mentoring – a great way to grow

Life is full of challenges, opportunities and sometimes crises. How we navigate these depends on many factors. For Christians in healthcare, there are unique responsibilities, stresses, and amazing privileges as we serve others. Research has shown that resilient faith in Christians is associated primarily with an authentic relationship with Christ. Another key factor, however, is to have meaningful inter-generational or peer-to-peer supportive relationships with other Christians.

Whatever stage of professional life you are at, there will be transitions, opportunities, and challenges. So, would it help you to have a mentor?

Christian healthcare mentoring

Rates of stress and burnout are high, and disillusionment with working in the NHS is common. Encouragement from another believer can help a Christian to grow in the Lord and to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus. Having a space to evaluate the challenges you face in your daily working life can be invaluable.

The Bible says much about this. Many Scriptures instruct us to encourage one another. This means that we should not just give encouragement but also receive it! Paul sent Barnabas to encourage the Christians to remain true to the Lord. He sent Timothy to strengthen believers in their trials. Jesus walks with the two disciples to Emmaus to help them understand his death and resurrection. Mordecai and Esther, Ruth and Naomi, and Moses and Joshua are other notable examples of believers walking together.

how can CMF help with mentoring?

At CMF, we are committed to nurturing mentoring relationships of this sort. We have different streams to try and cover the varied needs of our members.

The National Mentoring Scheme is coordinated centrally from the CMF Office. The mentors are all CMF Pastoral Partners who have volunteered, received training, and been recognised for their role. You can access this scheme by self-referral or via your Catalyst Team. The Pastoral Partners (PPs) have specific areas of experience, and this kind of mentoring relationship is good when there are specific issues, for example, related to a specialty or when no local scheme is available.

Local Mentoring Networks are a new venture run by local Catalyst Teams. Mentors volunteer and are approved by the Catalyst Team and their church. A Catalyst Team member facilitates ‘matching’ mentors with mentees and keeps an up-to-date list of mentors and mentees. This kind of mentoring is good for local peer-to-peer mentoring and informal contacts.

Micro-mentoring is a new concept whereby CMF Mentors with special interests and experience make themselves available for a single mentoring conversation. ‘Being a Christian in Research,’ ‘Going to Court,’ or ‘Being a patient’ are examples of special experiences that mentors have offered to discuss. We are building a bank of these ‘micro-mentoring’ opportunities to list on our website.

what’s involved?

Every mentoring relationship is individual. We don’t have a set formula, and meetings may be informal or structured, as necessary. For some, only a few meetings are required; for others, mentoring may continue for years. We recommend that the situation be reviewed every six months. To make it work, we recommend contacting your mentor by telephone once a month and having an online or face-to-face meeting once a term. You may, of course, agree to meet more frequently by mutual agreement.

want to take things further?

You can enquire directly – email us on wellbeing@cmf.org.uk

We will ask you to complete a simple form to apply to the schemes to help with matching and we do actively seek feedback from mentors and mentees for good governance.

CMF Mentoring is ordinarily only available to CMF Members, but where we have capacity, we will try to accommodate non-members referred by their local Catalyst Teams.

Whatever your situation, we encourage you to prayerfully consider whether seeking a mentor is right for you. We pray that you will encounter the person the Lord has prepared for you.