I. Goal of ESN Mentoring

The goal of the mentoring network is to facilitate a relationship between an emerging scholar and a more experienced Christian scholar, who offers guidance and wisdom.

This objective will be realized as (1) ESN develops the infrastructure necessary to bring mentors and mentees into such a relationship and (2) in the context of this relationship helpful guidance is provided to the mentee, related to ESN's "Four Questions" (see below).

II. Motives for Mentoring

A. Compassion and empathy rooted in remembering the apprehensions and confusions mentors themselves have had in choosing to be a scholar, deciding where and what to study, taking on first full-time teaching job or balancing teaching, scholarship, service and family needs.

B. Understanding that mentoring is an opportunity to practice virtues such as wisdom, humility, love, hospitality.

[Note: A and B are adapted from Caroline J. Simon's Mentoring for Mission: Nurturing New Faculty at Church-Related Colleges (Eerdmans, 2003).]

C. Conviction that as Christians called to the learned life it is our duty:

1. to embrace our God-given appetite for truth and beauty (adapted from C. S. Lewis, "Learning in Wartime," The Weight of Glory and Other Essays [Macmillan, 1949]);

2. to follow Christ as Lord of the academy;

3. to study, reflect, and learn as elements of discipleship;

4. to believe that knowledge in any field speaks of the majesty of God; and

5. to encourage and equip others in advancing God’s work in the academy.

D. Desire to increase the number of Christians effectively serving the Kingdom as scholars.

E. Understanding of the transformative power of mentoring. Mentoring has always been among the principle means of forming the rising generation of scholars. As a consequence, it is also the characteristic way ideas and structures are changed in the academy.

F. Recognition that mentoring has tremendous power for influence and transformation, not only for mentees but for mentors as well. It re-energizes more seasoned women and men, for it is more blessed to give than receive.

III. Profile of ESN Mentors

ESN mentors are those who:

A. Desire to have a redemptive influence within the academy;

B. Perceive their work as a calling that involves pondering Christ's Lordship in the realm of ideas, as well as a desire to "think Christianly" about one's discipline and efforts made to live out this desire in one's scholarship (see II.C. above);

C. Demonstrate mature discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ by growing in obedience to the Scriptures and manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit described by Paul in his letter to the Galatians;

D. Pursue academic life with confidence, believing that pursuit of truth, beauty, and justice honors God and allows one more fully to know and love God.

IV. Focus of Mentoring: ESN's "Four Questions"

A. Why should I consider pursuing an academic vocation?

B. What do I need to learn about Christian thought and practice to be faithful to my academic calling?

C. How do I navigate the various stages and transitions of an academic career?

D. Who can help me at each stage of my professional development, and whom can I help?

[For practical steps and ideas connected with the Four Questions, see below.]

V. Requirements for ESN Mentors

A. Be a member of ESN and affirm the ESN Mission Statement and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Doctrinal Basis.

B. Provide a brief summary of your personal faith commitment to Jesus Christ and your professional biography.

The biography you submit in your application will be published online. Please indicate what, if anything, you would not want posted for members-only access at the ESN website. If you would like to rewrite your biography, edited specifically for the web, please let us know and provide both versions. Otherwise, if you are accepted as a mentor, we will publish the biography you submit with your application.

C. Provide the names and contact information of two individuals who can speak to your qualifications as a mentor.

D. Be willing to mentor for the equivalent of at least one academic year, and allow ESN to post a brief professional and spiritual biography, as submitted in your application, for members-only access at the ESN website. Mentees will then be able to identify potential mentors and initiate contact.

E. If contacted by a potential mentee, and if you agree to enter into a mentoring relationship with this emerging scholar, commit at least one hour per month to interact with mentee, as the mentee initiates with you each month. (The type of interaction is at your discretion — via email, phone, or in person.)

F. If you are in an ESN mentoring relationship during the academic year, complete a brief end-of-year review form (online) to help us improve the quality of the ESN mentoring program.

VI. Practical Steps and Ideas for ESN Mentors

A. Communicate the mission and values of the Emerging Scholars Network;

B. Identify the mentee's current situation, strengths, and potential contributions to academe;

C. Offer personal experience regarding your call to the academy;

D. Address ESN's Four Questions and focus in on the area that best describes the mentee's stage in pursuing an academic calling;

1. Why should I consider pursuing an academic vocation?

Consider: Christ’s Lordship in the realm of ideas; God’s love for the university; and in light of this, your calling to be a redemptive influence as a member of the academic community; the biblical doctrines of creation, incarnation, redemption, and consummation; or how studying, reflection, and learning are aspects of discipleship.

2. What do I need to learn about Christian thought and practice to be faithful to my academic calling?

Consider: Encouraging the pursuit of knowledge so that it promotes intimacy with God and aids understanding of God and his relationship to the created order, promoting the expectation that all things tell us something of God, however hidden (adapted from "An Argument for Learning," by Jim Elliff); or learning to think “Christianly” about one’s discipline, including an analysis and critique of the discipline’s underlying assumptions, its procedures and methods, goals, aims, and applications, as well as considerations of distinctly Christian contributions to the discipline from the Christian intellectual tradition, all from the vantage point of biblical revelation.

3. How do I navigate the various stages and transitions of an academic career?

Consider: Discussing your own journey (academically, spiritually, etc.), what you did well, what you wish you had done better, what you wish you had known, or what you have learned.

4. Who can help me at each stage of my professional development, and whom can I help?

Consider: Encouraging participation in Christian professional societies in the mentee’s discipline; introducing mentees to other scholars in their fields of study; encouraging mentee to attend conferences (and if possible, attending together); or discussing how to network effectively within academic circles.

Suggested resources: EmergingScholars.org features, especially the Core Bibliography.

E. Encourage the practice of spiritual disciplines that promote obedience to Christ;

F. Read together and discuss books from the ESN Core Bibliography; and

G. Encourage mentees to attend ESN and other faith-in-the-academy events (together, if possible).

For other up-to-date news about the Mentoring Program — including how to apply as or find a mentor — read the ESN Mentoring Program Update.