(Click here for individual coaching)
After successfully working with scores of churches, Gary Butler wrote the Church Leadership Coaching workbook and strategizing process—one-year church revitalization and re-visioning strategy facilitated in-person at your local church with your local team. Contact Gary to discuss coaching for your church team.
Over the course of a year, Gary Butler, your CLC Coach will walk beside your church team to help you discover—not just good ideas, but the “God ideas” that will help your church move forward. CLC is not a seminar or training course. It is an interactive church leadership coaching process. CLC provides a step-by-step road map designed to move you and your church forward and keep your team on track. However, YOU (the pastor and church leadership/ministry team) will make every decision about the shape of the plans for the future of your church. Together, you will work to create a unique shared vision and strategic plans that FIT your pastor, your church and your community.
Six three-hour coaching sessions:
Every meeting with Gary is designed to be a fast-paced, information-packed coaching session focused on a single primary topic. This three-hour format makes the CLC Process extremely flexible. It can be scheduled for a Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday or weekday evening. This way, you can choose the option that will produce maximum participation by your key leaders and ministry personnel. Sessions will take place every other month. This way your church team will have several weeks between sessions to pray, discuss options, and complete the work due prior to the next coaching session.
A team-based approach:
The CLC Process requires a church team. Business Author Ken Blanchard once quipped, “None of us is as smart as all of us!” For plans to succeed, you must have the buy-in and ownership of the people of the church. That’s the primary reason this process is designed as a team process. The bottom-line principle is this: If the team is involved in creating plans and strategies, team members will “own” the plans and are more likely to work to help them succeed.
A mistake some pastors make is to believe they can come in with fresh creative ideas and change everything by themselves. For example, they may go to a conference or seminar and come back excited and full of new ideas. However, the new ideas may not be embraced by the church. This is largely due to the fact the church members did not experience the same things the pastor experienced. The CLC Process is designed to take both the pastor and the church team through a shared experience. You will see the same videos, hear the same presentations, read the same books, talk with one another and then decide as a team, which approaches best fit your church.
Who should be on your team?
The best team will include the most influential and trusted members of your congregation. As you consider who should be on your team, think of the most highly respected and most involved people in your church. Look for people with “chemistry” – those who work well with others. Look for leaders. Look for people of influence (whether or not they hold an official position.) Look for a mix of ages. It is best to have both older and younger people on the team. It is also good to have some people who are relatively new to your church. New people often see things with an outsider’s objectivity. The longer a person has been at a church, the harder it is for them to see things the way a guest would.
Designed to work for the small church
Rather than simply attempting to copy what large megachurches do, this process is designed around Biblical principles and best practices. Most writers consider a “small” church one that has less than 200 people in Sunday morning attendance. Using this metric, 84% of Assemblies of God churches in the USA are “small” churches. If you are part of a small church, you are not alone! We place a high value on you and your church. That’s why we are here!
We have seen a great deal of success in helping small churches become healthy, grow, and make a difference in their community. This process has been particularly helpful in helping churches reach younger people in their community.
Your commitment is essential for success
The Church Leadership Coaching Process is not a “magic bullet” that guarantees success. However, it is a great process that yields good results for the vast majority of churches who participate. Please understand, this will be a great deal of hard work. Some of the most important commitments include:
- The pastor must be committed to staying and leading the church into the future.
- The team members must be committed to helping their pastor and church succeed.
Teams who commit to doing the work and completing the process typically see very good progress and improvement.
Costs
The CLC process is affordable in terms of money and time. However, it is deep and comprehensive requiring lots of hard work, much prayer, robust discussion, and synergistic teamwork. Costs are detailed below:
- CHURCH REGISTRATION FEE: $100.00 – this is a one-time fee to enroll your church in the process. This modest charge includes a reproducible PDF copy of the CLC Workbook so that you can print as many copies as needed for your church team.
- COACHING FEE & TRAVEL EXPENSE: The coaching fee for each on-site, face-to-face coaching session is $100 plus mileage/travel expense. However, there is a 20% discount for churches who pay upfront for the entire process—reducing annual coaching fees from $600 to a total of $500 (plus travel).
- OUTSIDE READING BOOKS: You will be asked to read one book between each session. You may purchase these individually or in bulk as a church. You may purchase from Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, or from any store or outlet you choose.
CLC Reading List
The following five books are the outside reading for the Church Leadership Coaching Process. No reading is due prior to session one. However, you will read a book prior to every other session throughout the rest of the process. The books are listed in the order they are to be read.
- 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner & Lane Jones, Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books
(To be read prior to session 2) - The Externally Focused Quest: Becoming the Best Church for the Community, by Eric Swanson and Rick Rusaw, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
(To be read prior to session 3) - Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey, Rick Richardson, Downers Grove, Il: Intervarsity Press
(To be read prior to session 4) - First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences in Your Church, By Mark Waltz, Loveland, CO: Group Publishing
(To be read prior to session 5) - Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples, By Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, Nashville, TN, B & H Publishing
(To be read prior to session 6)
Several years ago, Gary began the process of compiling his unique coaching system, and led regional pastor growth groups in the six regions of the Potomac District. … his investment in the lives of fellow pastors has been eagerly received and … highly effective. … Gary is well read, very relational, spiritually sensitive, and a highly regarded ministry coach, who has made an indelible mark among the churches of the Potomac District. … Gary has functioned at a very high level of knowledge, experience, and wisdom for years. He is one of the most skilled teachers I know. I would highly recommend Gary … He is an outstanding gift to the Church of Jesus Christ.
Ken Burtram, Former District Superintendent,
Potomac Ministry Network Assemblies of God.