Denominational leaders view the MDiv as the gold standard in preparing young men and women for ministry. However, academic training alone does not prepare someone for ministry. It must be paired with mentoring, defined as the intentional relationship between an experienced pastoral mentor and a young pastoral mentee for the purpose of pastoral formation. This paper explores the mentoring relationships between Barnabas and Paul and Paul and Timothy as instructive examples of the importance, the process and impact of mentoring for pastoral formation. It concludes that Barnabas and Paul played a crucial role in the pastoral formation of their mentees.