April 15thPastor Mentoring Provides Support, Forms Congregational Bonds
Mennonite Church Manitoba’s pastor mentoring program may not be widely known, but it has a significant impact on our pastors and congregations.
The program, overseen by Co-Directors in Leadership Jeff Friesen and Karen Schellenberg, has for many years been pairing pastors together in a mentoring relationship. Normally a pastor new to ministry or MCM is paired with one who has deep roots and wide experience as a pastor within our regional church.
"Mentor pairs meet on a regular basis to share about both their specific pastoral work as well as things happening in their day-to-day lives,” Jeff says. “The goal is to foster a relationship between two pastors that has a formative impact on them and the congregations they serve."
Lisa Enns (Charleswood) (pictured left) and Teresa Enns-Zehr (Aberdeen) were brought together as part of this program after Aberdeen Mennonite Church joined MCM last year.
"We discovered as we met regularly with Teresa's MCM orientation group that we had many other things in common (beyond our last name), and valued each other's pastoral and life experiences,” says Lisa. “The ice was easily broken with a mutual love for coffee and dogs. Plus, we're both so much fun that we love hanging out together!"
Teresa (pictured right) adds, “Our relationship has provided us a place to find mutual support and encouragement, friendship in an often-lonely vocation. Besides this, there is a new bond forged between our congregations as we get to know one another better and connect our congregations together.”
There are currently a dozen mentoring pairs meeting across MCM.
"We have seen these relationships work in a variety of ways,” says Karen. “What's most exciting is witnessing how both pastors in a mentor relationship give and receive care and encouragement to each other. We've witnessed mentor pairs support each other through personal and work-related joys and concerns regularly."
Pray for our new pastors and their mentors, that their relationship would nurture growth in their faith and their ministries. To learn more about how we as MCM support and care for our pastors, see our Leadership Ministries page. To support the pastoral mentoring program and other Leadership Ministries initiatives financially, see www.mennochurch.mb.ca/giving.