Gear Up!: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church

by Kay Kotan (Foreword), Bob Farr (Foreword)

In Gear Up!, Kay Kotan outlines nine areas of ministry wherecongregations must intentionally design a process. It is not enough todecide, “We are going to refocus in this direction.” Leaders must decidehow and what steps they will take. Who will do what, and when? Thisconcise and exceedingly practical new book can help. “Kay Kotanhas long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation among both laity and clergyas a passionate, positive change agent. In her new book, readers willfind a rich synthesis of her time-tested insights and hands-on work withlocal churches of all sizes and circumstances. If your church hasslipped into reverse or is stuck in neutral, Gear Up! can help get itdriving forward!” —Jim Ozier, Director of New Church Development, NorthTexas Conference, UMC; author of Clip In and The Changeover Zone fromAbingdon Press“Gear Up! is packed with practical information andchecklists designed to empower leaders and teams. This book should behanded to every church leader and board member so that they willunderstand the essential hows and whys of effective ministry in today’scomplex world.” —Blake Bradford, Assistant Director for ClergyDevelopment, Center for Vitality, Arkansas Conference, UMC“Thisis a tactical, practical, nitty-gritty, boots-on-the-ground,systems-oriented book. It gives you a series of diagnostics to run onyour church so that you can get on the road to faithful discipling.”—Cynthia Fierro Harvey, Bishop, Louisiana Conference, UMC“Healthysystems lead to healthy churches. Gear Up! is a systems manual to helpour churches be healthy so that we can fulfill our mission of makingdisciples who transform their community and the world.” —Kelly P. Brown,Director for Congregational Vitality, East Ohio Conference, UMC“KayKotan understands that sustained growth depends on healthy systems.Gear Up! provides helpful insights and checklists to diagnose the stateof your systems so that your church can ‘gear up’ for the long run.”—Phil Schroeder, Director of Congregational Development, North GeorgiaConference, UMC

Genres: Leadership

146 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 16, 2017

About the author

Kay Kotan is the founder of You Unlimited (coaching, consulting and training company) and Impressions Unlimited (mystery worshiper company). She is also the creator of The Greatest Expedition – a collaboration of more than twenty thought leaders providing resources and insights for a congregational journey to develop new MAPS (ministry action plans) to reach new people in your community. Kay has also launched Multipliers’ Movement – a gathering of kingdom multipliers for sharing, equipping, and encouraging.
She is a CoachU and Advanced CoachU Graduate, an accredited coach (PCC: Professional Certified Coach) with the ICF, International Coaching Federation, a Certified Path 1 Coach, and once served on the faculty at Coaching4Clergy. As a passionate lay person, she has a banking background and has been a business owner for more than 25 years. Kotan has served as a church developer for conferences and worked with churches, pastors, conferences, and judicatory leaders across the country for more than a decade. She is most proud to be the wife of Bob for 29 years and the mother of their adult son, Cameron.

Reviews

[Andrew Ware · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning tool

The gears described in this book can feel overwhelming but they feel necessary for churches to at least consider. Loved how the author unpacked each gear and even had “cogs” for tangible learning/implementation for each gear. This could be great for any church to use as a self-evaluative tool for where their church is.

[David A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuts and Bolts

Gear Up is a quick read for the busy church leader. Despite its concise nature,there is a wealth of material that has been proven effective in setting up a ministry to succeed in making disciples of Christ Jesus. I recommend that one takes time to ruminate on the contents of Gear Up and put them into practice with care.

[Lisa Wilt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for leading the way in church growth!

[Chris Everson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has given me great incites on how to effectively organize the church for mission. I can’t wait to have my staff and leadership read this book!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often in the church we can find that we have blind spots, that when ignored or unaddressed can halt
Our mission and ministry for the Kingdom of God. A book that calls us to check up and fine tune our church, Kay has wonderful
Insights while calling for individual implementation