A friend said to me years ago, “Adults learn on a need to know basis.”
I didn’t realize then what a profound statement that was.
Years later I find myself referring back to that significant truth. COVID 19 has provided us with an opportunity to really develop our tools and resources, assess what we are doing well, and then pivot to make significant changes to improve. These times have a way of driving us toward contemplation and introspection, that and more Doritos than we’d normally consume.
We took some time to think through our strategy for coaching. Coming into 2020 we were planning to focus our coaching around a different theme each month and then COVID happened. When the coronavirus closed us into our homes we all had to take a collective sigh and re-strategize what church/microchurches/missional communities/and mission would look like during a period of social distancing. All of our coachings came around the needs that people were facing as they navigated uncharted waters. We found these conversations to be dynamic, life-giving, and helpful to those on the front lines dealing with disciple-making during a pandemic.
This also allowed us to think through our coaching strategy. The coaching team (Dave Sulack, Judy Brower, Glen Stevens, and Mike Jarrell) all agreed that the best coaching happens on a need to know basis. Rather than create a template with themes, we agreed that every missionary, church planter, or microchurch catalyst needs different tools, help, support, coaching, and prayer around different issues at different times. We simply are not dealing with the same things at the same time. While one person is trying to figure out how to multiply an existing microchurch, another leader is trying to figure out how to reach lost people and another leader is trying to learn how to coach a new church plant they are launching. We all need different things.
We concluded that coaching would best help, support, and benefit our CREO family if we did the following:
Coach based on the current needs, questions and challenges each CREO Partner is facing each time we have a coaching call
Allow each CREO partner to set goals based on our coaching call and then follow up on those goals to see how things are going
CREATE a database of resources to help equip/encourage/train/and support our CREO Partners.
We are very excited to move forward with a more tangible, NEED & GOAL- BASED Coaching that meets each CREO Partner at the unique place you are on the Missionary Adventure. We are not clones, therefore we must LISTEN, ASK QUESTIONS, and HELP YOU DISCERN THE MISSIONAL WATERS YOU ARE SWIMMING IN.
Let’s Create Together!
-Mike Jarrell