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Published on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 15:58

Yesterday I tried to reflect on how to work at faith formation in people.  I ended up reflecting on what has went wrong so that our faith formation efforts are less than effective.  So I wonder, if I could do one thing to help form the faith of others, what would it be?

 In my mind, the answer would be one word, "mentor".  I believe faith is built in relationships. This is particularly true when those relationships cross generational lines.  When an adult helps mentor a youth or child, both grow in faith.  I am convinced that this is the single most effective thing we can do.

In an article in the Christian Century, Rich Melheim remembers Peter Benson who "championed the idea of getting adults to surround kids with love, encouragement and faith.  His 30 years of research showed that one mentor is better than none, two mentors are exponetially better than one, and three are multiplicatively better than two."

What would be the one thing you would do to help form the faith of others?