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We are starting new coaching groups for pastors who want to attend to the needs of their souls and grow in their skills. Leader coaching groups are a safe place to grapple with soul care issues and accountability, while also seeking to grow in effectiveness as leaders. Church leader coaching groups are designed to help leaders reach their goals, beat burnout, and win battles with temptations that we all face.

The great enemy of emotional and spiritual health for church leaders is isolation. We understand the need for community - and preach its virtues to others - yet we often struggle to experience it ourselves. We need the support and encouragement that comes from relating meaningfully with like-minded peers. Let’s face it: we can’t find safe places to talk openly about our lives with people from our church. And the typical “pastor’s fellowship” or denominational gathering is often tinged with inauthenticity and “mine’s bigger than yours” comparison games.

As pastors, we are always looking for ways to increase our effectiveness. Reading books and attending conferences have their place, but coaching is a proven way of not only learning, but implementing the changes we need to improve our leadership. Working through questions and issues with a mentor coach, as well as other like-minded pastors, will help bring the clarity, accountability, and support we need to move forward.

Here’s what you will get if you participate in the Church leader coaching group:

• Coaching and support meeting once a month (four hours)
• Unlimited email support from your mentor coach
• Unlimited email and phone support from fellow group members
• A commitment to confidentiality from the coach and other group members, so the coaching group can be a safe place to honestly deal with personal and professional issues.

The church leader coaching groups are built around several key principles:

Pastors must take responsibility for their own self-care. People who aren’t pastors don’t understand the challenges and strains of this role, no matter how well-intentioned they are. Pastors must follow the model set forth by Jesus himself, acknowledging his physical and emotional limits, and taking time away from the demands of ministry (even though the crowds and sometimes even his disciples appear to not have understood this).

Leadership effectiveness and personal “soul care” issues are linked - For church leaders, ministry effectiveness and “soul issues” (things like burnout, addictions, moral purity, etc) are intertwined, and a helpful coaching group will address both aspects of life.

Coaching for pastors happens best in groups - Pastors not only need support and guidance from an individual coach, they also need genuine fellowship. Too many of us are isolated - even in the midst of very public lives - because our relationships are defined and overshadowed by our role as ministers. Doing the coaching in groups allows pastors to relate openly and honestly with a group of like-minded peers.

We function best in environments we help to shape - The leader coaching groups are established on the bedrock of “co-creation.” No one is going to push their agenda on you. Group members have a say in the structure of group meetings, and the agenda for each group session is set by group members, based on the questions and issues they are facing at the time.

Leadership coaching groups must be well-led - You’ve had enough of supposed coaching or support that was essentially “the blind leading the blind.” Instead we offer mentor coaching … the group is led by a trained coach who brings his experience of effective leadership and successful ongoing recovery from sexual struggles to the group. For more information about Mark Brouwer, the mentor coach, click here.

Effective leader support groups need energy and edge - We will not waste your time at our meetings! Our time together will be fast-paced and focused, with the agenda set beforehand, and pertinent background information emailed to participants.

Effective groups can’t be too big or small - Numerous studies of group effectiveness (including recent studies from neuroscience) indicate that the optimum size for groups is between 5 and 10. Too small and there’s not enough energy and creativity in the interaction. Too large and there’s not enough time or “mental space” for everyone to relate meaningfully. Our commitment is that we won’t operate groups outside of this optimum size range.

Some specifics of the group coaching program:

The group coaching sessions will take place in a location that is most convenient to the majority of group members. At this time, our plan is to establish groups in Iowa and Minnesota.

Ongoing - The group doesn’t have a specific life span. Members are encouraged to participate for as long as they find the group helpful.

The cost for this program is $100 per month. How much is it worth to you to have a group of like-minded peers and a trusted mentor coach with whom you can talk about the key issues of your life? How much is it worth to your church or sub-ministry to know that their leader is part of a professionally-led group for support and accountability? We encourage leaders to work with their churches to help pay for this important work.

If you are still unsure of whether to move forward with this group, it might help to hear from people who’ve been in some of our groups - led by Mark Brouwer - in the past. (Because of the confidential nature of these groups, we are not listing the names of people in these testimonials. If you’re a skeptic by nature, and want to talk to people who’ve participated, including people quoted below, contact us. Some of our clients have agreed to talk to prospective group participants directly.)

“Isolated and lonely weren’t just words in a counseling manual, they were my reality as a pastor. There was no-one  I felt completely safe with. This all-pastors group has catapulted my desire for a ‘nothing to hide’ way of life, that reinforces my total honesty approach with my wife. I could not recommend it enough to anyone who is serious about fulfilling their God-given purpose.”  - NL

“Mark’s leadership and insight in our group have been very valuable to me. Despite numerous years of in-depth recovery work on my part, Mark helped draw out in me a heart’s cry that I have not given a voice in a long time, and he achieved this within a very short time of meeting me.”  - DW

“I want to recommend Mark’s work and leadership to all of you and those you serve. [Leaders struggling with purity] is such an enormous issue with all the pervasive temptations coming at men, women and youth in our culture. In Mark we have a trusted, proven, gifted, faithful, leader, teacher, consultant, and friend. It is so important to be able to recommend someone we can trust. Please pass this info on to your missionary pastors and leaders.”  -SJ

If you’re interested in hearing more about this group, or would like to sign up, send Mark an email (mark@recoveryremixed.com), or call him at 952-746-3885.

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