|
MentorNet # 6 -- Classroom and Mentored Teaching Compared
(Brief Analysis) © 2002 by
George Patterson and Galen Currah Three uncontested essentials of on-going people
movements that result in new churches include (a) prevailing prayer, (b)
zealous evangelism and (c) continual training of pastoral leaders. For new leaders of new churches, the most
effective training is regular, relational interaction between them and a
mentor or coach who listens to them before giving assignments. In maturing
Christian movements, there should also be some kind of systematic teaching
for more experienced leaders. Thus both kinds of instruction are required,
often simultaneously: (a) classroom instruction that presents subjects
exhaustively and (b) mentored coaching that meets current learning, skill and
performance needs to serve new churches, cells and small groups. We have compiled an analytical outline that
compares the classroom and mentoring approaches on 43 points in nine areas
important to training. It may be viewed in its entirety at
<http://currah.info/docs> For a brief list of samples, consider the
following factors: 1. Seating during Sessions of Instruction Mentoring. Our trainees
form a circle or some other arrangement that allows maximum interaction. When
modeling skills we walk (or ride) together or sit around a table as at the
Last Supper. Classroom. Our
students usually face the same way, seeing mainly the backs of other
students' heads. 2. Acceptance Mentoring. Mentoring as
a vital part of Western Evangelical theological education has limited
acceptance. Relatively few educators mentor in a disciplined way or teach the
value of it. We observe in movements where churches reproduce, however, that
someone is mentoring new leaders in some way. Classroom. Especially
for more mature leaders, classroom instruction is almost universally accepted
as the norm. 3. Relationships Mentoring. As mentors
we show love, care and interest. Paul shed tears for new leaders in training
(Acts Classroom. For
leaders who are mature enough to make their own application of the material,
our main concern is normally less personal and focuses on how well students
grasp the subject. 4. Recognition Mentoring. We normally
are not concerned with professional credentials. Mentoring, even when
producing excellent results, usually goes unrecognized by education
institutions. Field practitioners who value results higher than formal
credentials recognize skill acquisition. Classroom.
Institutional recognition opens doors for paid positions and offers
credentials that are widely accepted. 5. Commitment to Ministry Mentoring.
Student-leaders commit to a shepherding ministry from the outset of their
training, at least to shepherding their own families as the core of a new
cell group or church. Their education integrates more and more practice of
pastoral skills as they move forward. We push them into the swimming pool
from the very beginning-but into the shallow end, requiring that they do only
what their level of training allows. They do no pulpit oratory, for example,
while still taking child's steps as new leaders. Classroom. Our
students often commit more consciously to completing units of study or degree
programs. In some programs they commit to internships that are quite separate
from classroom learning. 6. Methods Mentoring. Training
combines modeling skills and discussion sessions. In discussion
sessions we normally do six things. 1.
Pray for guidance. 2.
Listen to each student’s report on work done and the condition of
the people they are mentoring, pastoring, discipling or serving in some other
way. 3.
Plan. Normally a student’s plans flow from the report; we ask
students what they plan to do with their people and—often more important—what
their people will do. Plans are usually specific things to be done in the
next week or two. We often use a menu that lists ministry options to
facilitate planning. Help each 4.
Review studies done. 5.
Assign new studies. Normally these correspond to the plans. 6.
Pray for each other, for power to carry out the
specific plans. Classroom. Research
and subject mastery, lesson objectives, organization of material and choice
of learning exercises precede delivery. We give more importance to our
responsibility to communicate knowledge than to the student’s ability to pass
it on immediately to others. 7. Application Mentoring. We often use
a menu to make it easy to apply studies to immediate ministry needs
and opportunities. Students select content from different sources as
required by current situations. Jesus said a good teacher in the Classroom. We
prepare material ahead of class time and normally limit it to one subject. We
follow its outline closely. 8. Use of Scripture Mentoring. We use the
Bible, especially the New Testament, not only as content for teaching but
also as the norm for how our people practice evangelism, confirm repentance,
organize churches, conduct worship, relate to other congregations, train
leaders and deploy missionaries. Classroom. George
Patterson confesses, "When teaching in the original Honduran Bible
Institute I used the Bible almost exclusively as content for my teaching. The result was dismal; our
pastors seldom used Scripture as the norm for the way their churches
practiced many of the activities required by the New Testament." 9. Responsibility for Training Leaders Mentoring. We aim for
pastors (shepherding elders) to take the main responsibility and initiative
to train newer pastors. In pioneer mission fields this is often
essential for normal church multiplication. A church's apostles (the 'sent
ones' of Ephesians Classroom. Faculty of an educational institution tend to assume the
main responsibility for preparing mature Christian leaders. George Patterson
recalls, "In the original Honduran Bible Institute our faculty lacked
pastoral gifting; as a result we produced preachers but not pastors. Students
taught well but did not shepherd their flocks by leading it into the
gift-based found in the New Testament." Where both classroom and mentored approaches are
used simultaneously, we must take great care to avoid relational mentoring
being eclipsed by purely academic programs that are more prestigious or more
likely to lead to power or economic advantage (jobs). Where the academic
approach alone is not resulting in new churches that reproduce, mentoring may
be required. Where mentoring alone does not enable leaders to minister to
sophisticated audiences, we must supplement it with an academic
program. Our appeal to mission and church leaders is to ensure the
availability of both kinds of training for their intended purposes. We invite those who use Train
And Multiply™ to send strategy questions to Galen Currah at <[email protected]> or George Patterson at <[email protected]>. For information on T&M™," visit <http://www.TrainAndMultiply.com>. For information on the
electronic textbook "Come, Let Us Disciple the Nations," visit
<http://www.AcquireWisdom.com>. For information on the revised Church
Multiplication Guide by Patterson and Scoggins, email <[email protected]>. For information on Western Seminary's Division of
Intercultural Studies and other programs including the course "Mentoring
for Ministry," visit
<http://www.westernseminary.edu/mrg/multiply/>
(include the final /). |