Fit it to your context. If you’re only doing one or two groups, you may not need a Vision-Casting meeting to gin up interest. And you may be able to fit the agenda of the Kickoff Meeting and First Meeting into one. But here’s how we see each meeting and why we think it’s important . . .
Vision-Casting Meeting: The Vision-Casting Meeting can be especially helpful in your first season of mentoring. It gives you the chance to explain the process and the importance of mentoring in your church. You can also set expectations here, raising the bar from your regular small groups. Potential mentees can also get a feel for the mentors as well as the other potential mentees.
Kickoff Meeting: The Kickoff Meeting is your first time getting together. The purpose is to get to know each other, schedule out the next 9-12 months, sign covenants and reiterate expectations, and hand out homework assignments to be discussed at your next meeting. If you’re launching several groups, we think it’s really cool to get everyone together in the same place for some overall intros before splitting into groups. This can the one meeting where it makes sense to include dinner as well.
First Meeting: First Meeting will be the first of your regular monthly meetings. You’ll discuss the completed homework assignments that you handed out at the Kickoff Meeting. This is also the meeting where the mentor shares his story, setting the tone for your next meeting . . . Story Retreat.
