Over the past twenty months or so, our church has worked with Kirk Kirlin and the CRM network, in the process of refocusing the ministry and mission strategy of our congregation. During that time, Kirk has worked personally with me, as Senior Pastor, affording me a firsthand experience of his coaching capabilities.
I have found Kirk to be casually personable and understanding of the work I am faced with in our setting. He brings his own experience as a pastor in various settings and seems to “get it” in terms of parish ministry here locally. He definitely is focused on moving the church, starting with the pastor, into a missional mode and he knows that this must begin with the pastor of the church.
Kirk is kind and respectful and very persistent and positive. He brings himself into the dialogue, giving the conversation a relational and personal relevance.
There is a fine line one must walk as a “coach.” While he needs to be close enough to get inside your head, he needs also to remain enough on the outside to maintain a necessary objectivity in order to help us frame timely challenges that keep the person being coached fresh and alive. With me, Kirk found that fine line and pushed me to new understandings of my calling.
Perhaps a most telling sign is that I maintain close contact with Kirk and call him my friend.
Tim McCalmont, Pastor Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Costa Mesa, California June 27, 2007