The Art of Mentoring: Embracing the Great Generational Transition

by Darlene Zschech

Darlene Zschech, one of the world's most respected worship leaders, writes honestly and realistically of how both current leaders and those coming along after them can overcome hurdles and by the grace of God work together for the good of the church. In this critical message, she urgently challenges the church to raise up a new generation of leaders whose hearts are centered on God. Her leadership at Hillsong Church combined with her international work has created a passion for mentoring those who share her heart for God. Zschech speaks with an artist's voice that will reach people who might bypass the more business-oriented books.

Genres: Christian, Spirituality

187 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Australian Darlene Zschech is acclaimed all over the world as a singer, songwriter, worship leader and speaker, most notably for her involvement in the music from Hillsong Church, Sydney over many years. Although she has achieved numerous gold albums and her songs are sung in many nations of the world, her success simply stands as a testimony to her life’s passion to serve God and people with all her heart. Darlene, alongside her husband Mark, are Senior Pastors of Hope Unlimited Church on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

As a songwriter, Darlene is perhaps most famous for the chorus “Shout to the Lord,” a song that is sung by millions of churchgoers every week and has been covered by many other artists. “Shout to the Lord” was nominated as Album of the Year for the 1997 Dove Awards and was nominated as Song of the Year for the 1998 Dove Awards. In 2000 Darlene received a Dove Award nomination for Songwriter of the Year and received the International Award for influence in praise and worship.

In addition to “Shout to the Lord,” Darlene has written many songs that have been published worldwide, which apart from Hillsong Music worship projects also include solo projects : “Kiss of Heaven”, “Extravagant Worship”, “Change Your World”, “Simply Darlene”, “You Are Love” and “Revealing Jesus” a live worship album recorded with Grammy award winning Israel Houghton. Through the Compassionart project 2008, Darlene was honoured to be allowed the privilege of writing with some of the most generous-hearted worship writers and leaders of our day, with the goal to write an album where all the monies raised went to others in less fortunate circumstances. Darlene is also passionate about raising and training other worship pastor, leaders, teams and writers and has written four books – “Extravagant Worship”, “The Kiss of Heaven”, “The Art of Mentoring” and the new “Revealing Jesus” devotional. These titles combined have been translated into over 20 different languages.

Many years ago Mark and Darlene made a life commitment to do whatever they could to bring answer and relief to human suffering, and one of their great joys in life is to work with Compassion International, serving the world’s poorest of the poor children.

It was during a Compassion trip to Central Africa in 2004 that Mark and Darlene were prompted to initiate Hope: Rwanda, a global endeavour designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. The 100 Days of Hope (April 6 – July 15, 2006) project was strategically coordinated to cover the same 100 days that saw approximately 1 million people viciously slaughtered. Now HOPE: Global continues to bring hope and healing to Rwanda, and a new ‘HOPE’ has spread into Cambodia, Vanuatu, and India. The HOPE team are excited about all the future endeavours that continue to gather great momentum.

Darlene and Mark live in the beautiful Central Coast of New South Wales with their three daughters, Chloe and Zoe, Amy and son-in-law Andrew and beautiful grand-daughter Ava Pearl, grandson Roman Emmanuel Mark and brand new grand-daughter Ruthie Feather. While they travel extensively and have the honour of working and ministering alongside amazing friends around the globe, family remains Darlene’s supreme delight. As she says, “First and foremost I am a woman who simply and wholeheartedly loves Christ, and serves Him through loving my family, serving the church, and speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turned out it was a lot less about practical mentoring tips and a lot more about their church band in Australia. Strange. And not what I was hoping for. :(

[Jennifer Cunningham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book mainly serves as a cheerleader to encourage faith-based mentoring. If you are looking for inspiration, encouragement and Christian values, this will serve you well. It is more of idealistic and positive tool to keep Christian mentors focused on their mission to spread God’s word. I really feel like the book did not offer much in practical methods or approaches to crossing generational divides which would have been more of what I was looking for, faith-based or non, either way.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book to get some ideas on how to transfer leadership from one generation to the next. However, it was a little too "feely" for me and didn't really offer any concrete strategies to actually make a successful transition of leadership from one generation to the next. A pretty easy read if you like the topic.

