YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIGURE OUT MINISTRY ON YOUR OWN
Elevate Ministry Guild is mentorship and community for pastors, ministers, and ministry leaders. Learn from nearly 30 years of pastoral experience, bring your real questions, and keep growing alongside leaders who understand what you carry.
Founding rate for the first 30 members · Enrollment opens October 27, 2026
MINISTRY ASK A LOT OF THE PEOPLE WHO LEAD IT
You prepare the sermon. You pray for your people, counsel the hurting, and keep the ministry moving. It's easy to pour so much into everyone else that, without realizing it, you forget you need to be filled too.
When we asked pastors and ministry leaders what they're facing right now, their answers were honest:
Keeping people plugged in, and helping them grow past the first stage of their walk with God
People who say yes to serving, then don't follow through
Staffing, and building a team you can count on
Growth that isn't happening as quickly as you hoped, or leading a church from the planting stage into the growing stage
Preparing to step into the senior pastor role someday, or healing from a painful season and finding clarity again
And for almost everyone: never enough time
Most of the leaders I know are faithful people. They love God, and they love the people in front of them. What many of them don't have is a place to step back, ask honest questions, and hear from someone who has walked a similar road.
That isn't a weakness. It's simply what happens when you're the one everyone else comes to.
Wherever you are, here's something it took me years to learn: someone else has already faced what you're dealing with and found a way through it.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIND THAT WAY ALONE
WHEN YOU KEEP GROWING, THE PEOPLE YOU SERVE FEEL IT.
"Recreating the ministry wheel is not a requirement of faithfulness."
I've said that to many pastors over the years. There is wisdom available to you. There are people who have stood where you're standing. Seeking them out isn't a sign that you're falling short. It's part of stewarding your calling well.
Every calling is ultimately about others. So when a leader keeps learning, the benefit rarely stops with them.
The people you shepherd
Fresh perspective and clearer thinking help you disciple people with more intention, so they stay connected and keep growing.
The health of your church
Healthy culture is built by leaders who keep learning. Being busy is not the same as being effective.
The leaders you develop
What you learn, you can pass on. Your growth becomes practical tools in the hands of the team you're building and the people you're raising up.
Your own walk and your home
Ministry pours you out. Keeping your priorities in order (God, family, then ministry) helps you stay filled, lead from a steadier place, and protect the peace of your home.
None of this happens overnight, and no membership can do it for you. But steady growth, with wise guidance and good company, helps you lead with clarity and make full proof of the ministry God has given you.
INTRODUCING
ELEVATE MINISTRY GUILD
Mentorship and community for pastors, ministers, and ministry leaders.
Elevate Ministry Guild is a monthly mentoring community. It's a place to learn from my ministry experience, ask about the things you're actually facing, and keep growing alongside other leaders.
I built it this way on purpose. Over nearly 30 years of pastoral ministry, we tried just about every structured discipleship program you can imagine, and some of them helped. But when I look back at the people who grew the most and went on to serve the Lord, most of them grew through ongoing, personal investment. Long home Bible studies. Honest conversations. Time spent up close.
The Guild is built on that same conviction. It isn't the same as a weekly home Bible study, and I won't pretend it is. But it's live, it's ongoing, and it's personal. You'll hear from me directly, you can bring your questions, and you won't be one more name on a course login.
Whether you're in your first year of pastoring or your fifteenth, an assistant pastor preparing for what's next, planting a church, or leading youth, young adults, or a mission field, there's a place for you here.
WHAT MAKES THE GUILD DIFFERENT
ELEVATE MINISTRY GUILD IS...
Live teaching and mentoring every month
A place to ask real questions and get practical guidance
Ongoing, so you keep growing season after season
A community of leaders who understand ministry
IT ISN'T...
A self-paced course you buy and set aside
Another library of videos to work through alone
A one-time event you're left to apply on your own
Theory without practical next steps
WHAT MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES
A simple monthly rhythm that fits real ministry life.
MONTHLY
Live Training & Mentoring Session
Each month I teach on a practical ministry topic and share what I've learned through real ministry, not theory.
MONTHLY
Live Follow-Up Question & Answer
Bring your questions, talk through what you're applying, and get guidance on the situations in front of you.
MONTHLY
Practical Monthly Resources
Tools that help you put each month's teaching into practice, in your own life and with the people you lead.
ONGOING
Private Facebook Community
Keep the conversation going between sessions with leaders who understand ministry.
MONTHLY
Replay & Monthly Recap
Can't make it live? Watch the replay and catch the key points in the recap.
ONGOING
Growing Resource Library
A growing collection of teaching and tools you can come back to whenever a season calls for it.
OCCASIONALLY
Guest Sessions
From time to time, I'll invite trusted ministry leaders and experts to bring another perspective on specific areas of ministry.
Time is one of the hardest things to find in ministry, so we kept it simple: one teaching session, one Q&A, and a community in between. Miss a session? The replay and recap are waiting.
OUR FIRST THREE MONTHS
WHERE WE'LL BEGIN: DISCIPLESHIP
When we asked ministry leaders about their biggest challenges, discipleship came up again and again: keeping people plugged in, helping them grow past their first steps with God, and making discipleship consistent. So that's where we'll start.
MONTH 1 · NOVEMBER
The Jesus Method of Discipleship
Jesus called people close enough to see how He lived, not only to hear what He taught. We'll look at why discipleship works best up close, and what that means for how you lead.
