Planting a church is a team sport. Sure, there may be some circumstances where the church planter only has to involve a few other people in a leadership role for a new church to become sustainable and effective but those cases are few and far between.
The need for a great team becomes even more important when the church is determined to be externally focused. God will and can work powerfully with a few people in leadership but generally the effort required to offer something to people that have given up on the church requires more time and effort than a handful of people are capable of sustaining, especially if a church is determined to be a Great Commission church and disciple the new and/or young Believers.
The number and quality of teams required for an effective externally focused church represent a significant challenge for any church planter. Failing to create and manage those teams effectively is one of the most likely traps a church planter can fall into causing them to be at a greater risk of burn out and experience far less effectiveness than they are capable of producing.
So how does a coach factor into a church planters need to lead a number of well running teams? The key words are insight and position. A coach will know how well a leader is delegating and managing their church by how they are spending their time and how well they are accomplishing their goals. A coach will also know the church planter’s personality traits that can help their ability to lead teams as well as hurt their ability to lead teams.
A coach will also know how to ask the right questions to challenge the church planter to not settle for less delegation than what a situation calls for. A coach should also help the church planter diagnose and problem solve his team effectiveness issues on a real time basis, encouraging the church planter to work from their strengths.
Effective teams are a critical resource for a church plant. Having help to assure that their teams are effective is an excellent investment for a church planter.