[Marcy Amendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. A very attainable read. It was full of grace and inspiration. I recommend it for anyone who has felt God stirring that maybe He is calling them to take part in the blessed practice of rooting for a special one or two up and comers.

[OLIVIA AGUIRRE DIAZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro

Me gustó este libro porque guía para ser un buen mentor ,transcender en las nuevas generaciones, que oren, que amen y alaben a Dios

[John Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

2017 Reading Challenge  — Book 35: A book about the Church

I am passionate about raising up worship leaders from the generations to follow, discipling them, developing their skills, and providing them with opportunities to lead. Unfortunately, this is an area in which the Church (speaking generally, not of any specific local church) does not have a strong recent track record. The lack of competent, pastoral worship leaders is reaching crisis proportions, which, while great for job security, is very bad for the Kingdom.

So when I see a church that is excelling in passing on their vision to a new generation of leaders, I want to hear more about how they're doing it.

Let's get a few things out of the way here: I have some theological differences—some of which are major—with Hillsong Church, and with their former Worship Pastor Darlene Zschech. My personal views on the extent to which their music ought to be a part of our worship services at FBC Powell  are far too nuanced to get into here, but this discussion (of which I was a part last November) pretty well reflects my take on the matter.

That said, there are an awful lot of ways in which I know I can benefit from their ministry, not least of which are their approach to artistic excellence and multigenerational worship leadership. I would think that even their most ardent critics should be able to recognize Hillsong's organizational strength in these areas, and be able to learn from their experience and teaching. And so it is that this book was predictably a mixed bag, though I found far more positives that I can use than I did things which I can simply discard due to differences in theology & practice.

In particular, Zschech's chapters (though she doesn't call them "chapters") on fostering excellence through "the squeeze" (i.e., perseverance in adversity) and on discipling and leading "geniuses" were especially helpful. The latter because I undoubtedly have geniuses in my ministry whose talents I want to develop and whose souls I want to nurture; the former because the day I become satisfied as an artist is the day I need to find a new line of work.

Here's an area where everyone I know (even especially Baptists!) can learn from Zschech: she is passionately, relentlessly optimistic about the coming generation, about the future of worship music, and about the triumph of Christ through the Church. We need more of that! The way Scripture rolls from her tongue and from her pen is both encouraging and instructive ( Romans 15:4 ), as well as convicting, when I contrast that with my own speech and writing.

All in all, this is a worthwhile read for those who desire to raise up leaders from the next generations, particularly those serving in worship ministry. You may not agree with everything, but the good bits are really good, and it's an easy enough read that you won't have to spend much time on the rest. Get your copy here .

[writer... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough coverage of mentoring to pass on to others the value of what one has learned, experienced and knows.
The attitude plays an important role that is otherwise overlooked in other similar resources.

As an audio, the narrator was a bit quick in her reading. Her accent was apropos to the author though pronunciation did effect the need to pay close attention to material. Recording was clear and of good quality.

[Jennifer Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a nice lighthearted, inspirational story about discipleship and mentoring. I’ve always loved Darlene‘s music, particularly while she was serving at Hillsong Church, and I have listened to her since the 1990s. I learned some nice tips and others were pretty simplistic, but always good hearted. I love how Darlene is passionate about the Lord and wants to rise up the next generation to grow stronger in their faith. It was just the right length too.

[Deslynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very practical book for anyone involved in mentoring. Zschech 14 steps to mentoring unfold the intracies of the mentor-mentee relationship, with a spirual focus on your God given skills to reach adn transform the lives of others. It's definately worth the read.

[Ken Chew · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggest … Art … is something you can’t quite nail down. Get ideas and perspectives from those that had done it and do it your own way. If you are looking for a step by step guide, this is not it.

[Barbara Kariuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that will forever change my life.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always inspirational, always clear truth that challenges my heart. Loved this book!!