Prepared by Peter Luckey for the Kansas Oklahoma Conference - March 5, 2022
Has something ever weighed on your mind so much that it kept you up at night? Have you ever longed to have somebody with whom you could talk things through? If so, perhaps you could use a coach. A coach is simply a person who listens carefully, asks one or two powerful questions - like what do you really want? - so that you can discover solutions for your problems.
My name is Peter Luckey. I am recently retired from serving twenty-four years as Plymouth Church’s Senior Pastor in Lawrence, Kansas. Now I am using my pastoral skills to be a coach.
My coaching philosophy is simple. You, the client, are the center of the relationship. My role is simply to create a container for you to discover a new awareness; those “aha” moments that you can translate into concrete steps to bring about change in your life.
Life is hard. Perhaps you have experienced this for yourself these past two years. Perhaps there were moments when you forgot to breathe?
Many of you reading this are pastors, like myself. You know that ministry, for all its rewards - being there at the bedside of a loved one holding hands, offering prayers of comfort - comes with its costs. You know something about the price of sleepless nights.
I often think, “But how much harder ministry would be if I did not have fellow travelers on the path?” How would I have ever made it through those the rough spots without a supportive spouse, or my colleagues.
I knew that on those days when anxiety robbed me of oxygen, I could always reach for my phone, hit the speed dial, and say, “Do you have a minute?” You were a coach to me!
A coach is someone who helps you find your best and truest self and thereby gives you space so you can breathe again.
I am convinced we are meant to be on a team. God did not create us to go through life alone. Jesus had disciples. Paul coached the Corinthian church by reminding them that we are all in it together. The Apostle spoke of ministry not as “I” but as “we”.
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry,
we do not lose heart.
2 Corinthians 4:1
When you have a coach, as I do, you feel as if there is someone who comes alongside you. You feel as if you are on a team. And you do not lose heart.
If you could use a coach, or if you know someone who could, give me a shout.
At 3 in the morning, when I toss and turn, and I find my mind racing unproductively it is then I know how much I long for another’s listening ear and sympathetic heart.
Breathe easier. Get a coach. I look forward to hearing from you.