Healthy church · 3 of 4
Your next leaders are sitting in your living room right now.
Most planters carry everything themselves because they don't see anyone ready to help. In my experience, the leaders are almost always there. They just haven't been named, trained, and trusted yet. And the pastor is usually too close, and too tired, to see it.
This is the part of my work I love most. I'm a better encourager than an administrator, and calling out what God has put in someone is what I was made for. Over seven years I've sat with well over a hundred candidates and planters, and the most common thing I've said is some version of “I think you're more ready than you know.”
Leadership in the church isn't a title. It's a person taking responsibility for other people's growth. In our cultures, people often wait to be asked, and pastors often wait for people to volunteer. So nobody moves. My job is to help you see who's ready, name it out loud, and give them something real to carry.
A short word about cost
I received everything I know for free. People poured into me when I had nothing to give back, and charging for this work doesn't come naturally to me. But I've learned that serving is healthiest when it's mutual, when both of us bring something to the table.
These prices let me do this well, for many leaders, for a long time. They're a starting point, not a wall. If your church can pay them, thank you, and you're making it possible for me to serve a church that can't.
And if your church can't, please don't let that stop you from reaching out. I would hate for a leader to go without help because of money. Tell me honestly where you are, and I'll explore how I can serve you anyway. Nobody has ever been turned away over money, and nobody will be.
You have someone you think might be called to lead, or to plant. I'll spend time with them (and their spouse, if married), and give both of you a clear, kind, written picture of what's there, what would help, and what a next step could be. The tone is revelation, not evaluation.
Four to six months of coaching with you and your emerging core team. We identify who's ready, give them real responsibility, and help you learn to lead through them instead of around them. Monthly coaching with you, two sessions with the whole team, and a written team plan.
Built from your own convictions about what a leader is, so you can train small group leaders, deacons, or elders the same way every time. Participant workbook and facilitator guide, in the languages you serve.
For you, or for you and your spouse. Discernment at a crossroads, marriage and ministry, the internal blocks that keep us from asking people for help or for money. Sessions are about an hour, online or in person.
Twelve leaders, three months, meeting together on strategy, core team, and sustainability. Month one is your “warm traffic” strategy, finding the people of peace already in your life. Month two is building your core team. Month three is rhythms of rest before the work consumes you. Cohorts run quarterly and are kept small on purpose.
How you find, train, and send a planter from within your own congregation, without losing your best people or your peace. Three conversations with your leadership and a written pipeline for your church.
If you're an elder or board member
A season of coaching is one of the most common things a board pays for and one of the least talked about. Here's how.
Tell me who's in the room. I'll tell you who I think is ready.