Surfing the Inner N8

Today I met for the first time with my assigned mentor, James Wenger (our conference assigns a mentor to every new pastor).  James is the pastor of North Baltimore Mennonite Church.  I really enjoyed our time together, and I look forward to meeting with him again next month.

Whenever a new pastor comes into our area conference, they are assigned a mentor for one or two years, depending on their background and experience.  The structure of the mentoring program really impresses me.  James and I reviewed it today, and it’s really cool.  They have objectives for the mentoring relationship, suggested activities to work toward meeting those objectives, and recommended books to read and discuss.  For a nerd like me, that’s awesome. 

I’m really, really looking forward to this coming year meeting each month with James.  Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from an older Mennonite pastor, but I found him to be very relateable and interesting.  He’s originally from Fresno, and has a rich and varied personal history.  In addition to attending various schools, working various jobs, and living in various states, James and his wife also spent 10 years as missionaries in Japan.  I’ll have to hear some of those stories during our time together in the coming months!  Not knowing what to expect, I was greatly relieved and highly impressed with his missional and progressive thinking and his humble and friendly spirit.