Leaders | Blog

21 Resources for Mentoring Pastors and Pastors in Training

October 8, 2021
Center for Transforming Engagement

In the journey of spiritual leadership, mentorship plays a pivotal role.

Whether you’re a seasoned pastor looking to guide the next generation or a pastor-in-training seeking wisdom and support, having the right resources at your fingertips can make all the difference.

In this article, we’ve curated 21 essential resources designed to enrich the mentoring experience for both mentors and mentees. From insightful books and comprehensive online courses to inspirational podcasts and community forums, these tools are tailored to nurture growth, foster resilience, and enhance pastoral effectiveness.

Dive in and discover how these resources can help you build stronger, more impactful ministry leaders.

Want to download this list? 21 Resources for Mentoring Pastors and Pastors in Training Download

Blog Posts

How to Provide A Great Internship Experience at Your Church. The Unstuck Group, 2016.

6 Keys to a Thriving Internship Program for Your Church. Vanderbloemen, 2016.

Program Models

Becoming a Pastor: Reflections on the Transition into Ministry. James P. Wind and David J. Wood, Alban Institute Report.

Developing a Mentoring Model, Based on Christ’s Approach to Discipleship, for Intern Pastors in the British Union. Desmond Boldeau, 2014, Dissertation.

Gray’s Mentoring Model. Mentoring Relationships that Work, William Gray, 2011.

Guide to Pastoral Internships. Fund for Theological Education, 2012.

Mentored Ministry: Guide for Mentors. Timothy Z. Witmer. Westminster Theological Seminary, 2003.

Books

Connecting: The Mentoring Relationships You Need to Succeed in Life. J. Robert Clinton and Paul Stanely. NavPress, 1992.

Mentoring: The Promise of Relational Leadership. Walter C Wright. Wipf and Stock, 2013.

Mentor for Life: Finding Purpose through Intentional Discipleship. Natasha Robinson. Zondervan, 2016.

The Potter’s Rib: Mentoring for Pastoral Formation. Brian Williams. Regent College Publishing, 2005.

Transforming the Rough Places: the Ministry of Supervision. Kenneth Pohly. Wipf and Stock, 2016.

Welcome to Theological Field Education, Chapter 2, “The Art of Supervision and Formation” by Charleen Jin Lee. Rowan and Littlefield, 2011.

Journals

Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry

Other Media

Dallas Theological Seminary Mentoring Intro: Includes 4 short videos and a list of frameworks

Dallas Theological Seminary Mentoring Resource Page

Organic Mentoring Video, Barbara Neumann and Sue G. Edwards

Podcast: “Best Practices in Church Internship Programs” by Rich Birch of unseminary

Webinar: The Pastor as Mentor. Dr. Mark Walker

Organizations with Additional Resources

Association for Pastoral Supervision and Education (APSE)

The Institute of Pastoral Supervision and Reflective Practice

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(scroll down and click agree) Full attendance and participation during all sessions are expected to complete the program. Please consider the schedule closely to ensure you will be able to participate in the virtual meetings, and block off your calendar to ensure your attendance. Should you have an emergency (illness, situations out of your control) that will impact your participation please email transforming@theseattleschool.edu Time commitment: Two hours one day per month for 8 months, dates to be determined by majority of registrants' availability and adjusted as needed during the first group meeting. Your feedback is immensely valuable! As an essential component of your participation in this program, we ask that you provide us with your honest, candid, and timely feedback in program surveys and conversations, and consider providing reviews or testimonials of the program for promotional use. 2. Code of Conduct The Center for Transforming Engagement strives for intentionality in the ways we relate to one another - how we as a team relate to each other, how we relate to participants, and how we hope participants will relate to us and one another. To that end, we hold cultural norms about the ways we interact with one another. Your participation in this program is contingent on your agreement to abide by these cultural norms. Confidentiality. For growth to happen, we all need to be able to share about the deeper challenges we face. To provide that atmosphere of openness and support, you commit to not sharing personal information that is shared in program meetings. Curiosity. In our interactions with each other and our communities, we practice the humility of not-knowing that is required to listen and discover. Respect differences. Be aware of different cultural and characterological ways of communicating, and invite others’ voices. Respect theological differences: the river of Christian orthodoxy is wide, and while the streams of that river are distinct, they are not inherently better or worse. Even if you can’t respect the belief, treat the person with respect. You are invited to be a whole person, with both thoughts and feelings. We value both thoughts and feelings as valuable pieces of information that inform one another, and inform our learning and discerning together. Presence. Be in the here and now (not mentally somewhere or some time else), with the people who are sharing their time and stories with you. Eliminate any distractions possible. 3. Fair Use Policy All program content, recordings, and materials are the intellectual property of The Seattle School and may not be presented, distributed, or replicated. The Seattle School retains the copyright for all recorded content. Some print materials (PDFs, worksheets, journal prompts, etc.) will be licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike. Those materials will be available for download on our website, and may be used as long as the following conditions are met: (1) attribute to the Center for Transforming Engagement even if remixed/modified; (2) do not use for commercial (paid) purposes; and (3) anything you make that remixes or builds upon this material, you must also distribute under Creative Commons. More information on this license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
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