(ABP) — No one ever promised vocational ministry would be easy, said Michael Godfrey, executive director of True Course Ministries. That's why he began his mentoring program for clergy.
Godfrey's 32 years experience in Christian ministry revealed to him a huge disconnect between seminary education and the practical demands of full-time ministry.
"I've had my own bumps and bruises along the way, in terms of just dysfunctional situations, relational situations…issues with self-awareness, perceptions of others," Godfrey said.
After leaving one particularly difficult situation, Godfrey realized his struggles weren't unique.
"I came to the realization that people and systems can turn, and you can get caught in the middle of it. It just opened my eyes and I saw there was a whole lot of that," he said.
In 2001, Godfrey began pursuing a doctor of ministry degree at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary. While enrolled at Truett, Godfrey found ministry direction during a visit to the Baptist General Convention of Texas minister/church relations office.
"When I was working on my D.Min. [doctor of ministry degree], I went to Jan Daehnert's office and asked him: 'Where's the hole? Where's the need?' He said we have plenty of after-care [for forced termination], but we don't have any preventive care. That's the hole," Godfrey said.
Godfrey developed Robinson, Texas-based True Course Ministries as he felt God directing him to offer support and continued education to ministers. "About 90 percent of ministers feel inadequately trained," he said.
The program, now completing its fifth year, earned the Malcolm S. Knowles Award for Excellence in Adult Education from the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education in 2007.
"It's a ministry God put on me to equip people," Godfrey said.
Several months of informal surveying showed Godfrey ministers were seeking mentors to help deal with feelings of isolation, loneliness and burnout. Godfrey also wanted his program to address church struggles and prevent forced terminations.
"I really knew God wanted this," Godfrey said. "Within the first six months, I just started talking to people…and the thing we kept hearing again and again, almost without hesitation, was, 'This is a need.'"
True Course Ministries focuses on administration, leadership, social and emotional understanding and communication.
One-on-one, personal mentorship with individually customized goals distinguishes the ministry. Concerned church members sometimes refer ministers to True Course, but church staff members also choose the program themselves — often simply to develop skills and to further education.
At an initial meeting, a mentor works with the minister to write a mutual covenant of responsibility. The pair continues to meet monthly to discuss issues, growth and future goals. Official collaboration can last up to two years, and many participants retain a close friendship with mentors long after completing the sessions.
True Course Ministries' mentors are seasoned ministers themselves, experienced in the ups and downs of ministry. According to the group's website, truecourseministries.com, the mentors are "highly trained in adult education and experienced in leadership of volunteer organizations."
Mentors also must remain active in church leadership. Some serve as interim pastors. Others focus on conflict management and on counseling ministers and their families following forced termination.
Taylor Sandlin, pastor of Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo, Texas, had a positive experience with True Course. Sandlin wanted to continue his education after seminary, and the True Course program appealed to his desire for accountability and educated feedback.
"Ministry can often be a lonely endeavor," Sandlin wrote in a testimonial.
The program helped connect him with other ministers and to transition from the close-knit seminary community to full-time congregational ministry, he said. His mentor and mentor's wife "have become for my family more than mentors; they have become our friends — kindred spirits in this life of faith," Sandlin wrote.
In their sessions, Godfrey and Sandlin focused on creating and maintaining long-term vision, a skill that has shaped his decisions ever since, Sandlin explained.
"Developing goals…is probably the thing that I've carried with me," he added. "What do I want my ministry to look like? What do I want to look like, in spiritual or family life, in five years, and how do I get there?
"[D]eveloping…and focusing on those goals…allowed me to say no to a lot of good things that nevertheless would have taken away from those long-term goals of family time and nurturing a healthy church."
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