A vital ingredient in making a healthy community is good mentoring. For much of my time at Unley I have sought to encourage people to mentor, and young people to be mentored. It has benefited my own life and I have seen it do the same for others in our church. Therefore, mentoring is something we must actively pursue in our community.
Mentoring relationships come in different shapes and sizes. Some look more structured and goal-oriented, whereas others are more intuitive and relational. Each mentoring relationship will look different based on the personality mix of partners, life stages and current circumstances a mentee might have. However, generally mentors seek to listen, encourage, support, and point a person towards Jesus.
The act of mentoring can be a very beautiful thing. An intergenerational mentoring relationship for example, is the act of one generation investing in and connecting with a younger one. Those that have gone before showing genuine love and interest in those coming up. It is the older generation passing on what a life lived with Christ looks like and exploring how that could be experienced for a young person now.
Personally, Kingsley Congdon has been a much-loved mentor to me. His curiosity in listening to me just talk about myself and my life has made me feel valued and dignified. It is a big thing for someone to show interest in you and it is incredibly grounding to have a few people like this in your circle. People to celebrate your triumphs and be there for you in your pains. People like Kingsley that believe in you and communicate that to you. A mentor that loves Jesus and reflects His love and kindness towards you in each interaction. That’s the mentor Kingsley is to me and I long for others to have life-giving relationships like this too.
Many people in our community, including our young people, have benefited greatly from mentoring relationships. It has been my pleasure to care for many young people myself and connect mentors and mentees together that have, and many continue to have, meaningful mentoring relationships.
Mentoring is something that I believe Unley does well when we do it, but we need to indeed do it. Imagine how much stronger our community would be if we have more vibrant mentoring relationships, particularly for our young people. Could you leave a legacy of faith for the next generation?
If you are interested in finding out more about mentoring relationships speak to one of our pastoral staff. We would also love your prayers as we seek to strengthen our community through mentoring.
With joy,
Simon
Photo by Andrew Moca on Unsplash