What transitions are you facing and leading in your ministry?

Orthodox Christian Coaching supports adaptive leadership practice through professional coaching for:

• Seminary graduates who are embarking on new ministries
• Priests and ministry leaders who have accepted new parish assignments
• Lay and clergy leaders who are supporting new mission parishes
• Succession planning for retiring priests and their successors
• Parish leaders who are earnestly seeking the Lord’s will for renewed cooperation and clarity​

​​Transform your own leadership, your teams, and your community through intentional coaching relationships.

COMPLIMENTARY SESSION

"As a personal coach and Orthodox deacon, I believe Orthodox Christian Coaching is an invaluable resource for both clergy and lay leaders. Their network of coaches provides the on-the-job feedback and soft skills training that are essential for success in a parish. I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking to grow as a leader and make a difference in their local community."

- Dn. Michael Hyatt
New York Times bestselling author and leadership coach
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What are People saying about This ministry?

Fr. Peter Runyon
​St. Susanna Orthodox Church, Sonora, CA

"After years of being in various leadership roles in the corporate world, I thought my transition into the priesthood would be fairly straight forward. But it quickly became apparent that the methods and mindset that made me so effective as a leader in the secular world did not work well at all in parish life.

The greatest take-away from coaching is realizing, "These are people, not problems." My coach offered a voice outside of my head that provided a view of my circumstances that was different than my own. He helped me find my blind spots. His coaching has made my transition easier and more effective. I know this has changed my life, and it has changed the lives of all those I interact with." ​

Fr. John Parker, Dean
​St. Tikhon’s Seminary

"​I am Fr. John Parker, but you could call me Thomas because I had my serious and measured doubts and reservations about this leadership and coaching initiative. I shared with them that I would do my best to suspend my judgment and enter the program myself (secretly to prove myself right.)​

I began regular leadership and coaching sessions, and I was astounded to find my doubts and reservations falling so quickly. I so wholeheartedly endorse this program. I have seen, and therefore believed. Somewhere it is written: blessed are they who have not seen, and yet believe. This program significantly and practically helps at the most basic – and advanced – levels of leadership and interpersonal relations and communications." 

100% of those who received Orthodox Christian Coaching AGREED:​

• I made appropriate steps toward achieving my goals.
• I would recommend my coach to others.
• The benefits were worth the effort.
• I would do it again.
• I was able to implement what I learned in my coaching sessions in my daily life.

Steven Roberts
​St. John the Theologian, NY

"Unlike many of the others in my cohort, I find myself working within the Christ's vineyard outside of ordained ministry as a pastoral assistant. After approximately 6 months of coaching, I'm firmly convinced of the need for coaching for everyone involved within the  Church, particularly lay ministry due to the loosely defined and often ambiguous roles that lay people find themselves in, such as working as a youth director/pastoral assistant, parish council, music ministry, and others. When roles are loosely defined, this of course leaves room to the movement of the Holy Spirit, but also to divergent opinions on what a person's job, duties, and direction should be, leading to conflict. However, the coaching approach to leadership is founded on asking questions and creating awareness, reframing how conflict can be productive and educational, rather than being something to run away from or to engage in a defensive manner. 

I've found this to be a particularly fruitful approach with regards to many of my ministries. In teaching catechism, I've found that leading with questions seems to be a very useful way of leading, rather than "banking", and depositing answers into one's students. Opening with questions not only allows for more student engagement, but also enables them to answer their own questions, learning the logic of theology, and how to think rather than just facts. When articulating the response to the question asked, it also gives them the added benefit of learning by articulating the response.
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In regards to my young adult ministry, this approach has been useful in terms of keeping the Orthodox ethos of the group, as well as redirecting behaviors which are not necessarily productive. One young adult member in my group suggested going to another parish for vespers, almost two hours away from our parish, a suggestion he has made numerous times with no result. Rather than simply saying "This idea is not going to work", I rather asked questions such as "Have we tried this before?", "What reasons do you think it hasn't been successful?"
 
Perhaps the greatest takeaway is asking how we will define success and setting goals and topics. So many times conflict and or inefficiency comes from unclear goals and success criteria. Working within a parish council or another ministry to set clear goals and then determine success criteria is a crucial step to making sure that everyone is aiming the same way.

It appears to many that Orthodox Christianity in America is finally reaching the stage where we're an actual part of the American religious landscape. The only question seems to me to be if we will take the talents given to us and use them or bury them in the field. This is a time for us, I believe, to take seriously the management and running of our institutions for the growth of Christ's body and for the life of the world, and coaching can be of great assistance."​

COMPLIMENTARY SESSION

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