Jim Mellon on giving

Jim and Kathy Mellon serve a network of house churches in and around Killeen, TX. Since 1992 this network has contributed more than $1,000,000 to the work of the Kingdom around the world. See http://www.story.house2house.com/2010/05/21/the-big-bang-for-your-bucks-theory/

So, when Jim speaks about giving in house church, he is worth listening to. See below for his comments at a LK10 Training Conference about the importance of giving and supporting church planters.

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (4)

Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

In the first three parts of this interview with Jim Mellon and Wade Adams, we identified the following "agents" or components that create the synergy of the LK10 Apprenticeship.

1. Weekly (for 12 weeks) learning assignments

2. Private Facebook discussion group

3. Daily CO2 relationship with one other person

4. Personal coaching session every other week with cohort leader.

5. Community conference call every other week

In part four of this interview (see below), Jim and Wade comment on the final components...

6. Participants invest in the ministry of the cohort leader (see 1 Cor. 9:11)

7. Multiplication of cohorts

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (3)

Here's the best definition of the LK10 Apprenticeship: a small "community of practice" (a cohort of 12 people) that creates a powerful learning environment.

Our learning is focused on three foundational rhythms or practices...

1. Individually learning to pay attention to both our own hearts and God's heart.

2. Learning to pay attention in these two areas with one other person. We call this a CO2 (church of two).

3. Learning to pay attention in these areas with a small family like group. We call this a house church or simple church.

The learning environment of the Apprenticeship is the result of the synergy of several different components. In the last two posts we heard from Jim Mellon and Wade Adams about

1. The weekly learning assignments

2. The private Facebook discussion group

3. The CO2

In the video below Jim and Wade talk about two more components: coaching and group conference calls.

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (2)

The LK10 Apprenticeship can best be described as a small "community of practice" that creates a powerful learning environment. Several components come together to create this community. In the video below, Jim Mellon and Wade Adams reflect on the third component: being a "church of two" (CO2) on a daily basis.

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (1)

We are continuing to pay close attention to what God is doing through the LK10 Apprenticeship. Eight weeks have been completed with four weeks to go. This last week I was in Killeen, TX for a LK10 Leadership Training Conference. I had the opportunity to interview two of the twelve people who have been in my cohort.

Jim and Cathy Mellon are two of the mature, godly leaders in the house church movement. They started their first house church 18 years ago and helped found House2House Ministries about 10 years ago. http://www.site.house2house.com/

In the Apprenticeship, Jim has teamed up in a CO2 (church of two) with Wade Adams. The Lord moved Wade into the house church world in the last couple of years after 19 years as a pastor in traditional churches. So, these two men are mature, experienced Christian leaders.

The Apprenticeship can best be described as a small "community of practice" that creates a powerful learning environment. Several components come together to create this community. In the video below, Jim and Wade reflect on the first two components: weekly learning assignments and a Facebook discussion group.

John

What's it like to be "coached"?

We are about to enter week eight of our twelve week LK10 Apprenticeship. There are several elements that go into making this a unique learning experience. One of the most important is coaching. Everyone in each cohort receives a coaching session every other week. I asked Sean Hyatt to reflect on what he has experienced so far. As you read what Sean wrote (below) you will gain a clearer sense of what we mean by "coaching".

John

I grew up in a church denomination where there was a lot of "pouring in" but very little "drawing out". All of my life I have "sat under" good teaching and preaching. A lot of pouring in. Even in counseling sessions with church leaders it was a lot of them trying to talk sense into me, and me doing a lot of listening. This had its value, but recently I have been learning that this could have been so much more effective.

Over the last 6 weeks participating in coaching sessions with John White, I am slowly (but surely) coming to an understanding of the value of "drawing out". We have had three coaching sessions now, each under an hour long -- and in all three, I have left the conversation feeling incredibly clear and edified in the topic we ended up coaching around. The first session had to do with frustrations and fears and lack of direction in my relationship and mentoring of my 11-year-old son. The second, regarding my wife and I butting heads over a certain stressful issue. The third was about an upcoming teaching session on prayer that I will be teaching that I needed some clarity on.

On all three topics, I came into our coaching session honestly doubting that it was going to help much (thanks to my old traditional mindset). Nothing against John - if there is anyone whose counseling and coaching abilities I truly believe in, they are John's. It is this unfamiliar process - how can just talking about something, and me answering a bunch of questions about it help get me the answers I am in such deep need of? But go figure - on all three topics after a short time of discussion over the phone, I left with so much direction, clarity, and understanding that I could not have asked for more!

What adds to my feeling of pleasant surprise on this coaching thing, is that in two out of the three sessions, I didn't even know what I wanted to talk about - and so we approached it by me simply mentioning a number of things that were on my mind and heart, and then trying to pick one of those topics I mentioned (awesome - coaching around want I need coaching on!).

John has been careful to point out to me at the end of each of these sessions, that the majority of our coaching time was me simply talking about these things, and discovering things for myself. He's simply there to be a good listener, ask some key questions, and make sure I am noticing what I am teaching myself as I am talking. I love it!

So, my experience in being coached so far has been both eye-opening and powerfully edifying for me. Personally, this has been the most powerful and formative aspect of this apprenticeship thus far. It has even given me the desire to be a coach myself - to learn "how" to coach others, so that I can be this helpful for my own friends, family, and brethren in the Lord too!