Focus of the Mentorship

The mentorship focuses on three major areas. You and your mentor will talk about all three. Risking some vulnerability may be appropriate, but you can rest assured that your mentor cares about you and only wants to see you excel in each area.

• Ministry growth
• Spiritual growth
• Personal growth

It is impossible to truly grow in ministry without growing in your relationship with Christ. Since your personal growth also determines what you do and the decisions you make in ministry, growth in all three are necessary and intertwined.

Goals for the Mentorship

Your mentor will explore your personal goals and expectations for the mentorship and discuss ways you can meet two or three of them through your time together. Here are our three main goals for you:

• That you would receive encouragement, training, and advice about ministry to middle school and high school students.
• That you would be challenged on a personal level in character development.
• That you would know God more intimately.

Length of the Mentorship

The duration of the mentorship is 10 weeks. Each week you’ll connect on a one-on-one phone conversation with your mentor for about an hour or so. Have fun!

Why you need a mentor

1. Advice: A mentor helps you avoid the rookie mistakes and assumptions. You gain the opportunity to learn from someone who can look back on their early years in youth ministry and help you avoid the landmines. They’ve “been there, done that.”

2. Accountability: Share your goals with someone who will help hold you accountable for them. If you don’t yet have any goals or direction in ministry, a mentor will both help you think through them and flesh them out in practical ways in your ministry.

3. Support and Encouragement: A mentor wants to help you thrive in ministry. They are here to listen to you, support you, encourage you, and give advice about your current situations and how to handle them. You can vent, even kick and scream when appropriate, and ask tough questions without worrying about losing your job.

4. A neutral outside perspective: A mentor can give objective input about your struggles, conflicts, and vision.

5. A wealth of knowledge: A mentor has the expertise, the experience, and the knowledge of ministry. They’ve been living with the tension of intertwining ministry, a personal life, and a growing relationship with Christ for many years. They know what you’re going through and can help you navigate it all.

6. Networking and resources: A mentor can direct you to other people who specialize in something that pertains to your ministry. They know what resources to recommend and can point you in the right direction.

7. Receive validation: When many people in your church view the youth ministry as a glorified babysitter or some kind of spiritual superman that’s supposed to fix every kid, a mentor can provide some validity for what you do and why you do it.

8. Experience and Education: Mentors have more experience and more education (even if not formal education) to be able to share from, refer to, and use to encourage you.

9. Someone to ask the hard questions: Everyone needs people in their life who are further ahead than they are. A mentor can help you correct some trails that are heading the wrong direction in your personal life, spiritual life, and in your ministry.

10. Keep you on track: With all the youth ministry models, philosophies, and programs out there, a mentor can help you stay focused, on track, and make decisions that are best for your ministry, not just because “everyone else is doing it.”