Coaching Corner: Reflective Coffee Conversations

Recently Jill Friend, Faith Formation Ministries’ regional catalyzer for the upper Midwest, invited six pastors to have a one-on-one coffee with her to reflect on each congregation’s faith formation practices. She was pleasantly surprised when all six immediately accepted her invitation.

“My sense was that they’ve become sufficiently acquainted with our new ministry to want to check us out and discern how FFM might strengthen faith formation in their congregations,” Jill reflected. “They’ve received our resource packets, that’s made them curious about our ministry, and now they’re eager to interact with us.”

Jill’s conversations centered on family faith formation, a specific focus that Faith Formation Ministries (FFM) has chosen for the coming school year. “These pastors noted how busy families are,” she said, “and they also recognized that it’s a challenge for the church to contribute to strengthening faith formation in the home because families are so invested in Christian schools. They’re so busy that it’s difficult for them to be intentionally thoughtful about their home discipling practices.”

One pastor made a specific request to FFM: “I’d love to be able to give the parents in my church a tool (not a book!) that will give them the confidence they need to apply scriptural teachings in their homes. They want to do this, but they feel inadequate. Could you support us with such a tool?”

We at FFM are in the midst of preparing such tools now, and we plan to make them available during the coming school year.

Questions? Comment below! 

Faith Formation Ministries provides congregational faith formation leaders the opportunity to meet in-person or connect digitally or by phone with members of our team and other ministry leaders for coaching and support. Whether it’s a one-time, one-on-one conversation or a long-term peer group, we are here to help. For more information about our regional catalyzer, visit crcna.org/FaithFormation/coaching!