Mentoring is about making life long disciples of Jesus Christ.  It usually happens on a one-to-one basis with people meeting together to study the Bible and pray.  Over time, the developing relationship give the mentee the chance to learn and develop in their relationship with God as they learn from their mentor and see them living an ordinary life as a Christian.

In the St Peters Mentoring program we aim to help develop and equip our mentors through training sessions held roughly once a quarter.  Mentors are overseen by a coach who trains and helps them in their role as a mentor in the church.

Mentoring has been and continues to be a very helpful ministry especially for the students who come to the congregation.  The aim is to see them grow in their convictions and character to be effective Christians in the congregation and in their ordinary lives, in the work place or in the university.

Here is a testimony of how Mentoring has benefited one of our students:

As an executive member of the Christian Union, I had to find a mentor whilst serving on the University Christian Union committee for a year.  The idea behind this is that the mentor would be an independent person (ie. not a student) that I could talk to about any problems I was having in confidence.  It was expected that each member of the committee would have someone to support them throughout their year of service.  In reality things were much different.

Anne and I meet regularly at a time that suits us and we agree how long we meet for (we aim for one hour once a fortnight). Sometimes we meet to read and study God’s word together as we work through a book called ‘Women of Faith’ and other times we just chat and pray with each other. I’ve been very surprised by the friendship that developed. When I first asked Anne to be my mentor I was scared she’d say “no, I’m too busy” and I didn’t really know her but now we exchange stories and prayer requests for our families and work/university peers and I can be honest with her. It’s always very relaxed and informal, we don’t need to prepare anything or have done any homework, just be willing to give up an hour and have a cup of tea. I feel very privileged to be welcomed into her family as she speaks about them and invites me to eat with them.

This experience has been a great help to me as I now feel much more a part of the church family in St Peter’s. I’ve learnt a lot about the church and what it means to be a body and how we can support each other. For me the most humbling and encouraging thing is to know that Anne is faithful in her prayers for me in all situations (even if we can’t meet, I know she is praying). Although this all began by me asking Anne to be my mentor, it has become a two-way exchange and friendship build on trust, honesty, love and ultimately our relationships with Christ. I’m no longer a member of the committee but Anne and I still meet when we can.

 If you would like to know more about Mentoring at St Peters please contact the church offices via the details below.