Pastoral and Ministry Team Coaching

At the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship, we believe coaching is an essential practice for faithful peacemaking. In a polarized and weary world, leaders need trusted companions who help them slow down, listen well, and lead from a place of spiritual health rather than reactivity. Our coaching creates space for pastors and ministry leaders to grow in self-awareness, relational wisdom, and resilient leadership rooted in the way of Jesus.

Our approach to coaching encompasses both Pastor-to-Pastor coaching and Ministry Team coaching. While each serves a distinct purpose, both are grounded in our conviction that healthy leaders are better equipped to cultivate peace in their churches, teams, and communities.

Pastor-to-Pastor coaching is a relational, gospel-centered approach designed specifically for the unique challenges of ministry leadership. Our coach, Pastor Dean Kuest, is a trained ministry partner who uses intentional conversation and strategic questioning to help pastors and ministry leaders thoughtfully process both vision and struggle. Unlike mentoring, which often centers on advice-giving, coaching focuses on drawing out insight, discernment, and clarity by coming alongside leaders as trusted partners.

We believe everyone can benefit from coaching. At the same time, there are particular seasons in ministry when Pastor to Pastor coaching is especially valuable:

• When leadership feels lonely, and there is a lack of a safe, trusted space to process ministry, family, or personal challenges.
• When you feel stuck or fatigued in a ministry rut and desire clarity, direction, and renewed momentum.
• When you are navigating or anticipating a significant life or ministry transition, you want a grace-oriented, gospel-centered companion in the process.
• When you feel discouraged by cultural polarization and long to lead with faithfulness, wisdom, and Christ-shaped peacemaking.

Pastor to Pastor coaching reflects the heart of Matthew 5:9 Fellowship and our commitment to the three R’s that guide our work:

Resources
We aim to be a trusted resource and to provide meaningful resources for pastors who desire to lead as peacemakers in a divided world.

Relationship
Coaching is rooted in relationship. We come alongside pastors so that leadership does not feel so isolating, and remind leaders they are not alone in the struggles and tensions they face.

Renewal
Our hope is that pastors experience renewed spiritual and emotional energy, along with fresh clarity for the vision God has entrusted to them and the ministry to which they have been called.

Pastor Dean Kuest offers pastoral coaching sessions in partnership with PastorServe. Confidential session appointments are still available, and we are pleased to offer two complimentary coaching sessions (a $300 value) to the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship community.

Peacemaking in ministry requires more than good intentions. It calls for self-awareness, humility, and a deeper understanding of how we relate to one another under pressure. In providing Ministry Team coaching, we utilize the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI), which is a research-based relational assessment that helps pastors, leaders, and ministry teams understand the motivations shaping their relationships, particularly in moments of stress or conflict. It is not about labeling personalities or trying to fix people. It is about cultivating understanding so that unity and reconciliation can grow.

Used thoughtfully alongside Scripture, the SDI supports the work of peacemaking by providing teams with language for what often goes unspoken and tools for engaging in conflict in healthier, more constructive ways.

What the SDI helps your team understand

• Core motivations and values: The SDI identifies what naturally motivates each person when things are going well, helping teams appreciate differences as strengths rather than obstacles.
• Shifts under stress: The SDI maps how motivations can change when conflict escalates, offering insight into why misunderstandings arise and how well-intended actions can be misread.
• Strengths and stress patterns: Teams learn how their strengths serve them in ministry and how those same strengths can become sources of tension when pushed too far.

A shared language for peacemaking
The SDI introduces three primary motivational orientations, often described using the Blue, Red, and Green frameworks:

• Altruistic–Nurturing: Motivated by people, harmony, and care
• Assertive–Directing: Motivated by action, results, and forward movement
• Analytic–Autonomizing: Motivated by clarity, wisdom, and thoughtful process

Each orientation reflects a valuable way of engaging God’s work. Healthy ministry teams need all three. The SDI helps leaders and staff recognize these differences with grace and learn how to respond to one another in ways that build trust rather than division.

How the Matthew 5:9 Fellowship uses the SDI

• SDI assessments for individuals, leadership teams, and church staff
• Facilitated debriefs that foster honest conversation and deeper understanding
• Coaching that equips teams to engage conflict faithfully and constructively
• Integration with your ministry context so insights translate into daily practice