venue is intimate, DVDs of the sermon are played to convey the message and a large percentage of the people who now call Crosspoint in the Vines their home were not in a church 18 months ago. In a few months, Access Church will go public representing the first church plant that Crosspoint has launched. This affirms one of the two primary missions of the local church – “to care for the poor and plant churches” according to Lead Pastor, Steve Redden.
In the book “Becoming a Level FIVE Multiplying Church Field Guide” (by Todd Wilson and Dave Ferguson with Alan Hirsch) the authors identify five levels of multiplying churches as follows:
- The primary characterization of Level 1 churches are “subtraction, scarcity, and survival.”
- The primary characterization of Level 2 churches are “tension, scarcity, survival, and growth.”
- The primary characterization of Level 3 churches are “addition, growth and accumulation.”
- The primary characterization of Level 4 churches are “discontent, new scorecards and reproducing at all levels.”
- The primary characterization of Level 5 churches are “multiplying, releasing and sending.”
I found the book with the self-assessment helpful to determine where congregations are on the multiplication continuum. Read “Becoming a Level FIVE Multiplying Church Field Guide” and administer the self-assessment to determine where you are on the multiplication continuum. Here are a few questions to help you reflect and move forward based on your assessment:
- Where are we today?
- Where can we grow?
- What level do we want to become?
- What steps can we take to get there?
- What will we do?
In the upcoming blogs I will take a closer look at each of the 5 Levels of Multiplication to illustrate the characteristics above with questions to coach your team to the next level.
by Gary Reinecke | Sep 19, 2016 | Church Growth, Church Multiplication, Coach Training, Disciplemaking, Focused Ministry, Leader Development, Personal Development, Uncategorized |
“The Coaching 101 Handbook” was published so that church planters, pastors and church multiplication network leaders would be equipped to empower missional leaders (2003). Since then, the handbook has been translated into a couple of languages, hundreds of leaders have been trained and are coaching using the process known as the Five R’s. The purpose Bob Logan and I co-authored this resource was to offer a comprehensive coaching process that is spiritually anchored in Christ.
I’ve done a bit of reflection on the basic skills of coaching since then. As a result, I’ve altered the language slightly under the third area, from giving feedback to “Timely Advice”. It focuses on the the “timeliness” of the feedback Of course, advice-giving is discouraged in coaching and only encouraged when the person being coached has exhausted her/his ideas.
Why is that? I like to put it like this:
You have a 50-50 chance that anyone will do anything you suggest; but when people discover something for themselves, the ratios change drastically (like to 95%) that they will act!
- Listening: “…it is best to listen much, speak little, and not become angry;” James 1:19
- Asking: “Then he asked, ‘Who do you think I am?’ Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah.'” Mark 8:29
- Advising: “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.” Proverbs 25:11
I have also re-discovered that the most important discipline is at the hub of the illustration. Apart from Him, we can’t accomplish anything of value. The ability to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit and help leaders align themselves with God’s agenda sets world-class coaches apart from good coaches. This reminder gives us confidence in a Helper to accomplish the task.
- Abiding: “When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love.” John 15:10
Abiding in Christ is the glue that makes the three skills above “sticky” – it is a game-changer for leaders. How many times have you had people you coach come back days, weeks, months or even years later telling you that what you helped them take action on – confirmed the very thing the Lord had been prompting them to do? This is the gift that you give to people and sometimes, you receive a gift in return and experience the impact.
If you have a story of how you have helped people take action in obedience to Christ or make shifts in their leadership, please share your insights below. Until next week – keep on empowering leaders!
