Our Mission at Waco Moms is to Provide Resources, Guides, Content, and Spaces where Moms can Connect with One Another and to Community. Our Goal is to Showcase Groups, Programs, and Organization that offer ways to connect.
Flourish is a faith based mentoring study that connects women one another while offering growth and support. According to the American Psychiatric Association, 33 percent of American adults report feeling lonely at least once a week and young adults (ages 18-34) are more likely to report feeling lonely than older adults. Loneliness is just one reason why we created a mentoring program called Flourish at First Woodway Baptist Church. When I first joined the staff in 2021 and began talking with women, it became evident they were starving for deep connection. They longed for meaningful friendships, advice from women a step ahead of them, and Biblical guidance.
All of this led to Flourish, which is under the umbrella of our women’s ministry, The Well. The Well is a gathering place for women, college age and up, to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus and to create richer, more authentic connections with one another. We all live very full and busy lives; therefore, our goal is not to clutter everyone’s calendar with more events. Rather, we want to create discipleship opportunities fueled with intention and purpose. Every life group, prayer group, Bible study, service opportunity, and event we offer encourages women in their walk with Christ while fostering genuine friendships.
Flourish is the most influential and essential component of The Well because women can come to an event but get lost in the crowd; they might leave feeling as lonely as they did when they arrived. However, through Flourish, women will always feel deeply seen and known.
What is FLOURISH?
Flourish is a one-year mentoring program where we pair a woman with mentor who is in a different stage in her walk with Jesus. Through the Flourish journey, women will build a trusted relationship as they share life together.
Who is qualified to be a mentor?
Some women are hesitant to be a mentor because they don’t feel qualified. However, I tell them if they are a mom, sister, aunt, friend, boss, or employee, then they have probably mentored someone without realizing it. A mentor is simply someone who is willing to walk alongside another woman, listen, offer guidance, pray with and for her, and point her to Scripture. She doesn’t have to have all the answers, she just needs to be available.
What do FLOURISH mentors/mentees talk about?
We give mentors/mentees the choice to read through the Flourish curriculum (written by Passion City Church) or work through a set of intentional questions we give them.
Where and when do mentors/mentees meet?
The Flourish program is very flexible. First, participants choose if they want to meet at a coffee shop, at a restaurant, at a park, in someone’s home, or somewhere else. It’s completely up to them … wherever is convenient and agreed upon. And it doesn’t have to the be the same place each week—they can switch it up.
They also determine when and how long they meet. They can meet once a week, every other week, or once a month. And if they need to take a break over Christmas or the summer (June-July), that’s O.K. too. We encourage women to be consistent but also offer each other grace and understand that life gets busy. When they don’t meet, we recommend they stay in touch through texting or facetime and continue to pray for one another.
How long is a mentee paired with her mentor?
Flourish applications open in August, close in September, and we match pairs in October. We ask women to stay together for one year; then, the following October we give women these options:
Stay Together for Another Year
Take a Break
Mentors take a New Mentee
Mentees Become a Mentor
It’s our hope that after experiencing the benefits of a mentor, every mentee will eventually become a mentor.
If your church or organization wants to replicate the Flourish model of mentoring, check out the following resources for guidance:
