There are many excellent resources on mentoring. Here is one I came across the other day built around the acronym MENTORING, (Model, Empathise, Nurture, Teach, Organise, Respond, Inspire, Network and Goal-set). Not a specifically Christian resource but an excellent overview.
Leadership and the Art of Mentoring
Why pastors need mentoring
DR DANIEL WONG
Do pastors need mentoring? Aren’t they the ones who are to mentor others? Why is it crucial for pastors to be mentored? The biblical example, the challenges of pastoring, the importance of character development, and the need for encouragement are some reasons why pastors need mentoring.
The Biblical Example
Those in ministry need others who are more seasoned to provide guidance and support. It was Barnabas who was called to work with Saul, better known to us as the Apostle Paul. Barnabas got to know Paul, vouched for him before others, and worked alongside him in ministry. Then in turn, it was the Apostle Paul who worked with his mentee Timothy to provide him instruction on how to carry out ministry and use the gifts God had given him to serve as a pastor. Much of that mentoring was done by letter, as encompassed in 1 and 2 Timothy. Today, some of that correspondence might have been done by e-mail!
The Challenges of Pastoring
The nature of ministry easily makes it a highly stressful and challenging career. How many other careers are 24/7, involve the entire family with even designations like PK’s (Pastor Kids), and can encompass one’s whole existence where work life, family life, and personal life often intertwine? While everyone can evaluate stress-related life change using the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale, clergy and clergy spouses have additional Rating Scales to identify factors augmenting their stress.
Pastors are often like General Practitioners who need to have a wide range of knowledge and skills. No wonder the term “seminary” means “seedbed” where one only plants a foundation for ministry and then enters the school of experience.
The Importance of Cultivating Character
Externals – in numbers, dollars, and size, often measure ministry. The great temptation for pastors is to conform to chasing the externals more than cultivating character. Of course this begins with the pastor. The pastor is to lead by example.Character development takes intentionality and time that a mentor can help encourage and hold the pastor accountable. We hear of too many fallen pastors.There are those who have even fleeced the sheep! Ministry needs to flow from character. Mentors play an important role in prodding pastoral character development.
The Need for Encouragement
Pastors need encouragement as they are prone to get discouraged. Pastors often have great expectations for the congregation, expectations for oneself, and even for God to do a mighty work. These expectations can be unrealistic and even beyond what God might desire. It is often noted that pastoring is a lonely profession.Pastors need a mentor/companion to view the situation from the outside, to note what good things are happening, and to offer perspective and prayer support.Personally, I have mentored pastors for many years. Some have served as pastors or interns in my previous churches and those who serve in other churches. I not only provide encouragement to others but I myself am encouraged and inspired as well. The pastoral waterways are not an easy to navigate. A mentor is a spiritual guide along that journey. Even I myself have a mentor who is also a certified spiritual director who really points me to the ultimate source of hope and help, our God.
Daniel L. Wong is Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, Tyndale University College & Seminary, Toronto To contact Dr. Wong, please use his e-mail address: dwong@tyndale.ca;
Seven attributes of an effective mentoring relationship
1. Effective mentoring is built on the credibility of the mentor and the confidence of the mentee in the value of the relationship.
While it is true that not all effective practitioners or leaders make good mentors, it is also true that a mentor must have some significant life experience in the area in which they mentor. If a mentor is working with leaders, there must be considerable reflective experience of leadership upon which a mentor draws. If mentoring is more in the area of spiritual formation, the mentor needs to have walked a journey with God. Mentoring is somewhat different to counselling in this regard. No one expects a counsellor to have personally faced all the psychological issues with which they work. With a mentor, there is an expectation that enough life experience has been acquired, integrated and reflected upon to give the mentor credibility to adapt this to build into the lives of others. A mentee needs to develop the confidence out of life sharing that they will grow through the relationship.
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Preventing Burnout in Pastors through Mentoring
Australian Christian Mentoring Conference 2014
I am thrilled to be part of the National Mentoring Forum for the ACMN again, this year in my home state of Tasmania.
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Spiritual Mentoring Seminar–CS Lewis Institute
I have just come across the audio recordings and notes of 5 excellent sessions at a conference on Spiritual Mentoring hosted by the CS Lewis Institute back in 2011.
The presenter is Dr Tom Schwanda of Wheaton College, Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation.
These are well worth a listen to. The notes can also be downloaded.
Spiritual Mentoring- How to Help Others Grow in Their Relationship with Christ – C.S. Lewis Inst
Every Pastor needs a Mentor – Rick Warren
Reposted from Rick Warren
http://pastors.com/you-need-a-mentor-by-rick-warren/
Every pastor needs a mentor. No matter what stage you are in your ministry, you need someone to coach you.
All sorts of organizations use the mentoring process to make people better at what they do. In medicine, doctors mentor younger doctors. In music, musicians mentor other musicians. Why? It works. We learn best when we have people who can speak into our lives and ministry. Proverbs 19:20 says, “Get all the advice you can and be wise the rest of your life.”
I will always need a coach – no matter how old I get or how successful I become. Lebron James is one of the best basketball players on the planet. He still needs a coach. You will never get to a point in your life when you can say, “I’ve learned it all. I don’t need anybody else to help me.”
A little research firms up our understanding
Here are some recent articles on Mentoring that I have been looking at from a research perspective.
Mentoring and Learning Organisations
What makes an effective mentor
Foundation Level Mentor Equipping Training in Sydney 2014
Today I enjoyed the opportunity to spend the morning with a group of mentors who were completing their last training day of a three year training course. It was great to hear their stories and reflections on training and those they are mentoring.
We are thrilled that a 3 year training program is running in Sydney again next year. The course will use our Mentor Equipping process and materials. It will be hosted by two experienced mentors, Sally Jones and Rev Peter Moore.
Biblical Foundations for Mentoring – ‘nouthetein’
One of the Biblical terms that shapes the expression of mentoring today is ‘nouthetein’ – the verb meaning ‘instruction’ or ‘edification’. It is used by Paul through his letters to encourage believers to respond to and to exercise pastoral teaching or spiritual guidance with one another. The background of the term is important. The context of its use is in family, household or close friendship environments where there is a relationship of trust, responsibility and particularly mutuality. It has the implication of ‘honest and earnest but gentle admonition among friends’. The contextual basis for nouthetein’ is always a caring committed covenant relationship with the other.
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Advanced Mentoring Skills Training Sydney 2014
Over the last two to three years, I have had a number of approaches from leaders involved in mentoring others to facilitate an update or advanced skills course. This is finally getting underway in Sydney, being hosted by Peter and Ngaire Moore. I will be doing the training for this program. The advanced skills course assumes participants will already be mentoring and have had either some experience or some previous training. We will not be covering the same material covered in the foundational level course.
For a brochure please follow this link
Applications are welcome online, you will be contacted for an interview (most likely over the phone or internet)