Sustaining Pastoral Excellence: Mentoring

By Lis Van Harten

(First appeared in the September 2004 issue of Ministry Reports to Classes and Councils)

Recently there’s been a renewed public interest in mentoring and mentoring relationships. References to mentoring can be traced back to Homer’s Odyssey. Ulysses went off to war and left his son in the care of a tutor, Mentor. It was Mentor’s responsibility to nurture the young man into mature adulthood. So it is today that mentors nurture mentees into maturity in their chosen field.

The Christian Reformed Church in North America stresses the importance of mentoring for its leaders. In 1982, Synod mandated that all those entering ministry must be engaged in a mentoring relationship. The Office of Pastor-Church Relations (PCR) was given responsibility for administering this program. Through funds received in 2002 from Lilly Endowment Inc., the mentoring program has been enhanced and expanded.

There are currently 110 CRC pastors in mentoring relationships. It’s the desire of PCR that every pastor in their first five years of ministry benefit from this type of relationship. In the past, mentees were simply assigned a mentor upon entering their first church. However, these assigned relationships weren’t always successful. Today every effort is made to ensure that there’s a good fit between the mentor and mentee.

Mentors and mentees meet on a regular basis to discuss issues related to work in the pastorate. This is a tall order and one that needed some guidance. In May, PCR published Toward Effective Pastoral Mentoring. This manual contains 24 modules that guide the discussions of the mentoring relationship. (For a free copy email Laura Palsrok lpalsrok@crcna.org) Topics range from character formation to managing technological support.  

According to Rev. Norm Thomasma, Education Specialist of Pastor-Church Relations, "Pastoral ministry can be an isolating experience. Encouraging safe and constructive mentoring relationships is one way to counter this challenging reality."