Coaching in the ELCA is about serving Christ and Christ’s mission in the world. Check out this introduction to the two-day ELCA Coach Launch Training Event. It’s a good overview of coaching in the ELCA.

Have you ever wished for a companion who would help you sort through the maze of ministry and myriad tasks that confront you every day? Ever wish you had a colleague who would actively listen and reflect back what they heard you saying and, in so doing, enable you to crystalize your thinking? Ever desire to be more effective in how you go about your day and/or ministry? If so, then having a coach or being a coach may be for you.

Coaching is an interactive process between three people: the leader, the coach and the Holy Spirit. Coaching trusts the Holy Spirit will guide, enlighten and empower the process of self-discovery, marshal the needed resources to accomplish what is desired, and empower the change to achieve the desired results.

Coaching is about growth, change, and results. It believes that the answers to what a leader wants to do lie within the leader. The task of the coach is to draw those out by creating the opportunity for the “ah-ha” moments of discovery.

Coaching is NOT mentoring, counseling, or consulting. A coach does not try to tell a leader what do to. The process is driven by a trusting relationship between the leader and the coach and the powerful questions the coach asks.

The NC Synod is committed to multiplying leaders by helping them develop a skill set which can serve them not only in their congregation but also in all aspects of their life. The ELCA’s coaching ministry partners with CoachNet to provide a way for coaches who wish to become credentialed coaches through the International Coaching Federation (ICF) process.

Contact NC Synod Coach, the Rev. Charlie Zimmerman  to learn more about becoming a coach or to request a coach for yourself.