The Importance of Coaching Trees

After the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl a few weeks ago, Head Coach Andy Reid, walked off the field with his arm around his offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy.  In several subsequent interviews Reid made a point to emphasize Bienemy’s involvement in their Super Bowl win and expressed the desire to see his coordinator get an opportunity to run the show for another team.  That wasn’t because Reid wanted Bienemy off his staff, it was because that was the best next step in Bienemy’s development. 

Andy Reid has a history of sending off his best assistants to other NFL teams.  You can actually trace his “coaching tree” and find that he has sent assistants on to become head coaches for eight different teams over the years.  This is not a new concept and Reid himself traces his roots back to Mike Holmgren’s coaching tree, who in turn traces his roots back to Bill Walsh the Hall of Fame Head Coach for the San Francisco 49ers.  All of the head coaches in the NFL today trace their roots back to various “coaching trees” that dot the NFL’s historical landscape.

A great coach identifies future leaders, brings them onto their team, gives them a place to serve while also building and equipping them for greater responsibility and empowers them to grow.  A great coach also then recognizes when it is time for that person to be sent on to what is next.  That is why coaches like Andy Reid will continue to have an impact on the National Football League even after they have hung up their headset, because those they have sent off continue that legacy.

This same “coaching tree” mentality fits well within our ministry context.  As I think back over my life I can think of several “coaches” God has used in my life, but I can also trace my “ministry roots” back to one “coach” in particular that I would say I come from his “coaching tree.”  He saw God’s calling on my life even before I did, invited me to serve on his team, invested in my life, gave me greater responsibility and eventually sent me off to serve as a senior pastor in another place.  I consider myself part of John Teschan’s coaching tree and I am not the only one.  There are pastors across the United States and missionaries around the world who are part of that same tree.  I can even think of a couple pastors in our district who spent time under his leadership.

As pastors and ministry leaders, we have opportunities to identify future leaders, bring them onto our team, give them a place to serve while also building and equipping them for greater responsibility and empowering them to grow.  We also have the opportunity to recognize when it is time for that person to be sent on to what is next.  That part can be a little bit harder.  It can be intimidating to think of sending off our leaders to go serve somewhere else.  But we need to realize that not only might it be what is best for our developing leader, it also might be what is best for the Kingdom. 

In Matthew 9 Jesus tells his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  This is our current reality.  We are seeing this need for laborers across our district and around the world, right now.  We have a growing shortage of ministry leaders and maybe some of those future leaders are sitting in your congregations right now.

So, where do we start?  The first step is the first place we should always start.  Let’s pray just like Jesus told his disciples to pray.  Let’s ask God to send more workers out into his harvest field and then let’s be open to the ways he might want to use us as part of that plan.  Let’s open our eyes to the possibility that maybe he is already at work in that area, calling out people in our churches, developing within them a heart to serve him.  Let’s ask God to lead us to those he is calling.  Let’s listen to the Spirit’s prompting and begin to identify what that might look like in someone’s life.  Then let’s come alongside and encourage them, give them opportunities to serve, and invest in their development.  And along the way let’s hold them with open hands, ready for God to send them off to other places where they are needed.

By the way, this is not just something for our larger churches.  God is at work all over the place and I have personally seen him sending out people from some of the most unlikely of places.  This is a calling for all of us as ministry leaders to be open to the ways God might want to use us to identify, develop and send out laborers.

As your district leadership team, we are committed to partnering with you in this.  We would love to come alongside and help you identify and develop future leaders.  We are in the process of developing multiple leadership pathways for these future leaders to be developed.  You will be hearing more about this in the days ahead, but if you are interested in more information or if you have some leaders that you are already identifying or developing and would like some help, please reach out and let us know.

Let’s join together and ask the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into his harvest field and watch with expectation as he invites us to join with him in that work.

Rob Mapstone

Director of Recruitment and Placement