Rather than develop a one-time startup training program, establish ongoing learning opportunities to encourage people to take the next step in their mentoring skills, knowledge and development.
L. J. Zachary
Introduction to Mentoring – online
SIL offers an 18-hour synchronous online course called Introduction to Mentoring to help mentors, mentees and managers clarify their understanding of mentoring and make the most of it as a staff development tool. Have a look at the syllabus here. The course is available in English and in French. Scroll down to see the dates for upcoming courses.
Price: $150 (Reduction is available: $35 for SIL staff and $75 for partners of SIL)
Practical Mentoring – online
As a follow-up course to Introduction to Mentoring, SIL offers Practical Mentoring, an asynchronous online course to help mentors in their continued professional development and to hone practical mentoring skills in an already existing mentoring relationship. This self-paced course offers a selection of 12 modules out of which you need to choose at least five depending on your interest. After each completed module you have the opportunity to debrief with someone in order to consolidate your learning. You can consult the syllabus here. It is an asynchronous course so you can engage with the materials at any time it is convenient for you. The course is available both in English and in French.
Price: $200 (Reduction is available: $50 for SIL staff and $100 for partners of SIL)
A selection of short courses around specific competencies in mentoring – online
Currently, there are 11 short courses available for you to choose from based on the specific mentoring competencies that you would like to improve. The competencies match the required mentoring competencies in CBC. These are all self-study, stand-alone courses allowing you to engage with them in your own time. Each course is designed around a learning task that you will have to complete with your mentee. They each take about 3-4 hours to complete. After registering, you will have 90 days to complete the course, otherwise you will be automatically unenrolled.
Available short courses:
1 Your mentoring competencies: self-assessment; 2 Providing structure and clarifying expectations; 3 Helping the mentee to set clear goals; 4 Helping the mentee to apply new knowledge and skills; 5 Empathy; 6 Developing a relationship of trust and mutual learning with your mentee; 7 Advocating and building confidence; 8 Giving feedback; 9 Providing encouragement and vision; 10 When things go wrong in mentoring; 11 Competency-based assessment in mentoring.
NB: The content of these short courses greatly overlaps with the modules of the Practical Mentoring course yet they are quite distinct. Practical Mentoring offers you a comprehensive learning experience and the opportunity to interact with a debriefer about your learning. However, these short courses can be taken as stand-alone modules without a debrief allowing you more flexibility and just-in-time learning around one or two specific mentoring competencies.
Price: $25 each
You can sign up for these courses – both in English and in French – on SIL’s online training platform: https://courses.sil.org/. If you need assistance, you can write to us here.
Essentials of Mentoring for Decision Makers – online
This 5-hour short course is specifically designed for leaders, managers and decision makers who want to better understand mentoring – how to advocate for it, how to build a vision around it and how to set up a robust system of mentoring within their unit, department or organization. You can complete this course by attending two one-hour zoom meetings and engage in about three hours of self-study work. Have a look at the syllabus here.
Essentials of Mentoring for Decision Makers is not focused on teaching the practical, hands-on skills involved in mentoring others. For that, we recommend you explore the Introduction to Mentoring course and Practical Mentoring course.
Price: $25
Navigating Group Mentoring: In the Quest for Staff Development – online
This course is written for mentors who would like to expand their practice of mentoring to make the most of group mentoring situations in their context. We define group mentoring as an intentional, growth-focused network.
The course is self-paced and should take approximately 3 hours to complete. Currently, it only exists in English.
Price: $25
You can sign up for this course on SIL’s online training platform: https://courses.sil.org/. If you need assistance, you can write to us here.
Sign up for upcoming online training in mentoring:
| Course | Dates of Zoom sessions | Language of instruction | Sign up forms |
| Introduction to Mentoring | 17th March – 28th April 2026 Tuesdays 06:00 – 07:30 UTC | English | Sign me up |
| Introduction to Mentoring | 13th Oct – 17th Nov 2026 Tuesdays 15:00 – 16:30 UTC | English | Sign me up |
| Practical Mentoring (Intro to Mentoring is a prerequisite) | No organised group sessions. It is a self-paced course. | English | Sign me up |
| Mentorat pratique FR (après avoir complété Introduction au mentorat) | Téléformation autodirigée. Pas de rencontre de groupe par Zoom (descriptif) | Français | Je m’inscris |
Other resources to train mentors
- SIL’s Robust Mentoring Initiative (a short e-book that explains what robust mentoring looks like and provides tools for implementation).
- A very informative series of short videos about mentoring by renowned author and mentor Leighton Ford who during his service as Chair of the Lausanne Movement established an inclusive and fruitful Christian mentoring programme that continues to run successfully: 1) Mentoring and the Aspen Grove (2 mins), 2) What is mentoring? (6 mins), 3) Becoming a mentor (9 mins), 4) Mentoring like Jesus (3 mins).
- DAI’s free, online training course called the Ministry of Mentoring (6 hours of course content, both avatar and video options available)
- Sydney Missionary Bible College offers a Graduate Certificate in Christian Mentoring study programme