Ministry Coaching Framework

Below we offer a framework for how to receive or give ministry coaching with other Christians at least twice a month. You can use it in one-on-one conversations between two men or two women, as a married couple, or with your adolescent or adult children.

What is the format for ministry coaching?

1. Pray

2. Your Relationships with God and Others (10–15 minutes)

1. Your Relationship with God

  • Personal Spiritual Disciplines: How well are you following your plan for daily Bible reading? Daily prayer? Occasional fasting? Studying books about the Bible, theology, and/or ministry? [Ideally, start and follow a Bible reading or listening plan that takes you through the entire Bible in a year, which takes 10 to 15 minutes per day. At very least, read two chapters of the New Testament per day.]

  • Putting Away Sin and Pursuing Holiness: What temptations to sin are you currently facing? Are there any sins that you want to confess (including the tendency to overvalue people and things)? What is God teaching you about growing into the likeness of Christ in your desires, thoughts, words, and actions?

  • Personal Trials: What strong emotions (such as anger, sadness, anxiety, shame) are you currently facing? Major decisions? Concerns for loved ones?

2. Your Relationships within Your Biological Family

  • If you are married, how are you helping your spouse to become a Christian or to grow as a Christian? Do you need advice or encouragement in any areas of your marriage?

  • If you are a parent, how are you helping each of your children to become Christians or to grow as Christians? Do you need advice or encouragement in any areas of your parenting?

  • Regarding your other relatives (including parents and in-laws), how are you helping each of them to become Christians or to grow as Christians? Do you need advice or encouragement in this area of your life?

3. Your Relationships within Your Church Family

  • How well are you following your plan to gather regularly with other Christians (both in large and smaller gatherings)?

  • Is there anyone to whom you need to apologize?

  • Anyone you need to encourage, warn, or correct?

4. Your Life and Relationships at Work

  • Faithfulness in Your Vocation: In what specific ways did you honor Christ in your work this week, and where did you feel tempted toward frustration, apathy, or compromise?

  • Relationships with Co-Workers and Supervisors: Is there anyone at work you need to reconcile with, encourage, thank, or set healthier boundaries with in order to relate to them in a Christlike way?

  • Witness and Presence: Who in your workplace are you praying for or seeking to serve, and how might you look for an opportunity to lead them to Christ?

3. Evangelizing Non-Christians (10–15 minutes)

  1. Scheduling Evangelistic Appointments: Identify at least three non-Christians with whom you want to read The Path to God aloud. For each person, where and when will you meet for that evangelistic appointment?

    • Person #1:

    • Person #2:

    • Person #3:

    • (Add more as needed)

    Once you share The Path to God with those people, strive to identify the next set of people with whom you want to share the gospel. “Who’s next?” is the question we must ask ourselves for the rest of our lives, because our evangelistic task will continue until Christ returns.

    In addition to scheduling individual appointments, consider inviting groups of people (families, friends, and neighbors) to study The Path to God together as outlined here. For those who want to continue, invite them into your house church or to form a house church of their own under an elder’s guidance.

  2. Reflecting on Evangelistic Appointments: For those evangelistic appointments (or spontaneous gospel presentations) you have had, consider the following questions:

    • What were some of the most significant moments from your appointments (for example, as you helped them understand the nature of repentance)? What did you do well? What would you have done differently? Were there any unexpected challenges or questions that arose, and how did you respond? What feedback, if any, did you receive, and how might it shape your next appointment?

    • Did you schedule a second meeting with each person to review pages 1–5 and study pages 6–8 in detail?

    • Have you invited each of them into Christian community (ideally into a house church)?

    • Are you sensing that God may want you to gather the new Christians together into a house church of their own? If so, how do you plan to proceed?

4. Coaching Christians (10–15 minutes)

  1. Scheduling Coaching Appointments: Identify at least three people for whom you want to serve as their ministry coach. For each person, specify where and when you will go through this ministry coaching framework #’s 1–6) with them at least twice a month.

    • Person #1:

    • Person #2:

    • Person #3:

    • (Add more as needed)

  2. Reflecting on Coaching Appointments: For those coaching appointments you have had, reflect on the following:

    • What challenges are you facing in your coaching relationships?

    • How effectively did you help them plan and reflect on their relationship with God (category #1)?

    • How effectively did you help them plan and reflect on their relationships in their church and family (category #2)?

    • How effectively did you help them plan and reflect on their evangelistic activities (category #3)?

    • How effectively did you help them plan and reflect on their coaching (discipleship) activities (category #4)?

    • Do you have your next meeting scheduled with each of those people?

5. Leading Christians to Start, Strengthen, and Multiply Churches (10–15 minutes)

Even if you’re not the primary “point leader,” use these questions to help your group imagine how to start, strengthen, and multiply house churches in your neighborhood.

1. Vision

  • What is God stirring in your heart about gathering people in your home or neighborhood for worship, community, and mission?

  • Who will you invite into that discernment process (coaches, close friends, elders), and how will you pray together for unity, wisdom, and timing?

  • What passage of Scripture best captures the vision God is giving you (e.g., Acts 2:42–47; Rom. 15:20; 2 Tim. 2:2)?

2. Recruiting

  • Whom in your everyday life—friends, relatives, associates, neighbors—is God leading you to invite?

  • How will you connect relationally this week (meal, walk, phone call, coffee) to share that vision?

  • How will you record invitations, prayer needs, and follow-ups to stay intentional and personal?

  • Who can you recruit to help you pray for these relationships and assist in outreach?

3. Hosting

  • Where will you meet first (your home or another space)?

  • What simple preparations are needed—space, seating, food, childcare—to make guests feel welcome?

  • Who can share hosting duties (setup, food, music, discussion facilitation)?

  • How will each gathering reflect the rhythms of Acts 2:42—Scripture, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer—while allowing time for personal ministry and mutual encouragement?

4. Serving

  • What tangible way can your group bless the neighborhood or meet a local need (meals for a family, yard work for a widow, tutoring, visitation)?

  • Who in the group can help lead or organize that act of service, and what time frame will you set?

  • How can you connect acts of service to gospel witness and follow-up conversations?

5. Multiplying

  • Who in your group shows spiritual maturity, teachability, or leadership gifting?

  • How can you begin apprenticing them—sharing responsibilities, co-leading discussions, or preparing short teachings?

  • What is your plan to help them start or lead a new gathering in their own circle over the next 6–12 months?

  • How will you stay connected to encourage and coach them as their group forms?

6. Evaluating

  • What is God doing in your group? Celebrate new relationships, answered prayers, and stories of transformation.

  • What challenges or barriers are you facing—practical, relational, or spiritual—and how can you address them together?

  • What specific next steps will you take before your next coaching session (new invitations, service projects, leadership development)?

Use these prompts regularly to keep your focus on multiplication. Each conversation should end not only with the question, “How can I lead?” but also, “Whom is God preparing me to help lead and multiply?”

6. Praying Together (10–15 minutes)

Spend time in prayer: (1) for your own spiritual growth and for one another (including that God would grant you wisdom and boldness), (2) for the non-Christians you are reaching with the gospel, and (3) for the Christians you are coaching.