Over the last 10 years, CCMN has facilitated in building a rather different type of church networks in a few nations. To have a church-based mission movement, you must have churches that are networked to do missions together. It is important to build church networks that are strong and where churches stick together. These churches need to share the same values and have the “one body, one church” ethos. How do you build such networks? We can see that even denominations are not like this. CCMN is not an organisation nor a denomination. How can we see churches that will be willing to work together and for the long haul? Missions cannot be done except for the long haul.
 
At the same time, we have been very concerned as we see so many struggling churches and struggling pastors – feeling defeated and trying to survive on their own. Attending seminars and conferences have not helped them. We feel deeply that these pastors need to have some coach to walk with them and help them along the way.
 
As usual, even though we do not know what to do, we just started doing it! Praise God, 10 years ago, we stumbled on to the idea of Coaching Network. (Please read the article on Coaching Network – entitled “Ordinary Pastors can be a Coach”). The Coaching Networks turned out to be networks of a very different nature than other church networks!!! Here is what we discovered!
 
Most networks the pastors come to get something for themselves to help them to do church better and after they have gotten what they wanted, or after they feel there is nothing else to get from this network, they leave the network and join another network that has something to give them. That is why it is very hard to build a network that pastors and churches stick together for very long.
 
In Coaching network, the pastor not only come to get something, they come realizing that one day they need to give. And with the coach-coachee relationship, a strong bond begins to be built. With this strong bond and the giving and committing to others in Coaching Network, another kind of network begin to be built. The best is that with coaching, pastors lives begin to be changed and their family life begin to be changed and the church begin to change. So one coaching network expands to another coaching network and so on.