Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1521627
Protecting the Standard Micah Orloff For the past four years, I have had the privilege of serving as the International Board Secretary for BSHDFC and one of my responsibilities was to share the Membership report with the International Board. This was a monthly activity that would allow us to peek into the membership dynamics: reviewing the new members who have joined, the members that moved into retirement status, the members who passed on and advanced to the Streets of Gold, and the former members who are no longer with the ministry. As you can imagine, it was always exciting to see the new growth being injected into the ministry! And in contrast, I am sure you can understand how disheartening it could be to see the members who were no longer with the ministry. Now don't get me wrong - there are legitimate reasons why one might need to leave the ministry. But, unfortunately, the majority of exit reasons found in the membership report had more to do with our unity (or lack thereof) -- interpersonal conflict, challenge with direction/authority and other measures that did not need to necessarily end in separation from the ministry. We recognized that some of these things seemed to be issues that could have and potentially should have been addressed before a mentee becomes a member. It was because of these dynamics that the International Board prayerfully commissioned a Mentorship Review committee to review and make recommendations on adjustments to the Mentorship process and program. The Mentorship committee included representation from all around the nation and officers and members both at local and regional levels as well as area contacts. This committee met over multiple months examining the current process and materials associated with the mentorship. Some of the issues they were able to uncover included: *task oriented vs purpose oriented - the program was mostly focused on completing the lessons and readings as a task rather than focusing on the outcome and purpose. *fast-tracking and limited focus on practice and comprehension - in an effort to get people patched in quicker, the mentorship lessons were being compressed with multiple lessons per meeting and many meetings within a short period of time. This leads to a lack of comprehension of what was to be learned in the lesson and then forgotten after patching. light emphasis on being compelled/called - we believed that if you are to be in this ministry, it needs to be a call on your life, not a personal decision/choice. Limited focus on relationship - we believe the mentor role in many ways has become transactional and not relational. It is important that we return to authentic and strong relationship in the same way God made a covenant with His people. Needs more emphasis on active church involvement - a good number of the members who left the ministry did not have active service involvement with a local fellowship of believers. They may have had it at the beginning of their patched life, but it faded as time went on. We believe that active service involvement in church fills you so you can overflow into this ministry and produce good fruit. In the end, the committee's recommendations led to the following major changes to the program: Certified Mentors - mentors will need to go through training before being a mentor and they will need to meet higher criteria for participation. For example, they will need to have been in the ministry for 2 years, in good standing and carry similar characteristics as that of overseers found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 Updated Mentorship process - There is a 4 phase process where the prospective member must advance through to become a patched member. Mentors can mentor a maximum of four mentees at a time and it must be male to male and female to female mentoring for valued perspective. In Phase 1, they must spend a minimum of 3 months (not calendar time but in ministry events) participating in ministry activity alongside members. The application and background check will be completed in the first phase before ever advancing to Mentee status. During Phase 2, mentees can only consume one lesson per meeting and no more than two meetings a month. This allows them time to reflect and implement into ministry practice what they learned before moving on. After patching, there will be a six month follow-up to evaluate their newly patched member's experience and provide guidance where necessary along with ongoing passive observation and support. Updated Mentorship materials - The guides now outline learning objectives that should be met before moving onto the next lesson. There are assignments and exercises for practical application. There have been adjustments to the additional readings. Materials will be centralized at the blacksheephdfc.org website for standardization and lowering production costs. Refreshed videos will be provided in the future as well. I want to thank Doug Boyd (AZ), Kerry Skauget (WA), Ken Hawko (ME) and Matt Gardner (TX) for their countless hours spent on the committee and the International Board for supporting these changes.