‘I would love to encourage another Christian healthcare worker throughout their career.’
Has that crossed your mind? Could God be asking you to walk with a fellow healthcare professional to encourage them and share each other’s experiences? Jesus walked with his disciples; Timothy was mentored by Paul, Ruth by Naomi, and Moses trained Joshua. Encouragement through relationships is a fundamental biblical principle.
In CMF, we seek to encourage authentic inter-generational and peer-to-peer relationships so healthcarers can be empowered and encouraged to walk with the Lord Jesus in their workplace and their whole lives. We believe these relationships are unique, as they combine fellowship in Christ with our experiences as healthcarers. The goal is to ‘bear one another’s burdens’ and encourage us to grow and flourish in our Christian Faith. We want to see each other keep going and going well.
What is involved?
There are different levels of involvement. The CMF National Mentoring Scheme is supported by a team of members who have been recognised as CMF Pastoral Partners. To become a Pastoral Partner (PP) there is a formal application process and detailed training. Pastoral Partners get involved in the full range of CMF Wellbeing activities. These include supporting our conferences, manning the Wellbeing inbox, producing media resources, running seminars and mentoring. They also provide input when issues relate to areas of special experience they may have. The National Mentoring scheme takes referrals from Catalyst Teams or other Pastoral Partners and direct self-referrals from members.
Many people would like to mentor but cannot commit to being a PP. Additionally, the best mentoring relationships occur naturally by meeting
people and getting to know them a little first. We are therefore encouraging Catalyst Teams to set up Local Mentoring Networks where they can encourage this to happen.
Mentors in the Local Mentoring Network complete a simple application form outlining their reasons for wanting to be involved and obtain a signature of support from their church leader and their Catalyst Team Leader or another CMF member. Once recognised, mentors will receive essential training and then participate in local meetings in person or online to launch the mentoring network and meet other mentors and future mentees. The Pastoral Catalyst Team member will arrange matching where necessary.
We are not prescriptive about the details of what a CMF mentoring relationship should look like. We suggest, however, that there is a minimum commitment to pray weekly for your mentee, make contact monthly (for example, by phone), and meet either physically or online once a term. The exact nature of the meetings is flexible and is mutually agreed upon. There is no limit to the length of time the mentoring relationship may continue, but we recommend a mutual review every six months.
We ask mentors and mentees to complete a feedback form periodically. As required, you will get ongoing support from the Pastoral Care Catalyst or the National PP Team. We want the entire process to be encouraging for all involved, so we are available for advice, prayer, and supervision.
Next steps?
Please contact your local Catalyst Team or drop us an email to wellbeing@cmf.org.uk, using the subject heading ‘Becoming a Mentor’ – and we will be in touch.