We need to change the way we do Kingdom work because the world has changed and the significant place of respect pastors and congregations once held is no longer there. New statistics paint a rather challenging picture. Taken recently, the information suggests the church is not connecting with the younger generation. 

When a pastor look at our congregations (or a District Superintendent looks at his district), exactly what image do we see? How do we perceive the congregation as a whole? What is the paradigm or image that determines how we serve?

Each answer demands a different response. The ­premodern paradigm needed someone who is a guardian, an educator, a shepherd and, perhaps, an occasional evangelist. The modern paradigm needed someone who is an administrator, a chief executive officer, a teacher, and an occasional seminar. The postmodern paradigm needs is a coach. 

When postmodern leaders look at their congregations, they do not see a quagmire of sin or a collection of programs and committees; they see a gathering of potentially good people who want to work together to know and experience God and be a blessing to humanity. Most often they see their people as a team or, perhaps more accurately, a cluster of teams. Those pastors who desire to become effective Kingdom builders need to understand that they do not need to be a guardian, a CEO, or a caregiver. They need a leader; a coach.

 

I am persuaded that coaching is relevant for any age group; from builders to bridgers. In the following paragraphs, let me try to give you a picture of what “team concept” means in today’s local church. 

First of all, being a part of a team means building on three foundations: valuing commitment, developing skills, and being accountable.
 

Next, it means focusing on three targets: Spiritual growth (spiritual growth is never optional); it should be required as a part of membership, pursued relentlessly both individually and collectively. Mission results (meaning focusing on results not processes), and collective witness (meaning not simply knowing how but actually witnessing – the obligation to witness should always be present in every congregation—“ye shall be my witnesses.”) 

Lastly, it means connecting, which includes: Learning new disciplines (meaning developing networks of relevant learning; new techniques, technologies, methods, and possibilities.), Community partnerships (which mean developing linkage/relationships beyond the church and denomination i.e., other agencies, organizations, religious groups, or businesses), and congregational worship (which means building all work, witness, and growth around worship).

Tom Bandy attempts to answer the question, what is a congregational team? 

[It is] an entrepreneurial unity, an organic cell, a link in the chain of life between God and community. A team requires a coach with a mission attitude, a work ethic, a variable game plan, and a winning faith. The one requires the other. If all you have are committees, all you need is a CEO; and if all you have is a CEO, then all you need is a committee. But you cannot have a team without a coach, nor a coach without a team. Change the nature of the congregation from an institution to a team, and you change the role of the clergy {or superintendent}. Change the role of the clergy {or superintendent}, and you change the perception of the congregation {or district} (Coaching Change: Breaking Down Resistance – Building Up Hope, p. 67).