About – Thriving Churches

Our Mission: Thriving Leaders and Churches
Making a Kingdom Difference in Their Communities

"My heart is to empower leaders and see churches transformed"

Thriving Churches HQ was founded by Richard Black. Richard is an ordained minister and a qualified counsellor. He has always had a heart for the growth and wellbeing of churches, their leaders, and their people. He trained under Alan Hirsch in mission and revitalisation a few decades back and was part of the team who set up Forge, which provides training and support for missional endeavors.

He was the first in New Zealand to train as a Natural Church Development coach. Richard worked as a church developer for several years before being called into a local ministry to lead a church in a revitalisation process. At the end of that process, he felt God direct him back to supporting the wellbeing and development of churches nationwide.

Richard retrained, obtaining a Master of Counselling with distinction. He did his master’s research on “Emotional health in the role of a church leader”, discovering five unseen pressure points that undermine church leaders’ wellbeing and effectiveness.

He has now extended this research in a post-graduate dissertation focused on two key factors that enhance the wellbeing and effectiveness of pastors.

In 2010, Richard founded Mind Health, a counselling and training organisation focused on enhancing wellbeing and mental health. Richard’s special focus has always been enhancing the wellbeing of leaders and churches. He has spent the last decade providing professional supervision and leadership coaching to Christian leaders, training pastoral care workers, and working extensively with churches.

Thriving Churches HQ has been established as a specific offering to the local church. Its purpose is to intentionally support and empower churches and is based on the culmination of years of experience, research, and training.

God’s Kingdom Come!

Now more than ever the world needs churches and church leaders empowered to transform their communities. Leading a church and caring for its people in an era of ambiguity and indifference is increasingly complex. That’s where we come in. We partner with you to enhance the wellbeing and effectiveness of your church, your team, and you. Our mission is to see you and your church growing and thriving by supporting you to be all that God has called you to be. Our desire is to see more and more of God’s Kingdom Come.

Our mission is to see:

… making a Kingdom difference in their communities

Hear from Our
Clients

As a Christian leader I can’t stress enough how valuable my regular session with Richard Black has been. It helps me navigate those things in my leadership and personal life that at times have felt completely overwhelming. This is one of those things that I go why didn’t I do this years ago. I can’t recommend Mind Health highly enough.

Richard and the team at Mind Health have been a tremendous support to our staff and in particular our pastoral team. They have provided world class supervision, counselling services and team training, especially in times of crisis. We highly recommend Mind Health for your church team and organisation.

We have never heard this stuff before. You’re distinction between identity, calling and role is life-giving and freeing.

The feedback was amazing. Thanks for helping us to look like we know what we’re doing. We are always truly grateful for the gift you have of communicating difficult things in such a simple way and hence helping us all to become free and experience more freedom.