The earliest structure of Methodism in American history was communal and creative. The isolated frontier churches shared clergy and operated in cooperatives in which teams of itinerant circuit elders (usually a trainee and a slightly older mentor) would traverse the countryside on horseback preaching, visiting the sick, and holding the many classes and bands to task in their Christian discipleship. The cooperative parish concept has been knocked around in the United Methodist Book of Discipline and annual conference staff organizational charts for decades. And yet, either out of fear, distrust, or selfishness, few congregations have seen fit to actually live into the possibilities of sharing ministry intentionally. Sure, churches may begrudgingly share a pastor when a district superintendent comes in for consultation and asks nicely. But the powerful impact of intentional regional ministry represented in the cooperative parish model is so much more than just operating as a charge for the clergy appointment-making purposes. In An Effective Approach to Cooperative Parishes, Kay Kotan and Jason Stanley offer a roadmap for discernment and implementation for congregations to cooperate strategically and creatively to make a bigger Kingdom impact. Readers will be challenged, directed, and coached by the pages of this book. But all this work begins and finds momentum in the willingness of disciples to serve Christ together in community.
Authors
Kay Kotan is the founder of You Unlimited (coaching, consulting and training company) and Impressions Unlimited (mystery worshiper company). She is also the creator of The Greatest Expedition – a collaboration of more than twenty thought leaders providing resources and insights for a congregational journey to develop new MAPS (ministry action plans) to reach new people in your community. Kay has also launched Multipliers’ Movement – a gathering of kingdom multipliers for sharing, equipping, and encouraging. She is a CoachU and Advanced CoachU Graduate, an accredited coach (PCC: Professional Certified Coach) with the ICF, International Coaching Federation, a Certified Path 1 Coach, and once served on the faculty at Coaching4Clergy. As a passionate lay person, she has a banking background and has been a business owner for more than 25 years. Kotan has served as a church developer for conferences and worked with churches, pastors, conferences, and judicatory leaders across the country for more than a decade. She is most proud to be the wife of Bob for 29 years and the mother of their adult son, Cameron.
