Sending Well, by Dino Sinesi, book review

Sending Well: A Field Guide to Great Church Planter Coaching

Author

Dino Senesi

Publisher Info

B&H, 2017. 282pp.

Summary

Sending Well: A Guide to Great Church Planter Coaching, by Dino Senesi, serves as an overview of and guide to church planter coaching, written to assist pastors, leaders, and coaches support church planters. The book is divided into three parts: Build a Coaching Framework; Develop Great Coaches; and Deliver Great Coaching.

Part One addresses the why, what, who and how of church planter coaching: establishing a solid foundation for why church planters need coaching, what coaching is, who is involved, and how to coach. In Part Two, each chapter describes a characteristic of a good coach. Through this, Senesi offers guidelines and reachable goals for those who wish to become coaches and those who want to train others to coach. Combining Parts One and Two lead to Part Three: methods that teach readers to understand how to deliver church planter coaching that is both scalable and sustainable.

In all parts, each chapter includes a bird’s eye view of a coaching aspect, need or challenge, but weaves examples and practical tips to give readers a good understanding of church planter coaching and how to execute it. At the end of each chapter, there are reflection questions to help the reader process what he has learned, as well as testimonies from church planters to give real-life examples of how planters benefit from coaching.

Benefit for Pastoral Ministry

Senesi achieves the desired balance of providing a theoretical foundation for coaching needs with practical tips for executing a coaching process. It is an accessible read; helpful for beginning coaches as well as experienced coaches needing a fresh take on their coaching system or wanting to learn how to develop other coaches. Sending Well offers a comprehensive guideline to church planter coaching while allowing for flexibility and adaptation within the structure to accommodate different contexts and personalities.

Don’t overlook the subtitle of this book—the main title by itself creates expectations that won’t be met. Church planter coaching is only one part of sending well, so pastors looking for guidance on sending church planters would need to look for additional resources on other aspects of church planting.

However, Sending Well addresses an important need: that of continual support for church planters beyond initial planting throughout the church planting process. Church planting coaches offer accountability and advocacy for church planters that encompasses their life as a planter, but also as a believer, father, husband, etc. Senesi has developed a helpful resource that would benefit pastors who do not know where to start in supporting their church planters, or coaches who want to take their coaching to the next level.