Coaching Cohorts consist of 3-6 student workers who meet at least 3 times over a year, online, to sharpen, encourage and strengthen one another in ministry.
This will involve prayer and encouragement as well as sharing practical questions to actively address hurdles and expand ideas that each participant has within their student ministry.
This year we are running two styles of coaching cohorts; Student Worker Cohorts and Pioneering Cohorts. Student Worker Cohorts are for those with an established student ministry. Pioneer Cohorts are for those starting student ministry from scratch, or relaunching a student ministry in a church.
Cohorts have three main purposes:
1. To learn from and with other student workers - to cheer one another on, looking to affirm and encourage where you see good.
2. To be sharpened - to learn from one another, being open to challenge and critique, whilst asking others good questions to sharpen them.
3. A place for reflection, evaluation and strategic development - best practice is to be self-reflective, working out where we have come from and where we are headed
What is the time commitment?
Cohorts will meet once a term (3 times a year) and will be 1.5 hours long. We ask that you commit to all 3 of these because we want our cohorts to journey together.
Pioneer Cohorts will begin with two 2 hour sessions, followed by three online meetings throughout the year. Each individual in a Pioneer Cohort will also be offered a pioneering coach to meet with one to one in addition to the coaching cohort.
What might a cohort involve? Each session will give everyone space to reflect on their difficulties and celebrate their successes. Space will be given for members of the cohort to question, contextualize, and help offer potential solutions where necessary. These conversations will be guided by a coach who will ensure everyone gets space to speak and reflect and will give a framework for what each meeting will focus on.
These may look like:
- Discussing the biggest barriers to Mission in your context
- How to take calculated risks when raising leaders
- Discussing specific discipleship issues
- Developing strategies and structures to help your student ministry scale and grow
- How to create space to awaken creativity in mission
- How to reach students without having any students
How many are in a cohort and who will I be with?
There will be 3-6 people in a cohort. Who you are with will be based primarily on your availability. Other requirements such as preferred contexts, size, and style will be taken into account if possible.
When do they start?
The first Student Work and Pioneer Cohort gatherings will take place during the first month of the following term.
If you would like to join a cohort, you can sign up here: