I've been thinking, studying and praying about developing a coaching structure for our small groups at Embrace for several months now and have zeroed in on something that I think may allow us to take some first steps into a new culture for our small groups while still leaving a lot of flexibility for future adjustments.
First, it helps to understand a more traditional small group coaching structure. In a traditional structure, a coach is responsible for connecting with 3-5 groups on a regular basis for encouragement, direction and prayer. The logistics of how it happens (face to face, email...) and how often (weekly, monthly) can be adapted to fit the structure of the ministry or the unique needs of each individual group.
For a lot of churches, this means recruiting coaches which can prove challenging because your primary pool of people with an understanding of small group ministry are... current group leaders. For a lot of small group pastors, the thought of losing some of their most effective leaders from groups to focus on coaching is a hard pill to swallow. I've heard of structures using coaches as group leaders as well, but one of the biggest hurdles in ministry is over stretching volunteers to the point where they are either ineffective in ministry or they simply exhaust themselves until they need to step away. I would make exceptions based on an individual's strengths and availability, but would be more inclined to have coaches who are not current group leaders whenever possible.
I had been playing with the idea of starting with coaches for new groups and other groups that could simply use a more hands on approach and organizing a peer structure for the rest of the groups at Embrace. In this strategy, we would partner three groups together to encourage and pray for one another and set up something to encourage peer to peer learning as well. I've been calling these partnerships "pods." The initial idea was that all of the groups would be assigned to a pod as more coaches were recruited until we had a coach for every pod.
While I felt like that strategy gave us a good direction to move, I'm now feeling as though a long term hybrid of coaches and pods may actually fit us better as a church and build the kind of connectedness that we'd like to see our small groups have. So, what we will begin to implement is a structure where all of the groups are placed in pods and only the groups that are just getting started or that need a higher level of attention will be matched with coaches.
There are a few reasons why I feel this is preferable to a full out coaching structure. First, I think that the potential of peer training and support may actually make for a healthier dynamic down the road. I think we underestimate how much we can learn from each other and how much we have to offer to others that are engaging in similar ministry. My hope is that it will empower our leaders and make them more thoughtful about the types of things they could be doing in their groups instead of simply implementing the ideas that are handed down to them by a coach. Second, it reduces the number of coaches that are needed and allows more of our best and brightest to stay involved in group leadership where they will still be coaching (while receiving coaching from) their fellow podmates. Finally, this structure gives us a place to start that can easily be adapted if we decide that we do need coaches for all of our groups whether filling in the gaps of the pod strategy or transitioning to a more traditional coaching model.
It's been a lot to process through and I am still working out the details, but I am excited at the potential for this to provide our group leaders the kind of support they need and deserve as they give of themselves in ministry to the people of Embrace. I will be sure to give updates as things progress and adapt.
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