We’ve all been there. Looking into the future, with youthful excitement but little wisdom, wondering how to move forward. Perhaps now you are on the other side of life. You’ve lived long enough to make enough mistakes and hopefully learned from them to be wise. Now at this stage of life, you wonder how to leave your mark. You have much to say to younger pastors, but do not have the venue from which to speak. You may wonder how to get them to listen. You want to mentor but don’t know where to begin.
The first step is to gain a clearer sense of what mentoring is all about. This is where NXTGEN Pastors serves as a resource for experienced pastors and ministry leaders who wish to help guide younger men in their Presbyteries. NXTGEN not only provides the material for mentored cohorts, it also provides the training to be a mentor.
While definitions of mentoring abound, NXTGEN mentoring is a Gospel-guided relationship between an experienced pastor and those seeking direction, focusing on the development of soft skills with a view toward pastoral health.
NXTGEN offers four one-hour weekly training events via Zoom. The class size will be kept small to allow for conversation, with a brief article to read prior to each module.
Session One: What is a Mentor? We explore who the mentors were in your life and how they shaped who you are today.
Session Two: Mentoring versus Coaching. Where do they connect and how are they different? How do you mentor through the various stages of ministry?
Session Three: This unit examines the present need for mentored cohorts and how the NXTGEN model answers that need. We discuss the value of a mentor-facilitator cohort, so that, you, the mentor has your own community.
Session Four: We look at the nuts and bolts of facilitating a mentored cohort and examine the differences between a common pedagogical format of training vs. how an adult-centered model operates in a mentored cohort. We then walk you through the NXTGEN Soft Skills delivery site and explain how to recruit a cohort to mentor in your Presbytery.
This training program is designed to equip ministry leaders to serve as mentors for NXTGEN cohorts. There is no fee for this training and following the training, you are given full access to the NXTGEN material. It is NXTGEN’s desire to see a growing number of mentored cohorts, so that pastors become more involved in discipling the future disciple-makers. It is NXTGEN’s desire that if a cohort forms, the churches and/or presbytery would contribute to the health of those being trained for ministry or who are already serving. Feel free to contact me prior to that if you would like more information.
If this opportunity is not for you, would you please consider making it possible for this training to blossom by giving a one-time gift or monthly support to NXTGEN Pastors to the address below or make use of the giving portal by going to GIVENXTGEN? NXTGEN is a 501(c)3 ministry and all donations are tax deductible.
NXTGEN cohorts are presently in Wisconsin (3), Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee (2), Florida (3), Missiouri (2), Illinois, New York, Arkansas, Louisana, Georgia, and Texas, with others forming soon. If you are interested in having a NXTGEN cohort form in your Presbytery or network, please email me at chrisvogel@ngpastors.com.
Chris Vogel
Director of NXTGEN Pastors