Mentoring: A form of Ministry

                                                                     
"I told my brother that I feel called to ministry," a Susquehanna Conference coworker from the financial department told me this morning. "He reminded me that I am in ministry through using my skills here, even if it is in an indirect way."

My boss, Jerry Wolgemuth, reiterated that notion this afternoon. "There are many forms of ministry other than just clergy," he said. "Laity has a very important leadership role." 

Are you wondering how God can use you? What skills do you have? Not necessarily direct ministerial skills...but skills for the home, landscape, computer, photography, etc. I believe that patiently passing on our skills and knowledge to others is part of living in community as Christ's family.

One month when I was teaching a youth Sunday School class, we visited different members of our church to learn their stories and skills. One man told us about farming, another woman taught us about gardening, and yet another couple simply shared about past church traditions. During this time, we were able to share snacks and laugh with each other, as well as read scripture on mentoring and grow as believers.

Proverbs 27:17 says: Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Each of us has something to learn from another. Here at the Conference, I am appreciative of the mentoring I've received about technology such as Photoshop  video editing, and filming. This hands-on-experience added clarity and understanding to what I learned about these communication tools through my college courses.What skill or knowledge can you pass on? How is God calling you to be part of His community? He has blessed each of us with gifts, it is our challenge to find them and use them for His glory.

Closing the Generational Gap

Last year a woman at my church said that she heard that my friend and I were interested in learning more about gardening. "I would love to teach you about gardening. Seriously, I would LOVE it!," she said. She continued by saying that it would give her a chance to get to know us better. "We have all been going to this church for years, yet I really don't know that much about you, other than what you do at church," she said.


This got me thinking, how sad it is that we call the church our "family" and yet we don't know the favorite hobbies and passions of those we greet every week during the worship service. It would be wonderful if we would all take a portion of time to go and fellowship with each other. In that way, we would know the true life of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and be able to share in their joy when they are blessed, and encourage them when they are down.


I liked the idea that this fellowship did not need to be structured in a typical devotion setting, but that the youth could learn a skill set, while at the same time building bonds with a Christian mentor.


The next Susquehanna Xpress demonstrates how this type of mentoring is mutually beneficial to both parties. Boyd, a lay leader, donated his land so that the kids could grow crops to donate to the Food Bank. Through this process, not only were the kids participating in an act of service for their community, but they were building a bond with a member of their church. Boyd beamed as he spoke of how hard the kids worked in the garden. He expressed how much joy it gave him to be able to pass his farming knowledge to the youth. He even shared a few tips with me that I could only have learned from an experienced farmer!


1 Corinthians 12 tells us that we each have gifts that be can be used for the Kingdom of God! We are all part of one body.


21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.


How wonderful to be able to utilize those gifts and share them with each other.


In his blog post Warren, the Director of Young Peoples Ministries, writes about the importance of forming inter-generational bonds:


The Wardog Blog: Relational Investment Vs. Relational Engagement: This is always a tough problem for people in ministry to wrestle with; especially those who work with young people. We want to personally in...


May I encourage you to act on that cross-generational project that God has been nudging you to start!