The Copilot Pastor
Coaching for the pastor in the second seat
You're gifted. You're called. And somehow you still feel like the backup plan.
Nobody prepared you for this. Seminary gave you theology but not the tools to thrive inside someone else's vision. The loneliness is real. The ego pressure is real. The role confusion is real.
You're not alone — and you're not the backup plan. You're the copilot.
A copilot isn't the backup pilot
A copilot is fully trained, fully competent, and fully essential. They take the controls when the mission demands it. They find genuine fulfillment in the second seat — not despite it, but because of it.
That's the pastor you're called to become.
Fully trained. Fully called. Second seat.
What nobody tells you about the second seat
New associate pastors face challenges nobody prepares them for:
Finding your identity within someone else's vision
Navigating the lead pastor relationship without becoming a yes-man or a threat
Surviving the ego crucible of being a gifted leader in a subordinate role
Staying sharp as a preacher and theologian when the role doesn't demand it
Sustaining spiritual health when you're carrying institutional weight largely alone
Paul wrote to his associate: "The things you have heard me say... entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." Four generations in one verse. The associate pastor is the second link in that chain. This practice exists to make sure that link holds.
2 Timothy 2:2
Who is behind this
I'm Eric Nygren — associate pastor at the Evangelical Free Church of Bemidji, Minnesota, EFCA licensed and ordained, and 20+ years into pastoral ministry. I spent nine years as a solo lead pastor before stepping into the second seat. I know what the lead pastor needs from his number two — and I know the interior struggle of being the number two firsthand, navigated without a mentor.
I'm building the resource I wish had existed.
What's coming
The Copilot Pastor is a coaching practice in development for brand new associate and second-chair pastors in their first two years of ministry. It will offer one-on-one coaching and small peer cohort groups, built around a 9-module framework called the Second Chair Curriculum.
If you're a new associate pastor — or you know one — I'd love to stay in touch as this develops.
Stay in the loop
No spam. Just honest content for pastors in the second seat, and updates as The Copilot Pastor takes shape.
Thanks signing up for The Copilot Pastor!
You will receive updates as The Copilot Pastor takes shape. I'll be in touch!