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ECWR mentors are available to guide and support you to grow spiritually, particularly in regard to the integration of your sexual identity with your Christian faith.
Our Approach
The term paraclete best describes an ECWR mentor. In the Bible, a paraclete is a helper who comes alongside to guide, support and comfort. Most notably, the Holy Spirit is identified as our Paraclete par excellence. Of course, an ECWR mentor will not play the role of God in your life, but he or she can hopefully help you to become more aware of God’s love, presence, and leadership in your life. Moreover, like the Holy Spirit, an ECWR mentor will seek to offer gentle, respectful, and sensitive support that is Christ-focused. Just as the Holy Spirit works respectfully and creatively within us, we intend paraclete mentoring to be flexible and responsive to your specific needs. In essence, an ECWR mentor will be a supportive coach or a spiritual friend, available to share information, life experiences, and wisdom with you. Since ECWR is not a professional agency or a counseling service, our mentors do not provide counseling or therapy under any circumstances.
Our Purpose
- To provide a safe place for you to discover your true identity as made in the image of God, and unconditionally loved and accepted by God in Jesus Christ
- To support you as you move towards reconciling your Christian faith with your homosexuality
- To nurture your spiritual growth by encouraging you to develop a close relationship with God, be involved with a faith community, and to reach out and serve others
Our Best Practices
We expect that our mentoring will be offered primarily through emails and telephone calls. One on one contacts in person are possible whenever feasible. In mentoring you, an ECWR mentor will strive to:
- Help you understand who you are and to accept yourself
- Model God’s unconditional love and acceptance
- Encourage you to reconcile your sexual identity with your Christian faith
- Recommend resources written by experts in a variety of fields (Theology, Psychology, etc.) so that you can read and learn what others have to say about Christianity, the Bible, and homosexuality
- Share with you his/her personal experience and lessons learned in the journey of integrating faith and sexuality
- Nurture your confidence in God’s unconditional love and acceptance
- Journey with you in coming out to your family, friends, and church community
- Support and encourage you when the going gets tough
- Help you cope with rejection and prejudice by learning to forgive and to love as God loves
- Encourage your spiritual growth and relationship with God
- Guide you through the process of building a supportive community and healthy relationships
- Move you beyond your own concerns towards reaching out and ministering to others
Our Mentors
- Experienced members of the ECWR community
- Devoted followers of Jesus Christ
- Selected through an application and screening process
- Trained in basic coaching and mentoring skills
- Aware of their limits and able to maintain appropriate boundaries
- Are not professional or licensed counselors
To Apply for a Mentor
- You must apply for a mentor by completing the online application form here
- Your form will be reviewed and screened by the Mentoring Program Coordinator to ensure that your goals for mentoring are compatible with purpose of the ECWR Mentoring Program
- You will be advised by the Coordinator if we are unable to provide you with a mentor and the reasons why
- If you are appropriate for the Mentoring Program, the Coordinator will assign you a mentor that best fits your needs, and contact you with the name of the mentor and some basic information about him/her
- Your assigned mentor will initiate contact with you
- You are free at any time to contact the Program Coordinator to express your concerns or to request a different mentor
- Your mentor will be accountable to the Program Coordinator to always act in your best interest
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