Anago Partners: “The Continuing Ed Pastors Need”

Anago Partners: “The Continuing Ed Pastors Need”

anágo (Greek):

to lead up to a higher place

partners (English):

people engaged together in the same activity

“Anago Partners is basically the continuing ed pastors need, to learn what you don’t learn in seminary.” So says Philip Caines, pastor of Trinity Pres in Cleveland, TN, who leads Anago Partners cohorts in the Tennessee Valley Presbytery.

Philip leads the church revitalization efforts in our presbytery, and one step to improve church health is to equip pastors with organizational and leadership development resources along with coaching. “Pastors learning how to lead well is a key to revitalization,” he says.

For many PCA pastors, they know how to preach the gospel and minister to people, but they haven’t been taught things like how to build a leadership pipeline, how to establish a strategic vision, or practical church finance skills.

But what does this have to do with the presbytery’s church planting work? Well, in an ideal world, planting pastors would be equipped on the front end rather than finding out years down the road that they need help with organizational leadership. We don’t just want to plant churches; we want to plant healthy, thriving churches with healthy, thriving pastors.

One of the current participants in Philip’s cohort is Curt Stapleton, planting pastor of Redeemer Athens. The other three participants are Wes Alford (Christ Pres Church Sweetwater), Daniel Wells (St. Elmo Pres), and Dennis Louis (Chattanooga Valley Pres). These men will continue together through November of this year, and Philip hopes to start another cohort in 2027.

While Anago is designed for pastors of established churches rather than planters, we hope it provides resources for planters to pull from in the future. In Curt’s words, “Making our way through 30 books plus articles has brought forth a lot of things to consider. Some of it does not apply yet, but like seminary, it builds a library. Having a cohort discussion each month shares creative thinking on applying what we are learning as we seek to apply to our context.”

The four pillars of Anago are:

• Community within the cohort

• A carefully selected curriculum covering a broad range of topics

• One-on-one coaching twice a month

• Assessments at the start and end of the cohort: These assessments focus on how people make decisions and EQI (Emotional Quotient Inventory). “They get a snapshot of how they’re wired emotionally and rationally,” says Philip. The second assessment looks for growth in these areas.

Philip believes that the first three pieces (community, curriculum, and coaching) are especially impactful.

Before finding Anago, Philip started a similar cohort in our presbytery. He saw that many struggling pastors had simply never been equipped to lead. “I realized a lot of guys in our presbytery are burnt out or feel overwhelmed because they can preach and teach but they haven’t been trained how to lead and organize. They need seminary Part B.”

He came to Trinity as the revitalization pastor, but as the church grew, how it functioned had to change. “We had to think through things like, what’s the best way to organize, to create a leadership pipeline, to find team leaders for the various ministries we’re doing?”

He himself benefitted from working with a coach about a decade ago, so he knew that coaching and community are important, but he didn’t have the curriculum and structure that Anago offered. When he connected with Travis Vaughn (TVP’s executive director of church planting), Travis said, “I think what you’re trying to do is what Anago is doing,” so Philip quickly switched to Anago.

The program’s curriculum covers topics like organizing without micromanaging, equipping and mobilizing the right leaders in your church, empowering rather than restricting, practical church finances, team building, hiring the right staff, and developing a shepherding plan. Philip explains, “How to strategize—a lot of pastors have never been taught to think in those terms. They have a general idea, but I’m able to sit down and help them think through how objective strategies work.”

Philip helps pastors clarify their objective and then asks what they’ll do to reach that objective. He also provides accountability. “Have they done what they decided they would do? We work through what’s uncomfortable or intimidating that’s holding them back.”

Daniel found that Anago Partners helped him think through ideas for strategic vision and philosophy of ministry. “Also, I have used this cohort and Philip’s coaching as an aid when I’ve faced difficult ministry circumstances,” he says.

Dennis adds, “Perhaps the best aspect of Anago is the mentorship, where pastors meet one-on-one with their mentor. The mentorship sessions provide an invaluable opportunity to gain wisdom from those who have walked through specific challenges in ministry.”

Daniel also reflected on the community of Anago Partners. “The highlight of the cohort has been getting to know these other pastors beyond just a few presbytery meetings throughout the year. So often, presbytery is treated like a courtroom, but in these cohorts, we look more like the Spiritual Family of Jesus who come alongside one another. Anago Partners presupposes that ordinary pastors need coaching and intimate community with other pastors. The PCA does a good job of this with RUF campus ministers and MNA church planters, but ordinary local church pastors often don’t get these benefits. Anago fills that gap. I wish every local church pastor in the presbytery would take advantage of something like this.”