Randy’s June, 2011 Update:
This update will catch you up on a few things that happened over the past month and a half.
A Training Opportunity:
Periodically, I gather some of the young people I spiritually mentor together to go over the bigger vision of Spiritual Mentoring/Shepherding. Recently, I gathered eight people together who weren’t around the previous times I shared this information.
We looked at things like:
1) The three main goals of Spiritual Mentoring (so in the midst of the process we stay focuses on the target and have a tool to assess whether or not we are accomplishing what we’d hoped to).
2) Possible character qualities to look for in the people we are considering investing in, and
3) The seven stages of faith development that may be helpful to consider when spiritually mentoring someone (so we meet people where they are at and with what they need).
This small group will probably meet a couple more times over the summer or fall to dive deeper into the practical aspects of doing spiritual mentoring in intentional ways, and to practice on each other.
Please pray for us. We plan to meet again the last Saturday in June.
A Sharing Opportunity:
Last month, I had the privilege of sharing an overview of Intentional Spiritual Mentoring/Shepherding with ten staff members and two elders of South Park Church in Park Ridge.
They have a growing desire to do more spiritual mentoring within their church. Recently they held a six-week workshop on the topic. Over sixty people went through the training! Since then, there has been a lot of excitement around the potential opportunities.
With the growing interest, the head pastor (Eric Flood) wanted the staff to receive an overview on Spiritual Mentoring from my perspective and learn about some of the specific processes and tools I uses that I’ve found work well. He invited me to share with them what I’ve been learning.
It was a true joy being with them. They have a great group of leaders, with teachable and humble hearts. I felt warmly welcomed and could sense their openness to what I feel so passionate about. I’ve continued to be impressed with the things they have implemented at their church over the past years, and with the quality of their staff and elders.
From what I hear, there have been many inspirational stories unfolding as some staff members and lay people have been putting into practice what they’ve learned about spiritual mentoring.
Please hold them in your prayers as they continue to implement Jesus’ model for impacting the world with God’s love, by investing in individuals who will pass it on.
A Men’s Retreat:
For the third year in a row, I went on a summer retreat weekend with a couple guys; one a previous small group member (Praveen) and the other a young man I currently mentor (Dave), who recently accepted a full-time position on a church staff.
This year we returned back to a Catholic retreat center called Christ in the Wilderness. The center has three hermitages (single person dwellings) on 80 acres of land designed for solitude and renewal. We took over the place for the weekend.
Our retreat was a nice combination of solitude and group activities. We usually each prepare a session to lead the group through – whatever God has been teaching us over the year or has been putting on our hearts specifically for our time together. We try to make our sessions very experiential, rather than teaching, incorporating the outdoors when possible.
Our time together this year had some powerful moments of honesty, releasing things that God wanted us to let go of, relational connection, and fun. There were many occasions over the course of the weekend where the question arose, “Why can’t life be like this all the time?”
One evening after dark, we sat out on the deck at my hermitage and watched thousands of lightning bugs putting on a light show across a grassy meadow and even high up in the trees. I’ve never seen that many lightning bugs in one place, shining their unique and brilliant designs in the darkness. It was a magical moment – beautiful, awe-inspiring, and surreal.
Thank You:
Thank you for your prayers and support. May God bless you for your faithfulness.
In His Love,
Randy
Hey Rand: cool beans on the retreat place, I am deeply desiring to go there. hope all is well call me. M
Working on a staff at a church, I’m always interested in how we can continue to build into our staff that gives so much and in ministering to others. We are going to transitioning our Middle School Pastor to be our Spiritual Formation and Care Pastor with one of his responsibilities to mentor the staff. I’m hoping to work closely with him in his role, because it is one of my passions. Would love to chat with you on this sometime!
Love ya.
Your Cuz,
Carol