About
The Huron Congregational Coaches team in the Anglican Diocese of Huron is made up of lay and clergy volunteers who bring passion, vision, and skill to the ministry of coaching. Our services are free to churches and organizations in Huron Diocese. Building on what is already life-giving in your midst, coaches can work with your congregation or regional ministry to:
- Help you discover your shared values, identity, and vision
- Prepare the ground for a healthy, growing church
- Discern your congregation’s, ministry’s, or committee’s gifts
- Equip you to carry out, sustain, and celebrate your unique purpose in Christ
Our Purpose:
- To assist parishes in the ongoing development of mission & ministry plans:
- Co-ordinate with Archdeacons and Regional Deans to identify parishes needing assistance, encouragement or challenge
- Identify resources to assist parishes in living out the Marks of Mission
- Make referrals to Congregational Coaches, the Stewardship Committee and/or Land & Property Committee
- To grow the team of Congregational Coaches:
- Recruit, train, mentor: To have more coaches on our coaching team and hopefully to have at least one coach from each deanery.
- To research and share resources with clergy and Deanery Councils that will assist in nurturing discipleship and evangelism:
- To review materials, books, and courses for appropriate recommendation
- Communicate findings with Clericus & Deanery Councils
- To be story-tellers for the Diocese
- To share stories, with the people of the Diocese, about creative ministry ideas and projects through the Huron Church News, website or Facebook page
We look forward to assisting you in any way that we can be helpful. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact either of the Congregational Coaches Co-Chairs:
Paul Townshend, 519-280-9145
The pandemic has changed a lot of the way that we communicate with congregations. We are encouraged by the way that congregations are learning how to use Zoom. As a result, some coaches are assisting congregations through Zoom meetings and other modes of communication. We will continue to explore new ways that we can help congregations, whether that be by videos, Zoom workshops, conference calls or educational webinars.
As we continue in this new way of doing things the Congregational Coaches really appreciate the support and guidance provided by the Diocesan staff and our Episcopal leadership. With their assistance, we continue to explore the implications of our mandate, outlined below, as it stretches and expands our role through new relationships and opportunities.
We continue to look for new coaches from both the clergy and the laity. Last year we were successful in adding two new coaches to our roster! Application packages, which are available through the coaching team and the Archdeacons and Regional Deans, explain more about the process of being a coach. We have a “come and see" approach, inviting those interested in coaching to come and see what we are about at one of our regular coaching meetings. Training is provided for new coaches so they can discover how their skill set can support and enhance the coaching role.
We want to thank Bishop Todd Townshend for his support of our coaching team. He sees the value of coaches working alongside congregations assisting them with spiritual resources. We are excited by his encouragement and confidence in the work our coaches are doing. We look forward to him joining two or more (if his time permits) of our coaches’ meetings this year.
Congregational Coaches Chair
Paul Townshend
