Mission and Distinctives

Our mission at Linden Grove is to strengthen Jesus’ church by mentoring pastors and church leaders. We do this through five key activities:

  1. Coming alongside – to listen, understand, love, pray with, and serve them

  2. Equipping for godly church leadership – through shepherding, training, and coaching them by experienced pastors and church leaders

  3. Providing transformative gospel community – for support, peer-to-peer fellowship and accountability, and biblical identity formation in Christ

  4. Engaging with spouses — as they manage their unique combination of roles as partners, congregants, and ministry leaders

  5. Multiplying mentorship regionally and worldwide – by teaching them to be mentors, and by sharing our materials and experience with them and others

The foundational text behind our ministry is Paul’s exhortation to Timothy:

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others (2 Timothy 2:2, NLT).

Our distinctives: At Linden Grove Ministries, we are committed to having the gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of everything we do. As a result, we embrace and practice the many values that arise from the gospel: love, truth, grace, integrity, purity, humility, and forgiveness, to name just a few. Building on these values, in a distinctive way we seek to be:

  1. Holistic: We serve and speak to the whole person: their spirit, emotions, intellect, and physical well-being. We don’t settle for a one-dimensional view of what God is doing in the lives of our mentees. (Mark 12:30.)

  2. Flexible: We prayerfully adapt how we equip and serve to fit our individual mentees, always keeping in mind the Eternal God and his unchanging gospel. We don’t adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to mentorship. (Romans 12:3-8.)

  3. Relational: We work with our mentees in a variety of settings: one-on-ones, small groups, and larger cohorts. We also pay attention to their personal, family, cultural, and church networks. We don’t pastor our mentees as if they were isolated individuals in a solitary setting. (1 Corinthians 12:14-20.)

  4. Trustworthy: We view our mentees as a trust from God, and so we offer them a secure and professional environment to discuss their personal concerns. We are not careless with what our mentees share. (Proverbs 20:19.)

  5. Steadfast: We are committed to caring and mentoring through the various challenges and seasons of ministry. We don’t give up on our mentees. (Proverbs 18:24.)

  6. Collaborative: We partner with gospel-centered churches, schools, and organizations. We are not lone rangers. (Galatians 2:7-9.)

  7. Dynamic: We have decades of experience with mentees from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures. Still, we seek to understand, improve, and grow so that we can better develop and serve leaders for the Church in today’s contexts. We don’t believe that we have arrived. (Matthew 20:25-28.)