Mentoring for Spiritual Growth: Sharing the Journey of Faith, by Tony Horsfall. Reviewed by James Lawrence
Mentoring for Spiritual Growth: Sharing the Journey of Faith, by Tony Horsfall.
BRF, 2008, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-84101-562-0, £7.99.
Reviewed by James Lawrence
Tony offers us a helpful introduction to mentoring for spiritual growth. The author is clear the book is about spiritual direction, and certainly the focus throughout is on this practice, but there is so much good material it would be a pity if it was only read by those interested in spiritual direction per se.
Each chapter is a short, simple, sensitive reflection on a different aspect of the mentoring relationship. As someone who has read fairly extensively on the subject, I think this is one of the best introductions to mentoring I’ve read. And it is written by a British author!
The book covers the topic in a systematic way – what is mentoring, the biblical historical background, qualities/skills/tools of a mentor, and the process of mentoring. The chapter on Roadmaps and Guidebooks is particularly helpful in offering four different ways of identifying where someone might be on their faith journey.
I don’t think I am wired up to be a spiritual director, or even a good mentor. However, there is so much in our leadership that has aspects of mentoring, that this is a good way of reviewing how we are doing and learning some new insights.
Revd James Lawrence is Leadership Principal at CPAS (www.cpas.org.uk).