Coaches
Coaches in LAUNCH are mentors for the students. It is possible to gather a crowd, start a weekly worship service, and even see people come to know Christ without truly being a disciple of Christ. Coaches are responsible for helping leaders work through everyday life issues as they come up. LAUNCH is very concerned about the whole person and not just their value as a church planter. While certain skills can be quickly acquired and implemented in church planting, character issues are often worked out after a long period of intense accountability and testing. Therefore, coaches are trained through experience and retreats.
Training through Experience
All of our coaches are familiar with church planting and some have even started a church before. Some coaches have started businesses from scratch, others have served on the core team of successful church plants. What is important is that coaches are experienced in following Christ and are able to challenge leaders to radical discipleship.
Training through Retreats
LAUNCH trains its coaches through "rules" of coaching that are implemented and practiced on retreats. These retreats are once a quarter and some are overnight. These retreats cultivate a "coaching culture" that allows experienced individuals to discuss each of the students in LAUNCH and share with other coaches what is going on in their lives. As knowledge is shared, the coaches are able to assess the overall health of the students and offer suggestions in certain situations. In this way, coaches collectively strive to grow the students and ensure that they are growing in godliness as well as church planting training and experience.