LifeBuilders Head Coach

Introduction

Everyone needs a coach—whether to help you build a home, improve a golf swing, or lead a small group.  The question is: what does coaching look like?  How do we inspire, shepherd, and develop leaders of groups and teams so that they grow in wisdom, maturity, and skills?  Here’s why every LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry needs a head coach:

Men need relationships.  We always speak of people needing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  But it’s hard for many men to understand that when they have so few personal relationships on the earth.  The church needs to be the place where men find the personal relationships they need, both with God and with other Christians who can bring them to a new level in Jesus Christ.

Men need a Christian role model. We’re always modeling, whether we realize it or not.  Men’s leaders should pursue the Jesus way of life for their own benefit and growth and at the same time show the way and live a life worth emulating.  We inspire others when we pursue Christ.  This is one of the main tasks of a LifeBuilders head coach.

Men need a challenge. Many men go through a “humdrum” life with no challenges.  Most find this frustrating, although few will admit it. The church needs to be the place where they find the challenge for greatness that God places within men.

What is coaching?

Coaching is simply helping people take the next step on the journey.  In his great book titled Christian Coaching, Gary Collins explains that the word coaching means “to get people from where they were to where they wanted to be.”  It is a “togetherness journey” for the men of the local church.  A coaching plan in your church provides opportunities to guide a believer toward growth, service, and connection with Jesus.  Coaches help the men in the church to take their next step of spiritual growth.

Biblical Example

One of the best examples of a coach in the bible is that of Barnabas.  He is mentioned 29 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Book of Acts. In Acts 4:36 he is called the “son of consolation.”  In this verse “consolation” means “encouragement.”  The ministry of Barnabas was a coaching ministry.  Here are some of his attributes:

• He was a great encourager. He had the ability to hear and speak into the lives of others.  In Acts 9:27 we are told that Barnabas “took” Paul and “brought” him to the other apostles.
• He saw potential in others.  Acts 12:25 says that he fulfilled his own ministry and took others [John] with him.
• He was a resourceful person.  He often linked people with needed relationships and resources to promote the Kingdom.  Acts 13:1 says he was a “prophet and teacher.”

In essence, Barnabas offered four essential elements that makes one an effective coach: encouragement, support, affirmation and accountability. Barnabas was not a “front” leader.  He seemed to be content to coach and mentor other young and emerging leaders.

Concept

The BIG idea of this plan is to build Godly men for leadership and ministry.  The goal of LifeBuilders Head Coach Training is to produce a disciple making ministry to men and through men in the local church.  The LifeBuilders men’s coach shares wisdom and experiences with the men of the church, points them to the best teaching and training materials and helps them grow in effectiveness.

The Program

A Head Coach is a man in a local Church of God who both establishes those essential one-on-one relationships and, though personal interaction, challenges and assists men to reach a new level in their walk with Jesus Christ, both on a spiritual and on a practical level.

Each local church with a LifeBuilders men’s ministry and a plan to disciple men will be encouraged to appoint a Head Coach.  The Head Coach will, in turn, disciple men individually and/or in a small group environment.  [Special note: do NOT make the mistake of trying to disciple all the men in one class.  Put the men in small groups of three to five men and only begin with one or two groups at a time]. The goal is to take men from the “new convert” or “baby Christian” stage and disciple and train them to become laborers and leaders in the congregation with the ultimate goal in mind of reaching other men.

The Head Coach will work with the men of his local church on a one-on-one basis in the following areas:

• Bible knowledge
• Spiritual disciplines
• Character building
• Ministry and evangelism skills
• Life management

Requirements

The Head Coach for a local church is to be appointed by the pastor.  He must meet the following requirements:

• Be a man of good character, saved, sanctified, baptized in the Holy Spirit, a member of the local church and active in the life of the church.
• Read the following books (available from Lay Ministries) which were chosen to point men to the basic objectives of the program and of coaching:
  • Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential into Reality by Gary R. Collins
  • As Iron Sharpens Iron: Building Character in a Mentoring Relationship, by Howard Hendricks and William Hendricks.
• Attend a “Building a Sustainable Men’s Ministry” seminar at Man in the Mirror Ministries in Orlando, Florida (http://www.maninthemirror.org)
• Be able to teach the following courses (available from Lay Ministries):
  • LifeBuilders Essentials, the basic discipleship course (one-on-one or very small groups)
  • Kingdom Calling, the next discipleship course (video course for classroom presentation)

A Head Coach will also be expected to facilitate Matthew 25 Men activities, although training for this can be done after appointment as Head Coach.

Lay Ministries will provide verification and evaluation for all requirements except for the first.

Activities

The Head Coach will be engaged in the following activities:

• Be an ex officio member of the LifeBuilders Men’s Ministries Leadership Team (MMLT) in the local church.
• Organize the men in teachable small groups.  We strongly recommend that the model for the weekly discipleship teaching be centered around small groups.  Rather than try to teach all the men at the same time, plan to break the men into small groups of three to five men.  They can be empowered to meet when and where they wish.  When men are discipled in small groups they become more open and talkative and more accountable to each other.

• Teach or facilitate the LifeBuilders Essentials and Kingdom Calling discipleship courses.  Visit our web store at to order these materials.
• Organize and/or facilitate the Matthew 25 Men activities in cooperation with the LifeBuilders local church team leadership.  This includes scheduling and coordinating Matthew 25 Men trips with the onsite coordinator of the Matthew 25 Men center and preparing a budget for these events.

Be eligible for appointment as a District or Regional Head Coach in those states which have this ministry opportunity available.