For many years we have had the same plumber (George). He is no longer a young man and we have had several conversations through the years about the lack of young plumbers (and young people taking on other trades). In one visit to our house, George had a new apprentice, who had recently graduated from High School. I told George that I was happy to see he had a new apprentice, but he responded by saying that the chances of him sticking around are slim. Generally speaking, most apprentices don’t like the hard work, leave after getting their first level license, or decide they don’t actually want to be plumbers for the long-term. 

I believe many of the problems we have in our Church are similar to what is happening in George’s field of work.

MENTORS AND APPRENTICES
Christian discipleship was meant to be something that we all apprentice in. Jesus clearly set it up that way. He called a handful of men around him (to be disciples / students / apprentices) and then trained them in what it meant to do what he did, live like he lived, say what he said, etc. It took years of work, trial, failure, and a lot of life-on-life investment into others. All of these men still ran away and one ended up betraying Jesus. Yet, Jesus didn’t waste his time or effort in putting 75% of 3 years of his recorded time into these men. What ended up happening just a few generations after the Apostles? Well, the model of mentoring apprentices ended up changing the world.

Simply put, the Church of today very rarely operates in this manner. We suffer from a lack of community, deep relationships, evangelization, and little to no apprenticeship into what it means to be a follower of Jesus (or leader of others). Where there is community, we usually stop after giving a few basics. Yet, think about how much time Jesus spent with the 12 apostles. They had many hours together, almost every day, for three years! So how do we think we can learn what it means to be a Christian by gathering with a few others for 1 or 2 hours a week? I understand that modern life may not lend itself to such intense discipleship. Still, we have to begin to prioritize relationships with others more, if we are to truly grow in our discipleship.

We really don’t need a new strategy of evangelization or discipleship, rather we need a renewal and commitment to re-learn the model and strategy of how Jesus did ministry. It is done in an intense and intentional building up of relationships that are ordered toward following Jesus. We can call it the ministry of mentorship.

In this ministry of mentorship, each person learns how to follow Jesus by following a more mature Christian (at least slightly more mature), who intentionally helps you close the gap between who you currently are and who Jesus wants you to be. Intentionality is key here. This leads to conversations, prayer, and directed planning - which can speed up growth as a disciple.

Later on, (if trained well) many of these apprentices will themselves become mentors to others. If we look at the life of Jesus, he taught his disciples to go and do the same thing he did with them, with others. We can learn a number of principles from the New Testament, regarding this mentorship model of ministry:

• Ministry is never meant to be done alone.
• Ministry is never going to be done well if there is no accountabilty to growing.
• Learning ministry well can’t be done well by merely attending a class, being in a program, or going to an event. It is a lifestyle learned organically.
• Ministry is long, hard, and meant to be done in deep intentional friendships.
• Ministry is supposed to be shared with others. It isn’t just for you!
• In doing ministry in a mentor/apprentice model, we should consider that there are stages we go through.

These stages are just like any other mentor / apprentice relationship. Doctors, electricians, carpenters, etc all have to start to learn from others in the field. The same is true for a disciple of Jesus.

STAGES OF MINISTRY MENTOR / APPRENTICE
1 - I do - you watch
Right after Jesus calls his first disciples, we see him driving out demons, healing others, and preaching. Jesus did all the work and his followers watched what he did. This is the first step - learn by watching. Unfortunately, this is where most Catholic ministry gets stuck - into passive consumption of teaching. We have classes, conferences, videos, programs at parishes, etc. Most of it is aimed at our intellect or personal behavior (which needs to happen and isn’t a bad thing). Still, we can’t just stay in this stage and say we are Jesus’ disciples. It is supposed to be so much more.

With our own apprentices, they can watch us lead a Bible study, teach a class, start a conversation with a stranger, go on a mission trip, listen to us preach the kerygma to them, etc.

2 - I do - you help
Later in the ministry of Jesus we see him feed the crowd by performing the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes. Here Jesus does the hard work of performing the miracle. But, he has his apostles assist him by handing out the food. This is where Jesus does most of the work, but has his apostles help him.

With our apprentices, this can be when I do most of the leading of a small group, but ask my apprentice to lead a closing prayer. When I coordinate a retreat and ask others to assist. Where I answer tough questions an agnostic has, but my apprentice tells his testimony of conversion.

3 - You do - I help
There was once a man who came to Jesus after the disciples tried to cast out a demon from his son, but they were not able to do it. So, Jesus does what they cannot and he casts it out. Later, the disciples ask why they couldn’t cast out the demon and Jesus says that some can only be cast out through prayer and fasting. They were active in ministry, but not ready to do it by themselves. They needed help from someone more mature and experienced.

With our own apprentices, this might be done when the apprentice now leads a small group and I handle the prayer. When they organize a mission trip, I help coordinate the discussions at night time. When they take the lead in door-to-door evangelization, by starting the conversations and then asking me to pray if we get the opportunity to do so.

4 - You do - I watch
Jesus sent out his disciples 2 by 2. They not only take the lead in ministry now, they are mostly self-sufficient. They came back and discussed what happened with Jesus. They were ready to be by themselves, but still needed support, encouragement, correction, praise, technique, etc.

With our own apprentices, this can be when we start to have them work one-on-one with others and then report what is going on regularly. When they start to do street evangelization and I tag along for support and to watch, but not participate much. When they preach the kerygma to a friend and later on they tell you what happened and you provide feedback / encouragement.

5 - You do - others watch
After Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples had to take the lead. But, they didn’t do it alone. Each Apostle took on apprentices. Paul had Timothy, Titus, and others. John had St. Ignatius of Antioch. Peter had Mark the evangelist.

With our own apprentices, we need to call them, live with them, form them, show them what it means to follow Jesus, teach them, guide them, correct them, and then send them out. We don’t abandon them - we empower them! This is where we come full circle and the apprentice becomes a mentor. 
Jesus puts it this way:

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” -John 15:15

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The biggest gap we have right now is the low number of Catholic leaders who know how to truly mentor someone in ministry. This is because they have never apprenticed under another disciple themselves! So, it will take a bit of experimentation, messing up, trying again, and learning from our mistakes to fill this gap. It will also mean that those of us who are doing this kind of work will also need to be generous with those looking to learn about it.

Furthermore, merely having a superior, a pastor, a seminary formator, etc - does not mean that there was an intentional mentor/apprentice relationship.

Finally, we need to be very patient. It isn't quick or easy. But, Jesus had a bigger problem - he had to save the world. We don't. So, let him do his job and we can focus on our own.
Let us return to the model of Jesus. The world needs this kind of renewal.

If you work in ministry and have a desire to start to work in this model, but don’t know how to do so (in other words you need a mentor). That is what we do here at Catholic Missionary Disciples. Maybe we can help…