Mentor's Manual

108 For the Nex t Generat i on: The Urban Mi n i s t r y I ns t i tute ’ s Mentor Manua l

2. At the heart of every good Connection section is a question (or series of questions) that asks students how knowing the truth will change their thinking, attitudes, and behaviors. Because this is theological and ministry training, the changes we are most concerned with are those associated with the way in which the students train and lead others in their ministry context. Try and focus in on helping students think about this area of application in the questions you develop. 3. Utilize any one of a number of different formats for the Connection section. Students can discuss the implications and applications together in a large Mentor-led group or in small groups with other students (either open discussion or following a pre-written set of questions). Case studies, also, are often good discussion starters. 4. Regardless of the method, in this section both the Mentor and the learning group itself should be seen as a source of wisdom. Since your students are themselves already Christian leaders, there is often a wealth of experience and knowledge that can be drawn on from the students themselves. Students should be encouraged to learn from each other as well as from the Mentor. 1. The primary goal in this section is to bring to the surface the questions that students have. In other words, the questions that occur to students during the lesson take priority over any questions that the Mentor prepares in advance – although the questions raised by an experienced Mentor will still be a useful learning tool. A corollary to this is to assume that the question raised by one student is very often the unspoken question present among the entire group. C. Several principles should guide the Connection discussions that you lead: 2. Try and focus the discussion on the concrete and the specific rather than the purely theoretical or hypothetical . This part of the lesson is meant to focus on the actual situations that are being faced by the specific students in your classroom.

Leading a Capstone or

Foundations Class Session