Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God

Many ministry leaders serving in churches find themselves overwhelmed, disillusioned, and depressed by the enormous and challenging task of leading and serving others. When leaders aren't healthy, the result is often an unhealthy church. Leaders need someone to shepherd their soul so that they can then lead others to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Every church leader--from fulltime ministers to volunteer leaders--needs a Gospel Coach who will come alongside them with words drawn from Scripture and godly wisdom, grounded in the gracious saving work of Jesus Christ, and presented in the context of a trusting relationship. Gospel coaching is an intentional relationship of skillful caring for others based on four ancient shepherding principles: 1) Know the sheep 2) Feed the sheep 3) Lead the sheep 4) Protect the sheep Gospel coaches inquire about the personal, spiritual, and missional aspects of a leader's life in a loving yet focused manner, probing the heart for compulsive unbelief or selfish motivation, disobedience, and sin, leading them back to the Gospel through belief, repentance, and obedience.

Scott Thomas created the Gospel Coach Training and Certification system and has coached hundreds of pastors. Scott has served as president and network director of Acts 29 Network and as an elder at Mars Hill Church. Scott has a Masters in Missional Leadership and has been married for thirty years to Jeannie, with whom he has two sons. He planted and replanted churches for sixteen years as a lead pastor. Scott has taught for Resurgence Training Center in Seattle and is a conference speaker in the US as well as a consultant for both Western European church planting and Canadian church planting. Scott wrote Theological Clarity and Application (Zondervan, 2010) and has written blogs for Acts 29 Network, The Resurgence, Mars Hill Church and ChurchPlanting.com.

Tom Wood is the President of Church Multiplication Ministries and serves as Director of the North Georgia Church Planting Network, the Nashville Church Planting Network, and leads Church Planter Assessments for the PCA and Grace Network of Canada. He has planted two churches, served as Director of Church Planting for Perimeter Ministries in Atlanta and as Southeast Regional Church Planting Coordinator for the PCA. Tom has D.Min. and M.Div degrees and has been married to Rachel for 33 years. He coaches and consults with pastors and churches throughout the US, Canada and London, UK.