Steve Austin. Astronaut. A man barely alive.

Gentleman, we can rebuild him.

We have the technology.

We have the capacity to make the world’s first bionic man.

Steve Austin will be that man.

Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster!

The Six Million Dollar Man was definitely my favourite programme growing up in the 70’s, and although it may be unfair to say the Anglican Church is barely alive, you could say we need rebuilding. Especially when it comes to forming young people into life-long followers of Christ.

But the good news is - we have the technology. We can rebuild our church. We have the capacity to make disciples of young people.

The surprising  news is that it is not new technology we need. It's old  technology.

Something the church had been doing for hundreds of years and although it has become something of a lost art, it is not some foreign technology we need. It is something that is already in our DNA

And it's this ...

Mentoring. Adults mentoring young people.

If enough adults mentored just one young person, then a church that is barely alive would become better than it was before. Better. Stronger. ‘Faithfuller’.

It doesn't require you to run a youth group, or to learn the drums, or to buy a van. You don’t have to keep up to date with urban slang, or social media, or any of the latest technology.

It just requires you being you and hanging out with ONE young person, for ONE hour, ONCE a fortnight or month. Read the bible together. Consider its meaning together. Check in with each other. Pray. Set some goals. That's it.

Granted, most adults could not run a youth group. But almost any faithful adult could mentor one young person.

Yes you can.  

As the Church of God, it is in our DNA. It's what Jesus did with his disciples. It's what Paul did for Silas and Timothy. It’s what Barnabas did for Paul and John-Mark. God told Moses to do it for Joshua, and told Elijah to do it for Elisha.  

Maybe God is telling you too. You have the gene. It may be a dormant gene - but it can be reactivated. All you need to be is a faithful Christian with a willing spirit and a listening ear; a positive attitude to one young person and a big dose of sincerity, of just being you, of being real. That'll activate that dormant gene and the rest will flow.

Mentoring is the most natural thing. To nurture the next generation is as human as it gets. We're all built for it. And the Church was built on  it.

• I started a mentoring trust in Christchurch a few years back and we now mentor 130 struggling young people across our city.
• Waipau Diocese have 16 young people being mentored through their LT4Youth programme.
• In Rangiora parish, over 30 adults are mentoring one young person each.

It’s catching on. 

In my last blog I estimated that 90% of our young people drop out of our churches once they graduate youth group and school. Mentoring would turn that around. And our Church would become better than it was before.

Better.

Stronger

Faithfuller.

You can find the Mentoring Young People resource and How To Start A Youth Group on the Anglican Youth website, RESOURCED! resourced.org.nz  )

Phil Trotter is the national youth advisor for the New Zealand Dioceses. He lives in Christchurch with his wife, Carol, and two of their four children.