Spiritual Formation Mentoring Training
When Jesus gave his final instruction to his disciples, he left them with a specific charge - to make disciples, teaching these new followers to do all that Jesus had not only commanded but had fully lived.
Becoming fruitful disciples of Christ is predicated on ‘living Jesus’-- becoming new people on the inside who then love, follow and serve Jesus out of that place of transformation.
The process of becoming like Jesus is called Spiritual Formation. It is the process of having Christ more fully formed in us by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God and the benefit of others. We can’t become healthy, mature disciples without engaging in the process of spiritual formation.
For this transformation to take place, we first need to learn how to pay attention to our desire for God and to the relationship that flows from that desire. This gives way to a journey of deepening intimacy and flourishing growth. It’s helpful to have someone accompany us on this journey who has learned how to facilitate spiritual growth and formation.
Thomas Holbrook says “People need specific coaching to understand their journey process, to develop their prayer life, to use specific spiritual disciplines consistent with their needs, and to develop a clear understanding of how to cooperate with God in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work of transformation.”
Spiritual Formation Mentors are trained for this kind of ministry. Although they do much of what a spiritual director does - listen, ask questions, help with discernment - they also integrate spiritual teaching/coaching into the mentoring relationship.
This training is both for people who will specialize in becoming spiritual formation mentors and also for those who simply want to add another ministry skill-- another tool to the tool belt-- to the areas of pastoral ministry they are already moving in.
Here are some core components of the training.
Each mentor will:
- Learn how to care for their own soul and grow personally in their own relationship with God through:
- becoming familiar with spiritual formation practices and disciplines
- learning how to enter into silence and solitude
- developing a rule of life and weekly Sabbath rhythms
- Learn how to help other people grow in their relationship with God by:
- becoming good listeners
- formulating and asking questions
- using discernment
- teaching them to develop prayer and spiritual practices
- teaching them to develop a rule of life and weekly Sabbath rhythms
- Learn the different stages of the spiritual journey and how to help people understand and navigate through these stages.
- Learn how to develop self-awareness, a key component in growing in our spiritual lives. As we become more aware of what God is doing in our lives we can help others become aware of God’s work in theirs.
The training will occur over three modules consisting of Friday 7:00-9:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and will meet every 6-8 weeks.
Each cohort can have a maximum of twelve people. The cost will be in the vicinity of $300 per person.