Mentoring As Part of Your Education Ministry

Within every congregation, there is a growing need for men and women of faith to serve as Bible class teachers.  Leadership can quickly become discouraged by the lack of teaching volunteers when the need is presented.  However, have you ever considered WHY they are not teaching?

Several years ago, I was teaching a class on the need for male spiritual leadership when a close friend approached me and said, “I know what the Bible teaches about my role as the father, but I do not know where to begin.”  That statement has stuck with me over the years, and I have found it to be true more often than not.

So…instead of getting frustrated at the lack of people volunteering to teach, we implemented a mentoring process for our teens and adults.  Here is what we have done; it serves us very well.

Teens and Mentoring

Our congregation has around 12-15 teens who enjoy participating in our education ministry.  Here is our process.

1. We utilize our seventh through twelfth graders: We let the congregation know what we are doing each year, and if any of the kids in these grades are interested, let us know.
2. We have specialized classes for them: We like to have these classes on a Sunday afternoon. These classes cover student expectations (be on time, greet each student, take attendance, turn off your cell phone, study each week’s lesson in advance, etc.), class coordinator role (ensure each student has their copy of the class curriculum, get in touch with the teachers and teens to see if they can answer any questions), and finally the teacher’s role (you are here to mentor them to aid in their goal of becoming a quality Bible class teacher.  Allow them to be involved by asking them to assist in whatever way you deem necessary, and allow them to teach X number of lessons with your guidance).
3. We have them in a children’s class for six weeks, twice a year: We have found the teens enjoy teaching but also miss the comraderies of their own teen Bible class. Splitting their teaching into two allows us to place them in a younger class for six weeks and then into an older class for six weeks to experience the difference between the two ages.
4. Final report:  Once the kids have completed their teaching, we ask them to write a one-page report sharing their experiences.

We have found that after going through our mentoring process, most of them are fully capable of teaching a children’s class on their own by year three.  We have trained over 60+ young people who are not able to bless us with their gifts and abilities, but as they have gone on to college and beyond, bless the congregations where they attend.

Teach 2820

This year, we started a new ministry for our adults, Teach 2820.  The 2820 comes from Matthew 28:20, which states, “Teaching them to observe all things.”  It was so uplifting and encouraging for our congregation.  Here is our approach:

1. Cast your net:  We communicated with the congregation our desire to start their mentorship within our adult Bible classes. We did this through a sermon, bulletin information, classroom announcements, and, most importantly, by tapping young men we felt would benefit from this ministry and asking them directly.  We quickly had four guys who agreed to be our guinea pigs for our initial run.
2. Class: We recommend establishing a Wednesday night class for anyone interested in becoming a Bible class teacher AND/OR becoming a better bible class teacher. Starting the quarter BEFORE they are scheduled to teach is a great way to get them prepared.  Here are the class topics we discussed:
3. 1. How to Build a Textual Bible Class Lesson
   2. Bible Study Resources
   3. Time Management
   4. Facilitating Discussion
   5. Generational Learning Styles
   6. Introducing Your Bible Class Lesson
   7. Establishing Context and Setting
   8. Key Points and Digging Deep
   9. Art of Asking Questions
   10. Utilizing Illustrations Properly
   11. Drawing Applications
4. Curriculum:  Select a book of the Bible that will not overwhelm the teachers in training. Starting them out on the book of Revelation probably isn’t the best place to begin.  Make sure you give them a good curriculum to give them a starting place so they do not have to come up with all aspects of a lesson outline.
5. Mentors: Possibly the most critical aspect of this Teach 2820 format. We assigned a mentor to each of our four teachers in training.  Their role is to assist in developing the outline, be present in the class when the lesson is presented, and fill in if their mentee is absent.  Following each class, the mentor will provide positive feedback, answer questions, and provide constructive criticism.
6. Rotation: We provided three adult classes, broken down by my life stages/ages. We had our young adult class (18-35), Adult 1 class (36-45), and Adult 2 class (45+).  We did this because each age demographic tends to vary in learning style and willingness to participate verbally.  We put the four teachers on a rotational schedule.  So week 1 you would have guys 1-3 teach their lesson with guy four on a bye week.  Each week, we would rotate the teachers within our classrooms with them each teaching the same lesson for a total of three times.  By doing this, by the end of the quarter, each teacher would create a total of three lesson outlines, presenting each lesson three times, with three bye weeks.  It works out great!
7. Classroom Participants: It is important that your congregation understand what they are doing. Let them know we have some teachers in training and how they play a role in encouraging them verbally and by their class participation.  Gently communicate how each teacher has a mentor, and they are the ones to share any constructive criticism with their mentee.  Too often, our good-intentioned members can say things in the wrong manner.
8. Next Steps: Following their quarter from teachings, we gave them the following quarter off. They have all agreed to co-teach in the very near future.  We want them to teach at least three weeks in a row to get a taste of what many of our teachers will do in a regular Bible class.  Their co-teachers will now serve as their mentors so plan accordingly.
9. Future plans: We are planning on offering this class again during the spring quarter. Our goal is to target four of our HS boys to utilize this same format and rotate into the MS class.  They would each teach a total of three lessons.  This will not replace what we are doing to train our teens within our children’s classes but work alongside.  We are also targeting our next crop of teachers to train for the Fall quarter for our adult classes.

The Bible is filled with examples of people who invested their time and talents into the lives of others.

Consider…

• Solomon and the Queen of Sheba: Solomon mentored the Queen of Sheba, who returned to her people with wisdom in the form of Proverbs
• Elijah and Elisha: Elijah mentored Elisha, who went on to mentor King Jehoash and others
• Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar: Daniel mentored Nebuchadnezzar, who humbled himself before God
• Jethro and Moses: Jethro mentored his son-in-law Moses
• Moses and Joshua: Moses mentored Joshua, who went on to mentor other army leaders.

Mentoring is a Godly concept which is desperately needed in the church today.  Please consider how you can establish a mentoring class within our congregation.  If I may be of any assistance, please reach out!  May God bless each of our richly!