Tailored Mentoring

Even before we meet you for the first time, there are a few things we already know about you: God built you in your mother’s womb; He assembled you for a purpose. Even before your tiny heart began to beat, God saw your whole life, and He put into you the desires and strengths that will move you to accomplish all that He dreams for you. You are unique in the universe, and there are particular ways God designed you to be, particular things He made you to do–unlike anyone else, ever.

On top of that, we also know that a human cannot survive alone. The very fact that you’re here now means that other people have given input into your life. Some of the input has been helpful, or you would not have survived childhood. Much of the input may have been harmful, even traumatic. You will come to us with a story all your own, with its own unique constellation of strengths and weaknesses, wounds and dreams.

Given what we already know about you, how much sense does it make to crank you through a generic training program?

Not a lot. And we notice that Jesus didn’t do that. He selected a small number of people, and poured Himself into them for 3 years. They were very different individuals–look at Peter’s writings, compared to John’s, or Matthew’s. Different personalities, backgrounds, educations. He treated them differently, too. He’s pretty hard on Peter, a lot more gentle with Philip, tolerant of Thomas’ doubts.

When you come to us, we’ll begin by getting to know you. After the initial intake interview, you’ll have an interview with your primary mentor, and interviews with your secondary mentors, if any. Based on those interviews, we’ll move into a curriculum conference. We’ll consider the menu of possibilities with your particular needs in mind, and settle on an initial curriculum for you to follow. It will include ministry experience with regular debriefing, character mentoring with particular focuses, and an assortment of readings and other exercises.The whole thing will be tailored to your particular situation, character, and goals.

You might learn to chant the Psalms, explore the historical prayers of the Church, or outline Ephesians. You might serve soup to homeless folks, develop a Bible study curriculum, start an Ultimate Frisbee league for middle-school kids. You might join the Chamber of Commerce for the evangelism opportunities, clean up brush from an elderly widow’s backyard, or prayer walk through the city, starting with your neighborhood. You might learn a martial art; you might learn New Testament Greek; you might learn to paint. The possibilities really are endless.

Please understand, this does not mean that you assemble your own curriculum, cherry-picking what you like. Not a bit of it. We will assemble it in conversation with you. Your likes will be considered, but mentoring being what it is, not all of our choices will make sense to you, any more than all Jesus’ choices made sense to His disciples. Trust us; we’ve been where you are, and we know what it takes to grow from there.Also understand that your initial curriculum is not carved in stone. We aren’t perfect, and we know it. We’ll make regular adjustments and course corrections as you grow and we get to know you better.

If this sounds good to you, schedule an interview with us today.