It is a God-sized dream in which we serve.
Our coaches live in covenant to provide confidentiality in all that they do and to persistently strengthen their competency to serve the people we coach.
We heard God’s call to this ministry in 2007 as a grassroots movement in the Greenville District of the UMC under the partnership of Rev. Beth Hood and Peg Aldridge. Our goal then was to infuse health into the system of the local church, the community, and the annual conference so that health became self-generated and not dependent on any one person.
Our hopes were to:
- Strengthen the organization,
- Transform lives and
- Pursue innovative ministry that was God-centered and directed.
Since then, we have lived Ephesians 3:20, God ‘is able to do immeasurably more than all we could have ask for or imagine, according to God’s power that is at work within us.’
As a result, this God-sized dream has engaged with over 2400 ministry professionals and laity in eight conferences of the UMC. This represents over 20,000 hours of coaching delivered to individuals and groups – in person and virtually.
We are still counting and seeing more needs every day. To God be the glory.
We have trained 57 coaches since 2010. Many are using their investment in coaching to strengthen their own ministries and those with whom they serve. Twenty-three are deploying their gifts in the ministry of PIP.
Core Values
- We are Christ-centered and continue to be responsive to the new way God leads to expand this ministry.
- We believe that each person has God-given gifts and strengths to be deployed to God’s glory.
- We believe that our words create our world, we will get more of that on which we focus, and that we choose what we study.
- We believe in the power of the question and the gift of the question.
- We believe deep listening and curious questions build strong, long-lasting relationships.
- We believe that everyone benefits from a thinking partner. All of our coaches not only serve as thinking partners, but they also work with a thinking partner in the form of support and supervision.
Our Current Offerings
Individual coaching using appreciative practices and experiential learning
Facilitated Communities of Practice as clergy grow in community
Facilitated Online learning for foundational ministry competency development (More found here) link
Programs to equip and empower clergy in the context of their ministry:
- Transition Support: An accelerated integration process delivered in conjunction with a change of clergy appointment.
- Resilient Leadership: Creation of and deployment of a personal development plan created by the clergy person for support in their local setting.
- Residency in Ordained Ministry: Investment in clergy early in their ministry to develop ministry competencies as a foundation of a life-long fruitful ministry.
- Appreciative Coach Training: Grounded in Appreciative Inquiry for the development of leaders and coaches who long to lead in a way that builds on what God has provided to each of us to live into the call God has placed on our lives.
- The Esther Project: Development of Emotional Intelligence and Learning Agility for this complex and challenging time of ministry.
Programs that Equip & Empower Clergy
Transition Support
Resilient Leadership
Residency in Ordained Ministry
Appreciative Coach Training
The Esther Project
An accelerated integration process delivered in conjunction with a change of clergy appointment.
Creation of and deployment of a personal development plan created by the clergy person for support in their local setting.
Investment in clergy early in their ministry to develop ministry competencies as a foundation of a life-long fruitful ministry.
Grounded in Appreciative Inquiry for the development of leaders and coaches who long to lead in a way that builds on what God has provided to each of us to live into the call God has placed on our lives.
Development of Emotional Intelligence and Learning Agility for this complex and challenging time of ministry
Work with Us
Please contact us for more information about processes developed and delivered to live into our mission which include:
- Transition support for change in the ministry setting
- Transition into ministry through the residency (RIOM) program,
- Leadership resilience and effectiveness behavioral coaching (i.e., Resilient Leader Initiative, The Esther Project, transitional coaching, staff development, church leadership team-building)
- Coach training to develop powerful appreciative practices and behaviors undergirding life-long fruitful ministry and resilient ministry for individuals and groups