MONTH 2 · DECEMBER
What Discipleship Really Means
The word disciple shares its roots with discipline. We'll talk about why the people we lead need a real example to follow, and the personal disciplines that make that example real.
MONTH 3 · DECEMBER
Launch a Discipleship Initiative, Now
Something practical you can put in place right away to help people keep growing, whatever the size of your church or ministry.
Discipleship is where we start, not the limit of what we'll cover. After these first months, we'll keep going with the kinds of questions pastors bring to me most often, like leadership development, building your team, church growth, and navigating transitions.
MEET YOUR MENTOR
LEARN FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE
I've served in pastoral ministry for nearly 30 years as a pastor and church planter, including at Vertical Church in Colorado. Along the way, I've raised up leaders who now pastor churches of their own, and walked with many ministers through hard seasons, including the transitions I wrote about in The Truth About Succeeding in Ministry Transitions.
But I didn't get here on my own. I'm the product of what others graciously invested in my life and ministry. They let me watch how they lived, answered my questions, and told me the truth. I made a habit of asking the ministers I admired about their daily practices and non-negotiables, then working to build those into my own life.
Some lessons I learned the hard way. My responsibility is to please God, not everyone's expectations. Someone else has already faced what I'm dealing with and found a way through. And protecting the peace and spiritual health of my own family is part of my calling, not a distraction from it.
My approach is simple: cut through the noise, set aside the technicalities, and get to what's clear and practical. I created the Guild to invest in as many of those coming after me as I can, the same way others invested in me.
Robert Mitchell II
WHAT LEADERS SAY
about Robert's investment in their lives
His investment has never felt like something he only did from a distance. I remember him calling me out of the blue one day because he was in my town and asking me to meet him for coffee. He simply wanted to check on me, my church, and how things were going. That kind of personal investment is something you don't forget.
Pastor Carson Marshburn
[Church, City]
He met with me regularly and gave me authority, not just tasks. Most of all, I got to watch him lead. He leads with vision, passion, and intention, and that shaped how I lead the church I pastor now.
Tim Vacca
Pastor
Having a sounding board, experienced pastor, and partner in growth on my team has made me not only a better pastor, but a better person.
Jason Myer
Senior Pastor
He has helped me to develop disciplines and strategies that have affected real change in the church I pastor, as well as my personal life and family. He inspires me to pour into others in the same way.
Pastor Phillip Oddo
[Church, City]
BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER
The first 30 members join at the founding rate.
Founding members will be the first group to gather in the Guild. You'll be there from the very first session, your questions will help shape our early conversations, and together we'll set the tone for the kind of community this becomes: honest, encouraging, and focused on growth.
If you've been looking for a place like this, I'd love for you to be part of the first group.
EVERY MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES
Monthly live training and mentoring session with Robert
Monthly live follow-up Q&A
Practical monthly resources
Private Facebook community
Session replays and monthly recap
Growing resource library
Occasional guest sessions with ministry leaders and experts
QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE
Pastors, ministers, and ministry leaders who want practical guidance, ongoing growth, and support as they lead. That includes leaders growing into more responsibility, building healthy churches, developing disciples, working through a hard season or transition, or preparing for what's next.
No. Assistant and associate pastors (including those preparing to step into the senior role), church planters, youth and young adult leaders, missionaries, and other ministry leaders are all welcome. Robert believes continued growth matters in every calling, not only the pastorate.
Yes, either way. Many leaders on our waitlist are in their first few years of ministry, and others have served for well over a decade. New leaders gain a place to learn the basics well. Experienced leaders gain fresh perspective and peers who understand the weight of ministry, and bring wisdom that helps others.
The Guild asks for one live teaching session and one live Q&A a month. Every session has a replay and recap, so you can catch up when you're able, and the community is there whenever you have a few minutes.
It's an ongoing membership, not a self-paced course. Each month brings new live teaching, a live Q&A, practical resources, and continued conversation in the community.
Robert leads one live training and mentoring session on a practical ministry topic. A live follow-up Q&A gives you time to ask questions and talk through what you're applying. You'll also receive practical resources, a replay and recap, and access to the private Facebook community and growing resource library. From time to time, guest ministry leaders and experts join for a session.
Every session has a replay and a monthly recap, so you can catch up when your schedule allows. We'll schedule our first session based on a member poll, so you can vote for the times that work best for you.
No. Discipleship is the focus of our first three months because ministry leaders told us it's where they most want help. After that, the Guild will continue with other areas of ministry and leadership.
No. The Guild is group mentoring, built around live teaching, Q&A, and community. You'll have regular opportunities to ask Robert your questions in the live Q&A.
The monthly membership is $57, billed each month. The annual membership is $570, billed once a year, which saves $114 compared with paying monthly. Both include everything in the Guild. [Cancellation, refunds, rate lock]
Yes, the community lives in a private Facebook group. [Where sessions, replays, and resources are accessed]
BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER
The people God has entrusted to you are worth your continued growth. So are you. If you've been looking for a place to keep learning, bring your questions, and grow alongside other leaders, I'd be honored to have you in the Guild.
Robert Mitchell II
Founding rate for the first 30 members · Enrollment opens October 27, 2026
© 2026 Robert Mitchell II (Vertical Ministry)