What do you think?
Rate this book
Faith Coaching: A Conversational Approach to Helping Others Move Forward in Faith
Tired of fill-in-the-blank faith and one-size-fits-all approaches to discipleship? Faith Coaching equips you to use coaching conversations to help others find and follow their spiritual growth path.
For too long, Christians have taken a delivery approach to spiritual formation: we memorize key verses and snappy concepts to spring on our un-churched neighbors; we provide fill-in-the-blank study courses for believers who want to grow in faith; we strive to tell, teach and transfer what we know. The results? Stagnant believers, lowered expectations and an avoidance of spiritual conversations. There must be a better approach. What if you could take a discovery approach to spiritual formation? What if you didn’t have to be an expert with all the answers but you could ask questions that helped others expand their commitment to following Christ? What if you could take a coach approach? And what if this approach were easy to learn, simple to apply, and bore fruit in the lives of those around you? Here is such an approach. Faith Coaching teaches you to leverage the power of coaching conversations to help others find and follow their spiritual path.
For too long, Christians have taken a delivery approach to spiritual formation: we memorize key verses and snappy concepts to spring on our un-churched neighbors; we provide fill-in-the-blank study courses for believers who want to grow in faith; we strive to tell, teach and transfer what we know. The results? Stagnant believers, lowered expectations and an avoidance of spiritual conversations. There must be a better approach. What if you could take a discovery approach to spiritual formation? What if you didn’t have to be an expert with all the answers but you could ask questions that helped others expand their commitment to following Christ? What if you could take a coach approach? And what if this approach were easy to learn, simple to apply, and bore fruit in the lives of those around you? Here is such an approach. Faith Coaching teaches you to leverage the power of coaching conversations to help others find and follow their spiritual path.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 20, 2009
64 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 9, 2022
This book offers an entry to a.different approach to helping people who are in troubling times. Coaching offers a unique approach to helping people look at their problem as a situation that can foster growth by using the resources they already have but do not recognize. When this approach is combined with ministry, we emulate the work of Jesus, whose ministry asked questions to help people address their situation. I am studying to be a life coach for the dying and bereaved. This book is in my reference library.
April 18, 2020
This book is a good introduction to coaching. It shines light on the role of a coach especially with regard to spiritual growth. The authors use case studies to help the reader understand coaching and to see how anyone can use coaching strategies to help others grow in their spiritual life.
August 30, 2020
A highly practical guide to the fundamentals of coaching that also describes how this formation approach fits within the scope of Christian ministry.
December 12, 2025
A helpful resource on how to ask questions and listen attentively.
March 29, 2016
A good overview of coaching from a Christian perspective. The application of coaching to spiritual formation was not as strong as I had hoped, and is not central to several chapters of the book. But nevertheless, the introduction to coaching, and the explanation of the coaching model were helpful reviews, and helps the coach to understand how coaching fits into a ministry context.
I appreciated the emphasis on starting where people are at in their spiritual journey and coaching on where God is already working, whether or not coachees are ready to use faith language. But I am not convinced that coaching necessarily requires a high anthropology, as the book advocates in the appendix (Theology of Coaching). I think it is quite possible to recognize the fallenness of man, and his hopelessness without Christ, and still adopt a coaching mindset in our ministry.
I appreciated the emphasis on starting where people are at in their spiritual journey and coaching on where God is already working, whether or not coachees are ready to use faith language. But I am not convinced that coaching necessarily requires a high anthropology, as the book advocates in the appendix (Theology of Coaching). I think it is quite possible to recognize the fallenness of man, and his hopelessness without Christ, and still adopt a coaching mindset in our ministry.
November 16, 2015
If you are curious about the phenomena that is called coaching today, this is a great book for you. Especially, if you are a Christian and want to help others move forward in their Faith journey. The practical help, real life case studies, and the philosophy in this book lead one to desire the application of coaching for transformation to anyone and everyone, because it truly is a tool God uses to help others in life.
August 20, 2010
Read for my first year Internship class at GFS. Easy read with good principles. Better than I thought it would be.
May 24, 2012
Excellent framework for coaching in the church. Vital -- and harder than it looks.
November 25, 2019
A valuable book in my coaching library. Foundational and very practical.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews