Responsibilities of Mentors and Probationers

Responsibilities of Mentors and Local Pastors

§ The responsibility of the mentor is:

· To facilitate the development of the local pastor’s vocational identity

· To guide the local pastor’s theological reflection on his or her practice of ministry

· To review with the local pastor the exercise of authority and power in his or her new clergy role

§ Mentors are expected to:

· Maintain confidentiality of the meeting.

· Honor time requirements and commitments.

· Attend initial and subsequent training sessions.

· Guide the discussion of the ministry event.

· Know and be able to communicate to the local pastor the expectations of the district committee on ordained ministry for the yearly written reports

· To submit the mentor report the district committee on ordained ministry on time

§ The Role of the mentor is:

· to be a guide, and not an advisor or psychological counselor

· to be a colleague and resource, not a supervisor or authority

· to be a listener to clarify options and issues that help the probationary member develop an identity as a clergy person

· to be available at designated times but not solely responsible for initiation of meetings

§ The Mentor Report

· It is the responsibility of the mentor and the local pastor to submit a yearly report to the district committee on ordained ministry. The reporting is not an evaluative essay about the local pastor. It is a descriptive report about the mentor and local pastor’s relationship.

· The local pastor is responsible for making sure this mentor report is submitted. If this is a mentor-covenant group situation, one report may be prepared by the group but each local pastor must sign and send in his/her own report. Each report must be signed by the mentor as well.

· The report is a narrative report and may be written based on the following suggestions:

o For the mentor:

1. Write a report about your frequency of meetings and themes of your meetings.

2. Edit the report to remove evaluative words and phrases about the local pastor.