Building Belonging Through Intentional Mentoring

“Building into the next generation of leaders.”

In a vision statement this sounds great, but how does this translate into reality in the context of a church community?

At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, the launch of Leverage Pods – a mentoring program designed to facilitate relationships – seemed like a risky move, and we were surprised when over 100 women signed up for the 14-month mentoring journey with a focus on leadership development.

Courtenay Fellowship was one of the churches that joined this province-wide movement, signing up twelve women, and when they came home from the retreat held in Parksville at the conclusion of that initial mentorship journey, they decided this needed to continue within their church and it needed to be for everyone.

So in February 2023, armed with the resources from the initial Leverage Pods project, Julie LeGoff, Administrator and Women’s Ministry Director, and her pastor, Rich Priebe, developed their own handbook using the book Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. The resource they created proved to be universally applicable and user friendly for the whole community and, with a welcome potluck and an application process allowing people the opportunity to either find their own mentor/mentee pod or request an “e-harmony” approach, everyone ended up with a partner and a renewed vision to grow in their walk with God.

As they prepared for the launch, Julie hoped they would have 50 people sign up, but in the end, God sent 70 people because that is just how God works! He always does more than we ask or imagine! Even when one woman came to them late in the process requesting a “match,” Julie got to see God at work because that very same day she had another woman who was part of their online church call the office and express her desire to be part of the program. Wham! A match was made!

Julie knows the value of relationship and accountability in her own walk with God and she desires for others to enter into purposeful relationships focused on discipleship. She says her own mentor is a lifeline for her and the encouragement she receives gives her the momentum she needs to keep doing the work God has called her to do.

She describes this intentional mentoring as “the power of people.”

At a recent workshop intensive with Henry Cloud and John Townsend, Julie was reminded of the truth that “people need people” and even though hurt and pain often come through relationships, healing from the hurt also comes through relationships.

God uses people to bring us healing.

The bottomline: Courtenay Fellowship took a bold step forward and implemented a new and innovative way to build belonging into the culture of their church community. If you want to know how you can implement this at your church, please reach out to Julie LeGoff!

Remember – we need each other! Boldly Forward. Never Alone.