Definition:
Participation in the InMinistry MDiv delivery requires mentoring relationships.  Mentors are usually an ordained/commissioned, skilled and experienced minister, who serves as defender, role model, encourager, facilitator and counselor for a less skilled and/or less experienced pastoral person. The purpose of this relationship is to facilitate personal, spiritual, and professional development of pastoral competencies.


Mentor:
InMinistry seeks experienced, ministry persons possessing above average knowledge and insight into holistic and wholesome clergy ministry. Mentors are committed to assisting and supporting a seminarian's accountability toward personal and professional growth. Such mentors exemplify exceptional behavioral qualities in building trust, giving advice, encouraging alternatives, providing challenge, promoting motivation, and instilling initiative.


Seminarian/Mentee:
InMinistry seminarians who anticipate benefiting from a mentoring relationship should expect to actively pursue all possible opportunities for personal and professional growth offered in a mentored relationship. Successful mentoring occurs when mentees reciprocate to the mentor's gifts of trust, advice, alternatives, challenges, motivating, and initiative.


Matching:
InMinistry mentorships function best when the mentor selection involves both the mentee/seminarian. Proximity is second only to the quality of the matching.  InMinistry MDiv pairs are trained via the Internet by the InMinistry Director. Thereafter, regular contact between mentoring teams is required with an evaluation of progress a joint responsibility of employer and seminary staff. Mentorships normally last till the seminarian arrives at Andrews University for the residency portion of the program. It is usual for InMinistry mentorship friendships to last long after the formal relationship ends.