Mentoring for Spiritual Growth
This is a comprehensive introduction to spiritual mentoring from a UK author with international experience of leading retreats, speaking and writing in this area.
As well as exploring the biblical basis for spiritual mentoring and its role in church history, a helpful appendix also gives demonstrations and exercises for a mentoring context, helping you to practically implement a spiritual mentoring programme.
Using the idea of journeying together, Tony Horsfall looks at what it means to be a spiritual friend, the qualities and skills needed, key issues and insights, the goals of mentoring, and mentoring those with questions of faith.
Tony Horsfall is a freelance trainer with a passion to help individuals deepen their relationship with God. He is an elder of his local church in West Yorkshire and a graduate of London School of Theology, and regularly travels abroad leading retreats and quiet days, road-testing the material in this book in Singapore. He has written a number of other books, including Song of the Shepherd and A Fruitful Life for BRF, and also writes for New Daylight Bible reading notes.
From Faithworks Magazine - Summer 2008
Don't be misled. Being 140 pages short and describing itself as an introduction to spiritual mentoring, you might think this is basic stuff for newcomers. Not so! This book provides rich refreshment for the head and heart. Underpinned by the metaphor of journey (as you'd expect) and with a strong biblical backdrop, the author carefully examines mentoring from 14 different aspects including the philosophy behind it, the tools required and addressing the issue of when God seems absent.
The author's personal stories are sensitively woven in without being dominant; he also draws on sources both historic (Ignatius) and contemporary (Ortberg). Although lacking questions for reflection at the end of the chapters, which would have worked really well, there is plenty here to stimulate fruitful conversation. This book is for people experienced in mentoring as well as those exploring it for the first time; it is for leaders whether in a business, congregational or community context. It is also versatile enough to lend itself to use as a small group resource.
Reviewed by Chris Spriggs, Director of Lifespace.
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