A few years back we asked about 50 students to rank 1 through 17 in order of the value of our different ministries in their minds.
Our 50 students filling out the 1 to 17 list rated it (a one-on-one mentoring relationship) as the number one most helpful and needed thing we did!
I met the Rev. Jack Fogleman when I was eighteen years old and a freshman in college.
In United Methodist organizational nomenclature, Jack was a district superintendent. That meant he had supervisory oversight for roughly sixty congregations in a particular section of the State (Kansas).
Another responsibility that district superintendents have is to keep track of young ministerial candidates. At the point of our first contact, I was not one of them, but Jack was paying attention.
The #iMentor Initiative was started to honor the investment of mentors all over the world, and to encourage potential mentors to take […]
I’ve found myself wondering lately if mentoring — as an intentional form of raising up the next generation — is lost?
In our fast-paced, keep your nose out of my business, anxiety riddled culture — have we lost the know-how to be with people in intentional, honest, and life-giving ways? And just as importantly, has the value of this kind of relationship been lost on this generation of students?
Without faithful examples, and our focus drawn away from mentoring — towards other things — have we forgotten how to do this? Or what it looks like? Or what it can yield in another’s life?
Too busy.
It describes many of our lifestyles — and many of our students’ lifestyles as well.
And sadly, we more often wear this characteristic as a badge of honor, rather than an indictment on our collective misuse of time.
Our culture has come to equate an overly-full schedule and unhealthy pace of life with importance, significance, and they way of success.
Many people have helped to shape my life.
Especially my mentors.
There was my Young Life leader Danny O’Brien that would pick me up at 6am every Wed. for a Bible study.
Then when I was in college, I was home on break and was paired up with a “prayer partner.” It was an old man named Bill Geigert. He has written me once a month for about 20 years.
I am thrilled to announce that do to the generous gifts of some great organizations we will now be able to offer tickets to the 2013 Faith ON Campus Summer Institute for just $139!
Events like this could not happen without the generous support of many!
I encourage you to check out these great organizations — and get your ticket now for the 2013 Faith ON Campus Summer Institute!
When I started my blog in 2006, I was planning on blogging 4-6 times a month. Unfortunately, over the last two years, I’ve been largely dormant on the blogging front. I won’t bore you with what’s taken precedence, but I’ve decided that in 2013, it’s time to fire up my blog and get it started again. I hope that there might be some things of interest to readers of Faith on Campus.
In the coming year, here’s what you can expect to see:
I recently ran across this quote while re-reading Parker Palmer’s, Let Your Life Speak:
We will become better teachers not by trying to fill the potholes in our souls but by knowing them so well that we can avoid falling into them. (Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak, p. 52)
As I read and re-read those words, something resonated deep within me, and I was able to see how these wise words apply for beyond the scope of teaching — to touch most of life really.
Given the work that we do with students, my first thought was to replace the word teachers in the aforementioned quote, with the word leaders (or pastors or equippers:
I haven’t been to work in over a week now. It’s because late last Thursday (the 8th), my wife gave birth to our fifth child (yes, 5th).
Lailie Grace (pronounce Lay-lee) is now one week old and has given me good reason to completely alter my work schedule for the rest of the fall term.
It may be that the fifth time’s the charm when it comes to learning how to take a paternity leave.