> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.thefaithapp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Mentorship and personal formation > Coordinate shared mentorship while protecting private goals, journals, gifts results, and Rule of Life commitments. # Mentorship and personal formation Discipleship supports two different kinds of formation records: * **Shared ministry records** help a mentor and mentee remember what they agreed to discuss or do together. * **Member-private records** help a person reflect, set goals, and discern without creating a staff surveillance tool. Keep that distinction clear when you train staff and members. ## Create a mentorship program Open **Discipleship → Mentorship → New program**. Customize: * Program name and description. * Draft, active, or archived status. * Expected duration. * Weekly, every-two-weeks, monthly, or flexible meeting rhythm. * The shared check-in prompt. * Whether the member may add shared check-ins. Activate the program when it is ready. A teacher can edit a program they created; a Discipleship manager can manage every program. ### Write a safe check-in prompt A good prompt prepares both people for a shared record: > What did we agree to practice or revisit before our next conversation? Avoid prompts that invite confidential disclosures into a shared field. For example, do not ask for a full pastoral counseling note or a private confession. ## Pair a mentor and member Discipleship managers select **Pair mentor**, then choose: 1. An active mentorship program. 2. An eligible mentor. 3. A member. 4. A start date. In the current release, eligible mentors are existing staff who already have the Discipleship management or teaching permission. This keeps the initial workflow inside the church's staff authorization boundary. An assigned mentor sees their own pairings. Managers can see all pairings. Authorized staff can pause, resume, or complete a pairing without deleting its history. Lay-volunteer mentors depend on a future vetting and safeguarding workflow. Do not grant unnecessary staff permissions simply to make a volunteer appear in the mentor list. ## Keep shared check-ins Open a pairing and select **Add check-in**. Record a shared conversation summary and optional next steps. Check-ins are append-only and encrypted when stored. Every check-in is visible to both the mentor and mentee. Treat the saved text as a shared agreement, not a private staff note. Correct a mistake with a new check-in rather than silently rewriting the history. ## Offer private goal starting points Open **Discipleship → Formation Tools → New goal template**. A template can suggest: * A name and description. * Prayer, Scripture, community, service, rest, generosity, or another formation area. * A number of days. * A private progress prompt. * Draft, active, or archived availability. An active template appears in the member app as an optional starting point. Members may rename it, change its wording, or create a goal from scratch. The admin dashboard shows the template—not who chose it, the member's goal wording, progress, or private reflections. ## Private journal and class reflections Members can open **Personal formation → Private journal** and create: * A general reflection. * A reflection linked to one of their own pathway enrollment cycles. Entries are encrypted when stored. Only the member may read, edit, or permanently delete them. Linking an entry to a class helps the member organize their own history; it does not expose the journal to a teacher. Class-linked reflections are available. Cohort-linked reflections are not shown until a dedicated Discipleship cohort workflow exists. ## Build a gifts and serving instrument Open **Discipleship → Gifts & Serving → New instrument**. Start with the church-editable example or write your own. Customize: * Introduction and low/high response labels. * Gift or temperament areas and descriptions. * Reflection questions and the area each answer contributes to. * Question weights. * Serving skills connected to each area. * The delay before an unused strong gift is gently resurfaced. In **Volunteers → Opportunities**, connect active opportunities to their serving skills. Published results can then recommend open opportunities with a plain-language reason for the match. ### Publish without changing old results Publishing creates an immutable instrument version. Later question or scoring changes do not alter an earlier member result. That preserves the meaning of what the member originally completed. Answers and results are encrypted and private. Instrument authors do not get an answer or result dashboard. A member with an active staff mentorship pairing may deliberately share one result with their assigned mentor. Only that mentor can open it, add an affirmation, and see it while access remains shared. The member can revoke access at any time. ## Build a seasonal Rule of Life Open **Discipleship → Rule of Life → New season**. Customize: * Church-season name, dates, and invitation. * Opening covenant and closing reflection prompts. * Practice titles, guidance, and example rhythms. * Required and optional practices. * Draft, active, or archived availability. Every template keeps prayer, rest, work, and generosity represented, while your church owns the language and may add other practices. Members create a fresh private draft for each season, personalize its practices, covenant the rule, revise it during the season, and close it with a private reflection. The dashboard contains templates only. A member's covenant, commitments, and closing reflection are encrypted and owner-only. Rule of Life intentionally has no streaks, scores, or staff progress dashboard. ## A simple staff training script Use this explanation before launching personal formation: > The church creates invitations and starting points. Your personal goals, > journal, gifts result, and Rule of Life remain yours. A mentorship check-in > is different: it is a shared record that both mentor and mentee can read. ## Privacy summary | Record | Member | Assigned mentor | Other staff | | ------------------------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | Mentorship check-in | Reads shared history | Reads shared history | Managers only where authorized | | Personal goal and updates | Full control | No access | No access | | Private journal | Full control | No access | No access | | Gifts result | Full control | Only when the member shares that result | No results dashboard | | Rule of Life | Full control | No access | Templates only | For the full boundary, read [Privacy, safety, and current scope](/product/discipleship-privacy). ## Common problems The person must be an eligible staff user with the correct Discipleship permission. Do not widen access unless their ministry role requires it. This is expected. Goal and journal content is member-private by design. Confirm the opportunity is active and available, then connect its serving skills to the gift areas in the published instrument. This is expected. Each result stays tied to the instrument version the member completed.