Happy August, coaching friends. I pray you’re well.

As I'm capturing this video, I'm wondering how are you ushering in this part of summer? One thing that's special about this month is Churchwide Assembly, which starts next week. The theme for this year is, “Embody the Word,” and we at ELCA coaching ministry think it's pretty cool because they are using the same scripture that we've used as our guiding scripture for several years: the story of the road to Emmaus. Whether or not you're going to assembly, I do hope you take a pause to ponder this story and be reminded of all the ways we as coaches embody this text in our work: we meet leaders wherever they are at on their journey, we listen in love, and invite them to name how God might be inviting them to use their gifts in the sacred work of loving and healing the world.

One of the ways our ministry seeks to accompany each of you is by offering affordable training. You can find these opportunities on our website, under the events tab. This coming Friday, we have our next Team Coach Training, which is a fantastic opportunity to learn how to take the one-to-one coaching skills you have used and turn them into a tool for facilitating productive and empowering meetings.

On August 9th, we have a one-hour training on how to coach yourself through grief. This course is free for those who register through our website and I will send the book that explains the concepts you will be learning to the first 10 people who email me at jill.beverlin@elca.org.

And a last update. You will note we have many level two training cohorts starting later this month. In particular, I want to draw your attention to the Care for Creation Coach training. An anonymous donor has made it possible for two coaches to sign up for this next training. If you feel called to this, please email me at Jill.Beverlin@elca.org. And we will get the first two that respond this scholarship. And speaking of creation, these next few seconds of zen are brought to you by ELCA coaching ministry and the Fox river in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Blessings friends!