The Coaches Corner (CC) ABF has been around for a while—more than ten years. Originally taught by Wayne Knowles, Elder Board Chairman, the class focused on training and encouraging parents of teens. Today, our ABF has broadened its scope to train coaches from every stage of life: young married couples with no kids; parents of preschoolers, elementary students, and teens; empty nesters; and grandparents. Dr. Larry Pettegrew, Dean and Professor of Theology at Shepherds Theological Seminary, started teaching the class about four years ago, with Dr. Doug Bookman, Professor of New Testament at Shepherds, joining him as co-teacher two years ago. Occasionally, we are blessed to have Shepherds seminary students teach our class.

If you’re ready to dig deep into the Scriptures, then Coaches Corner will challenge you to do just that. Our lessons are lively and engaging with the broadened purpose, “to discover from God's Word the Christian world view that will equip us with spiritual wisdom to be coaches: parents, leaders, teachers, and counselors in our families, church ministries, and communities.” Currently we are digging deep into the book of Judges. Sometimes the digging gets messy (you’ll have to ask Dr. Bookman about that), and often we encounter the judges in a new light, learning details of their lives and ministries that help us to appreciate God’s perfect plan all over again.

While there are class members who have been part of the class for more than a decade, new members receive a warm welcome. My husband and I began attending CC about a year ago and felt at home right away. Every week, class leader Mike Winters welcomes the class and gives us an opportunity to connect and support one another through sharing prayer requests and praises and letting us know about opportunities to gather outside of class. Recently, the women of CC hosted a fall fellowship luncheon for the ladies of the class. There have also been many opportunities for everyone to get to know each other better including a pre-class tailgate breakfast in the parking lot, a bowling night, and supper clubs hosted in various class members’ homes.

Our class never misses an opportunity to serve one another. Class members who have undergone surgery or experienced illness have been cared for with meals for their families and yard work performed while they were recovering, along with the personal encouragement of their fellow members’ prayers, visits, and cards. Last week, we even had a chance to serve as a class, covering the Colonial nursery classes as an ABF. My husband and I haven’t chased crawlers in a while, but it was fun serving alongside other CC classmates, while giving regular nursery workers a much-deserved break.

We’d love to have you join us this Sunday! We meet at 9:30 on the second floor of the Family Center. Bring a heart to learn and your Bible, and be prepared to dig.