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CE Forum
Mentors

For the 1997-98 ministry season, CE Forum will focus on leadership character issues. Many of the ideas come from an initiative of the Canadian MB Conference called “Focusing Leaders Network.” It’s a renewal tool for pastors and leaders that examines leadership issues in a relational context. This is the fourth and last article of the series.

Are you looking for a person who can give you perspective and provide wisdom, support, resources, and guidance? Do you desire to help others grow and achieve new levels of effectiveness?

Either way, you’re thinking about the mentoring process.

Mentoring links leaders to the resources of others. It empowers leaders for greater personal growth and ministry effectiveness.

I remember one mentor in particular. His name was Henry Voth. He was the pastor of the Portage Avenue M.B. church where I was a member as a teenager, and then later served as associate pastor.

When I was still a young man, pastor Voth saw gifts in me. He gave me and a friend the opportunity to preach half a sermon each on New Year’s Day morning service. It certainly was a safe place to start as a 19 year old!

However, he continued to encourage me. I received chances to preach when I was in Bible College.

Pastor Voth didn’t have his eye just on me. He was concerned about developing leaders in the church at large. He set up a program where the congregation discerned several people who had the gifts for pastoral ministry. I was one. With my wife, we were encouraged to engage in a recognized ministry and stay in touch with him and the church. After a two year discerning period we were encouraged to enter full time ministry.

Ultimately that led to a position on staff at the church. Henry Voth was a discerning mentor for me. He intentionally worked at moving me towards fulfilling gifts which he saw evident.

There have been many more people in my life who built me up. My father was a mentor, demonstrating deep spirituality, teaching the Bible, and showing an evangelistic heart in the lost. John Unger and Ron Penner were people who held the conference position I now occupy. John has helped me learn the way children come to faith. Ron encouraged me as a youth pastor and later was directly instrumental in my fit into this role and ministry. Looking back I have had lots of mentors. I don’t think only one person can be a mentor for all the things one needs.

We look to mentors for encouragement, timely advice, habits of ministry, and ideas. Some mentors provide opportunities to minister or serve, financial backing, and even put their reputation on the line to assist a mentoree.

We should look both ways in the mentoring process. We often look up to see who can help us. We also should look to see who we can help and encourage towards better leadership. Marlene Wilson, a great volunteer manager, says that in leadership, it’s not what we do that counts, it’s how many people we involve. That’s mentoring.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without Henry Voth and a whole range of mentors. Most likely that is the case with you. The challenge we face is: who are we mentoring? Who will look back some day and say, “Dave Wiebe was a key mentor in my life”? Will someone say that about you?

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Written by David Wiebe, Director of Christian Education Ministries.
Last modified October 31, 2000.

Ideabank is a quarterly newsletter published by the Board of Christian Education Ministries, a board of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

© 2000 Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
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