“Coaching creates a positive conversation and energy allowing one to clarify their personal values, imagine new possibilities, and identify hopeful steps in making better decisions. When we can think out loud with another, we allow ourselves to be held accountable, building trust and integrity. There is no leadership without trust. Each of us performs more effectively when we are enabled and encouraged to be our best. This is exactly what coaching provides.”
—Bishop Paul Leeland, Western North Carolina Conference
“Coaching has helped me identify the keys to structuring and leading in such a way that I help others achieve their best, which translates into greater effectiveness, more people reached for the Gospel and changed lives. Coaching also helped me identify—in terms I’d not used before—some of my key strengths and to plan how to use them with greater intentionality, complementarily to the strengths of the rest of our pastoral and staff team. Imagine the last time you had an issue in your ministry and wanted someone to help you clarify next steps: that’s what coaching is for.”
—Rev. Gray Southern, District Superintendent – Capital District of NCCUMC
“There have been times in my life that I have been afraid to share a dream, but coaching has taught me that you can’t let the God dream just sit inside.”
—Bishop Leonard Fairley, Kentucky Annual Conference
“The coaching aspect of the Academy of Leadership Excellence deepens and solidifies applying the Leadership principles to our actual settings. We talk about how those principles are already being lived out and how we can live more deeply into the best practices we’re learning. It turns drinking from a firehose into sipping from a refillable glass.”
—Rev. Claire Clyburn, Westover UMC
“Coaching offers encouragement and a big picture perspective that allows pastors to theologically reflect on their ministry but also view it in the context of God’s Kingdom and God’s work in the world. Coaching enables ministers to get from hesitation or disorganization to deliberate action and ministry…It is a gift and a life-line in a wonderful but difficult profession. Coaching enables me to continue to minister in healthy and life-giving ways.”
—Rev. Courtney Randall – New England Conference
“As a participant in the AFLE Fellows program, I am learning how to be an effective church leader, and the calls I have with my coach each month add another dimension to the program. They provide an opportunity for me to share my thoughts and to discover more ways I can put into practice what I have learned. They also give me a feeling of connection and purpose, as I strive to live into my church’s Vision of ‘Walking in the World for Christ.'”
—Jane Brown, Westover UMC
“One of the biggest advantages of my coaching relationship has been the focus on strengths. This helped me identify ways I would Like to be involved in church activities, rather than what I “thought” I should do. As my coach likes to say, “your strengths are transferrable to any situation!” During our coaching relationship, we have also worked on my own professional development. This resource has been invaluable to decreasing the stress and nerves that surround applying to a medical residency.”
—Kate Stewart Timberlake, Medical Resident and Clergy Spouse
“Coaching is a partnership where you have a level of accountability in discovering how you can be your best self in ministry.”
—Rev. Patrick Murphy, Front Street UMC
“Coaching has provided a safe space for me to explore how God is at work in my community, church, family, and beyond. My coach has helped me to uncover the beauty of ministry from many different angles. I look forward to my coaching calls and give God thanks for this important and fruitful ministry!”
—Rev. Joshua Kurtz, Jordan Memorial UMC