Take a look around your church and spin forward 10 years. Who will be the leaders of your ministry? Are they in your church now?
As a generation of pastors prepares for retirement, churches across the country are facing a potential leadership gap.
It’s a crisis you may already have the potential to solve, at least for your church. Mentoring is an intentional way to equip the next generation of leaders in your church. This blog will walk you through how to do it.
What Mentorship in Ministry Really Looks Like
If you search online, you’ll find all kinds of definitions for mentoring—some long, some filled with fancy words. But honestly, it’s not that complicated.
At its core, mentoring is just about walking through life with someone, sharing what you’ve learned, and being there for them.
Sure, you can make it more structured if you want, but it really doesn’t have to be. It’s about sharing meals, praying together, and teaming up in ministry while offering constructive feedback along the way. Simple as that.
Read the Gospels. Jesus did all of that—and much more—with the disciples. Think about how Jesus interacted with Peter. For three years, Peter watched and learned from Jesus. Whether it was Peter’s inaccurate view of the Lord or his cowardly actions on Good Friday, Jesus never shied away from giving feedback to his disciple and restoring him after failure. That’s the work of the mentor.
If you think this sounds a lot like discipleship, you’re right. Too often in the church, we relegate discipleship to the mental and mentoring to the practical. But when Jesus calls the church to “make disciples” in Matthew 20, he’s not telling us to simply impart knowledge but to show others how to live the Christian life. That includes preparing people for ministry.
The Benefits of Mentoring for the Church
As an increasing number of Baby Boomer church leaders retire, most church ministry observers note a developing leadership crisis.
“As a generation of clergy ages and prepares to step down, it is not clear that churches are prepared for the transition,” wrote Barna Research in 2022. “If this trend goes unaddressed, the Church in the U.S. will face a real succession crisis.”
Mentoring is the antidote. Think of mentoring as a pipeline for church leadership that ensures future leaders have the tools (and confidence) to serve effectively.
Mentoring also has a ripple effect. Mentor one future leader who will, in turn, mentor others and you’ll have an exponential impact on the church in the years to come.
How to Identify Potential Leaders to Mentor
Every person in your church should ideally have a mentor. Mentoring isn’t something that only happens for the upper echelon of church leadership. Again, we’re all called to make disciples and be disciples. We’re called to be in mentoring relationships with others.
But church leaders have a unique opportunity to mentor future leaders. Your church (and the church more broadly) will need leaders for generations to come.
So what should you look for as you identify potential leaders to mentor?
- Character – Look for potential leaders who consistently show the character qualities the Bible defines for leaders throughout the pastoral epistles, such as gentleness, respectability, hospitality, and generosity (1 Timothy 3:2), along with humility, self-control, faithfulness, etc. (Titus 3:6-9). Even if the person isn’t planning to be a pastor, these are a great collection of character traits for any prospective leader.
- Passion for ministry – Before you spend time and effort to mentor someone, make sure the person desires to serve in ministry leadership. When Paul begins his list of leadership characteristics in 1 Timothy 3:1, he prefaces his words with “If anyone aspires to be an overseer (or pastor).” A passion (or calling) for ministry leadership needs to be a non-negotiable.
- Teachability – Pay special attention to how people respond to challenges or criticism. You’re looking for people who genuinely want to learn and grow. That’s not everyone. Often, teachability corresponds with maturity. Just because a potential mentee isn’t ready to be teachable right now doesn’t mean he or she won’t be later.
Make spotting future leaders a consistent part of your prayer life. Ask God to show you whom you should invest your time and energy in mentoring. That’s a prayer God loves to answer!
Simple Steps to Start Mentoring
You may be thinking you don’t have the time to take a new leader under your wings. Or maybe you don’t believe you have anything to share.
However, both excuses are false. You can do this.
Keep these basic principles in mind as you get started.
- Be intentional. Set aside time each week to mentor someone. Start small. Most likely, the future leader you’re mentoring will be thrilled with whatever time you can invest, even if it’s just 30 minutes a week. Start small with a coffee chat or a shared lunch and see what develops.
- Be authentic. Young leaders don’t need an idealized picture of ministry. They need your experience — the good, the bad, and the ugly. Give them all of it.
- Be practical. You can’t help those you’re mentoring if you don’t give them practical opportunities to serve in the church. Look for opportunities where they can exercise their gifts in a safe manner, and where you can provide feedback.
- Be committed. A mentoring relationship is a long-term journey with a prospective leader. Not everything will go as planned. He or she will make mistakes. Stay the course.
Honestly, your weekly mentoring time could be as simple as discussing your biggest ministry challenge in the week or talking about a specific ministry scenario you experienced. Or you could walk through an important biblical passage.
You have more to talk about than you think, and none of it will probably take much prep time. Just keep the four principles above in mind as you plan what to discuss.
Seizing the Future of Your Church
The future of your church is at stake right now. No matter where you are in your church’s life cycle, you’re one day closer to a transition to new leadership.
Are you ready to make that shift?
Building a mentoring culture in your church is one of the surest ways to answer yes to that question.
As you’re thinking about the future of your church, check out our free guide, Planning for Tomorrow: Effective Succession Strategies for Church Leaders.
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