The Mentoring Church dives deeper than most leadership training books on the issue. As far as references go, this is certainly one of the more exhaustive works on New Testament mentoring. With just under 300 cited works, Newton has certainly done some homework. That makes The Mentoring Church a rich resource rather than simple reading.
Newton sets out to demonstrate that training up the next generation of Christian leaders is the job of the Church. Cultivating church leaders will most align with Scripture when training becomes intensely ecclesiological. For Newton, leadership training need not be left to parachurch ministries. Existing leaders do well to team up with their congregations for the launching of the Gospel into the next generation.
Newton is exactly right here, I think, that training new leaders belongs within the context of the congregation, the gathered church in a particular area. Because leadership, to be Christian, must follow the pattern of Jesus. It must be incarnational. And Newton hits upon this insight early:
Jesus's most important work prior to the death and Resurrection the selection and training of the men who would represent him in the world in the coming days. Likewise, local church pastors and leaders must mirror Jesus's mentoring practice when they prepare the next generation for gospel Ministry. To have served as a pastor but neglected train up future gospel workers fails at following Jesus is example in Ministry training (page 40).The best place to raise up men to who will establish healthy churches is in a healthy church ([age 156). That way, leaders are refined both in the rigors of academia and sanctifying norms of unfashionable local church life. He argues that if either is lacking, then lopsided leaders will result.
The latter chapters of the book then explore just what this looks like.
Newton gives an entire chapter each to four different local church-based mentoring ministries (Chapters 10-13). While they all differ from each other a bit, including the local church cultures, they all contain that one common thread; raising up leaders both with pastoral and congregational involvement. At this point, pastors of smaller churches may be tempted to wonder how they will ever develop something as those large, featured churches. Even so, the examples provide plenty of fodder for the church planting pastor in the earliest, fledgling stages with a core team of 15 people.
Finally, Newton closes (Chapter 14) with a working local church training model. He argues that the best pastoral training model is one that draws from the biblical, historical, and contemporary training models while adjusting to one's pastoral gifts, the church is leadership dynamics, and the congregational context (page 180).
The Mentoring Church is an important resource for congregations working to train up the future generation of Christian leaders. It's a work that I'll return to again and again in teaching field education courses.
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I received a free copy of this book from Kregel Ministry Publishing in exchange for my honest review here.