Thursday, July 23, 2015

Faith coaching - review

I finished reading the book Faith Coaching: A Conversational Approach to Helping Others Move Forward in Faith, by Chad Hall, Bill Copper, and Kathryn McElveen. I am not very good at providing reviews, but thought this a worthwhile read, so... here are my 2 cents.

Overall, the book fit my definition of a good read because it was well laid out (chapters evenly spaced and not too wordy), the type was easy to read, and it was not overly long at 200 pages. It was also easy to understand. If there is a negative, it's that it was put out in 2009 (and I'm just getting around to it).

As a coaching book, I thought it equally good. They didn't push their own business (or anyone else's), and didn't make it only for those who do coaching professionally. You don't even need to be a "coach."

Perhaps the best thing about the book is how they present a way for almost anyone to coach anyone else in "moving forward in faith." 

In fact, they define it very much the way I define discipleship:
"Moving forward in faith means you are becoming a better person, a better human being, a better version of yourself in the most holistic and healthy way possible. It means you are becoming more like Jesus (John 3:30)."

As I said, the book was laid out very well. They begin with "What Is Coaching?" and end with a very practical "What Is My Next Step and How Do I Take It?" It can't get anymore practical than that.

Towards the end (p. 176) they sum up with a brief synopsis of everything covered in the book:
  • God wants you to be godly, and one very important aspect of you being godly is that you help others grow in faith.
  • Coaching is a specific way you can help others grow in faith.
  • Coaching is effective because it's a more personalized way you can help others grow in faith.
  • Coaching requires you to shift your beliefs, your behaviors, your relationships and the results you expect.
  • Coaching is as simple as listening, asking good questions and providing some guidance in the conversations you have.
  • When you have a coaching conversation, you'll move through three basic phases: narrow to a focus, explore options, and design actions.
  • Your coaching can cover a wide range of topics since everybody starts somewhere on their journey forward in faith.
  • When you explore options, the best places to look are within the person being coached and toward their relationships with God and others.
  • The person being coached will design actions that build relationship with God or community to form him or her more fully into the image of God.
  • There are people all around whom you can coach forward in faith, starting with those closest to you.
  • You can take coaching to a whole other level when you work to create a coaching culture around you.
So, that's it in a nutshell. A good book. I recommend it to anyone interested in coaching, or simply anyone wanting to help others grow in their faith.