nickerson coaching -...
TRANSCRIPT
A Team of clergy and lay people receive two days (usually Friday evening and Saturday) on
intensive, practical, hands-on training on how growing congregations reach new people.
Topics include:
How 1955 strategies no longer work
A discussion about where your church is right now
How to re-introduce the church to the community
How to re-arrange the pastor’s work week and get him/her out into the community
meeting new people
How to develop a culture of invitation in the congregation
How to deal with resistance and change
Each church team comes out of the weekend with a 6-month plan of Action.
The workshop in followed by a year of cluster coaching to implement your Action Plan.
Congregations Moving Forward
NICKERSON COACHING
8 Iverson Road Beverly, MA. 01015 (508)930-9327
Website: www.nickersoncoaching.com
Blog: nickersoncoaching.tumblr.com
Facebook: “Nickerson Coaching”
Twitter: “@paulnickerson1”
Paul Nickerson
“The Reaching New People program has been truly transformative for our congregation and we would strongly recommend it to any other church as money, time and effort well invested. And it is very important to see it as an investment; it is not a magic pill that will transform your church overnight. But putting in that financial, time and effort investment and "staying the course" not only brought in new people to our church, but also changed both how our community viewed our church and how we viewed ourselves. It takes time and nurturing of any group to shift from the familiar but with the help of allies within the church, it has truly transformed us. Paul's instruction, encouragement and coaching pointed us in the right direction and encouraged those who had difficulty with change to see how our church could blossom and move from being stuck do being a force for change within and beyond our walls. Although we have tried not to fixate on numbers, we are overjoyed to say that in the course of the one year we have been participating in this coaching, 29 new people become actively engaged in our congregation (in addition to the 8 children they brought with them), of which, 9 have already joined the church as members and 3 more will be joining shortly. In addition, our church budget ended the year “in the black” for the first time in many years. That is a great return on investment by anyone’s reckoning.”
Rev. Ruth E. Gallot, Pastor Longmeadow Congregational Church, UCC in Auburn, NH
“Our team returned from the initial weekend seminar with a new perspective and wanting to try new ideas. However,
the energy and excitement flagged quickly. Our participation in the follow-up coaching cluster has helped us maintain
our enthusiasm and our focus. Not only do we have continued input from the coaching, we also learn from the other
teams participating.”
Mary Buzby New Hope Church, Windsor Charge
“After participating with the “Reaching New People” program, we have noted that our church attendance is higher each month then it was the year before, and we've gained eleven new members and have increased our visibility in the community. The program not only has helped us reach new members, it is helping us grow deeper as a community. Paul is an excellent coach and is available at the touch of a keypad. We look forward to continuing with Paul and the “New People” program to see what else God is looking to do with our little congregation.”
Rev. Jill Meyer Christ Congregational, Clintonville, Wisconsin
“The "Reaching New People” workshop was an eye opening experience to my congregation and myself. The training has allowed our congregation to have deep and honest discussions about the need to truly share our faith with those who are unchurched. I am very thankful that we took the training for it gave us an exciting framework to reach out to the people not coming to our church.”
Rev. Daniel Mejia-Munoz Emmanuel Charge, Beltsville
“Thanks so much for coming to the Farmville District! I can honestly say this is the best workshop I have attended in my
almost 36 years of ministry. I am excited about our churches that will be coached in the coming year. I expect great
fruitfulness from these churches and thanks for your leadership.”
Rev. Robert Parks District Superintendent, Virginia UMC Conference
What churches are saying about …
“I have read dozens of books on church vitality, been to scads of conferences and worked with multiple coaches. Paul is
simply the best: practical, knowledgeable, kind and optimistic. If you listen to him, you will get results. Paul was our
growth coach at First Church Somerville UCC and his early tutelage has netted us a fivefold increase in worship
attendance and pledged giving, and an exponential increase in joy--this, in one of the toughest town around where
mainline Christianity is concerned. God is good! And so is Her servant Paul.”
Rev. Molly Baskette First Church, Somerville, MA
”The workshop and coaching with Paul Nickerson has really helped us reconnect with people in the community. Our
worship attendance is up 10% since we began practicing what we learned at the boot camp.”
“We’ve had five new families join our church since the boot camp. That was after 18 months without a single person
joining the church. These were families we met through the practices we learned at the boot camp.”
”I wish I’d learned these things 30 years ago. They just make so much sense, but I never was taught this in seminary or in
the early years of my ministry.”
“This is what I entered the ministry to do: engage people in authentic, meaningful ways and help them find their way to
Christ. Thank you for this workshop!”
“This has given us knowledge, tools and structure to turn around our church’s connection with the community. It really
works!”
“Thanks so much for this past weekend. It was so good to see more of our folks get on board, and to see how much we
have grown over the last 18 months.”
“When we began the coaching process we were desperate. Going through the Boot Camp weekend did little to relieve
our fears and sense of dread. It was the follow up coaching over the past 15 months that made the difference for us. We
slowly moved from depression to believing that God was not finished with us. Amazing!”
“I know as a pastor I spend too much time wondering if all the work makes any real difference in the world for Jesus. I
wanted you all to know that your work and encouragement made a difference for me and for Asbury Church. Thanks to
the discernment from turn-around boot camp and the coaching that followed, Asbury began to see the surrounding
community. We discerned that God was calling us to worship in multiple ways to meet the needs of those near us.
Horizon Worship began with 79 in attendance (40% of those were first time guests), and total worship attendance for
both services jumped from 125 to 171.”
“We just had our first membership service since as the old-timers say, “I don't know when". They really cannot remember
their last membership service. We had six people join. We average 50 in attendance. Needless to say, it was a
celebration. I haven't seen this congregation this stoked. Much of this is related to skills and attitudes that Harmony
gleaned from your training. Wanted to pass along the good news and say thanks. Thank you from Harmony.”
MAY 6-7, 2016
New Hampshire Conference, United Church of Christ
Conference Center 140 Sheep Davis Road Pembroke, NH 03275
603-225-6647 | www.nhcucc.org