Lots of youth workers dream about having a mentoring program. Students meeting with spiritually mature adults, talking about their personal problems and receiving good advice on how to move forward in their relationship with Christ. Many youth workers think that just putting the adult and the student together WAM!, students will be growing. The problem they think is getting time for the two to meet. Busy schedules and tons of church stuff keeps them from meeting. I do think busyness is an obstacle to mentoring but I don’t think it’s the biggest problem. The real problem is having mature adults who are wiling to mentor. Most youth workers know how to organically sit down and talk with a student about spiritual matters, but most adults don’t. Youth workers miss this fact because while they can do it, that means any other adult can too. If you want a good mentoring program you need to spend time preparing and training adults to meet with students. Please note this may not solve the scheduling issue but it will give your adults confidence to speak truth into a student’s life.

For a great resource in helping you put together a solid mentoring program, check out Mentoring Culture.