When Coaching4Clergy founder J. Val Hastings and I started working together, he was a Content Starter who had been publishing a newsletter for several months and wanted to make a bigger difference with his writing.
He has gone on to write a very bold and provocative e-book, "The E3-Church: Empowered, effective and entrepreneurial leadership that will keep your church alive." In it, he challenges ministers and other church leaders to make a series of crucial mind shifts and is very upfront about the consequences of keeping the status quo (on his website he states, "6 out of 10 churches will close over the next 10 years").
And he didn't stop there! We've also taken the handouts from his successful coach training program and turned that into a stand-alone print book, The Next Great Awakening: How to empower God's people with a coach approach to ministry, which will have a much farther reach than the people who attend Coaching4Clergy's live coach trainings.
When I asked Val about the difference it's made to work with a Content Mastery Guide, he had this to say:
"Wow! In the last six months I’ve written six newsletter articles, received Master Author status on several ezine article sites, composed an eBook and just completed my first print book. I’ve accomplished in the past 6 months what I’ve longed to do for the past several years. The difference—I’m working with Linda. Literally, I talk and she helps me write. In the past I’d describe my writing style as primarily “bullet point.” Linda is drawing out and developing additional styles of writing within me. At times it feels like “magic.”
Aside from this list of writing accomplishments I’ve made with Linda's help, the real story is how writing translates into business development and professional credibility. For example, I felt like “royalty” while teaching a six-week course at a local university. Students were thrilled to have an author teach their class. Another example, directly related to my work with Linda, is the development of a Train-the-Trainer Program that’s generating quite a bit of interest.
What’s next? Blogging. I’ve avoided blogging for some time and am ready to move forward, especially with the support of Linda."
I can't wait, Val! Thanks for your inspiring work.
[Update December 19, 2010: He did it - check out Val's blog!]
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