Epiphany’s New Mentoring Program

“Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:8-10)

Sadly – and predictably – we are like lost coins who hide in corners, not wanting to be seen, avoiding one another, trying to commit our sins in secret. We stop coming to church because we don’t want to hear God’s disapproving voice over our lifestyle choices. We remove ourselves from the assembly of believers at Epiphany because we are ashamed of what other members will think.

We are also like lost sheep who follow false shepherds, seeking greener pastures, wanting more than Jesus has to offer in His absolution, Word and Sacraments. We don’t want the safety and security of the flock of the Christian Church. We ignore the voice of the Good Shepherd and instead listen to the myriad of voices that stroke our egos and permit our sins.

Yet, Jesus does not want us to remain lost. Jesus tells three parables in Luke 15 about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. He wants us to understand that He is a searching, finding and rejoicing God. He searches for every lost sheep. He stoops low for every lost coin. He waits for every lost son.

Jesus never resigns Himself to accept the loss. He never thinks 9 out of 10, or even 99 out of 100, is good enough. He considers no price too high to pay in order to save us from the brokenness of our sin, and restore us as new creations with His forgiveness. That’s who our God is. That’s how great His love for us is.

Though our God certainly has no need for assistance in His seeking and searching mission, still He has called, chosen and invited others to work under Him in searching, finding and rejoicing. The pastor and church elders work together, under God’s guidance, to seek the spiritual health of every person in our congregation of approximately 350 members and 100 children. We work to gather God’s people around His Word and Sacraments in order to feed and exercise their faith.

In order to assist to assist the pastor and elders, we have begun a brand new Mentor Program because we do not want anyone falling through the cracks or hiding in the crevices.

We have assembled all the members of Epiphany into smaller groups based on age. Then we have asked people in those age groups to serve as a mentor for the group. Simply put, the mentor is a friend, a companion, a confident. A mentor is a spiritual tutor, somewhere between a friend and a teacher. A mentor offers the wisdom of his or her experience to another Christian, helping them to mature in their own faith. He or she will stay in consistent contact with you – not to check up on you, but to care for you.

The mentor is there for you to express your joy to or your share your frustrations with. The mentor will listen to you, offer encouragement to you, and pray for you. The mentor will share your confidence, but might encourage you to talk more in depth with your elder or the pastor.

The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Pastor, elders and mentors work together in Christ’s Church to support you in prayer, to encourage you with the Gospel and to, perhaps, challenge you when you stray. This mutual sharpening of faith is an important part of Christian discipleship. Mentoring is simply a formal way to do what God has called each of us to do – seek and search for the lost. Then rejoice when they are found.

May God bless our pastor, elders and mentors as we work under our Good Shepherd in His seeking, finding and rejoicing mission!