up and running. Though the potential upside can be significant, it will proba- bly require a fair amount of key leaders’ bandwidth to do it right. Good news from the front lines. One ministry leader who responded to our national survey wrote, “Our con- gregation’s reentry ministry is combined with our recovery ministry called Community Recovery International. The most successful aspects we offer are a year-round, weekly recovery ministry evening where we offer a free meal, recovery worship, and seven recovery groups. All of our mentoring, therapy, networking of resources, accountability navigation, and the like. We also of- fer online video resources and livestreaming that provides recovery support. The majority of our people who attend on our recovery nights are returning citizens. We have been able to bridge dozens of returning citizens to the con- gregation over the past 23 years.”
As the name suggests, the Coach/Mentor model is really two distinct methods, but there are enough family resemblances between them to treat them together here. Though there are a host of competing definitions of what constitutes “real” coaching, for our purposes, let’s consider coaching to be a relationship between coach and coachee where the coach comes alongside (not above) the coachee… • to help the coachee develop/clarify his or her own goals and objectives (Where do you want to go?). The coachee sets the agenda. • to help with a reality check (Where are you now?). • to identify roadblocks and resources (What needs to change?). • to be future- and action-oriented (What next?). Practical steps to try. • to be accountable (follow-up…How did it go?). Coaching is distinct from either counseling or consulting. A coach asks powerful questions, while a consultant gives expert answers. Coaching is fu-
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