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CONTENTS
Preface by Bishop Richard Frith 3
Introduction by Bishop Alistair Magowan 4
Welcome by Nick Helm 5
Your Ministry as a Curate 6
The Diocesan Vision Statement 7
Who’s who in the structure of the Diocese 9
Hereford Cathedral 11
Ongoing Development for Curates in Training 12
Expectations and Assumptions about IME 13
Curate Development 14
Being a Curate 15
Self-Supporting Ministers 16
Life in the Benefice 18
Leisure time and privacy 19
Time Off 20
Social Media and being ordained 21
More about the Diocesan IME2 Programme 22
Learning Agreement and Supervision 24
Review and Assessment of Curacy 25
Placements 28
People’s thoughts from previous years’ Visits 29
What to do if something goes wrong 31
Top Tips to Survival 32
Useful Contacts 33
Appendices’ (Available Separately)
Appendix 1 PORTFOLIO
Appendix 2 National Formation Criteria
Appendix 3 Learning Agreements
Appendix 4 What Can – and Can’t I do in my Deacons Year?
Appendix 5 Cell or Reflection Groups
Appendix 6 Safeguarding
Appendix 7 Some useful Resources
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Welcome to the Diocese of Hereford
We are really pleased that you are starting your ordained ministry here among us. We shall try to work with you, under God, to make sure that together we lay down the basis for ministry, so as to enable you to exercise the gifts God has given you and to fulfil the ministry into which he has called you now, and into which he will call you in the future.
This is an exciting time and one to which you have been looking forward for many years already. We all of us hope and pray that yours will be a ministry of love, much blessed by God so that you can be a blessing to others.
Your primary working relationship is, of course, with your Training Incumbent, but you will also work closely with Nick Helm, our Ministerial & Spiritual Development and MSDO and your Year Tutor. You will, of course, be alongside your fellow curates and develop relationships with the other officers and clergy of the Diocese. I hope that you will enjoy the training programme provided for you and give them the high priority that they need. Above all, I hope and pray that you will continue to grow in love and service of God and the people among whom he has placed you.
Please do not hesitate to be in touch with any of us at any point over any issues during your time within the Diocese so that we can offer whatever support is possible and work together to build up the worship, mission and ministry within the churches of this Diocese for the furthering of God’s Kingdom. With very best wishes and prayers. + Richard Bishop of Hereford
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INTRODUCTION FROM THE BISHOP OF LUDLOW
I’m delighted to welcome you to your curacy in the Diocese of Hereford. It is both a privilege and responsibility to oversee Ministry in this Diocese and I look forward to discovering how God continues to lead and shape you in ordained ministry. The early years of ministry are significant and it is our aim to do all we can to help you lay the essential foundations for future service and alongside this enable you to develop your own particular gifts and strengths. As you will see from the IME 2 programme we are committed to lifelong learning and to your development in character, competence and confidence. Each year group has a tutor to travel with you through these next three years. Bishop Richard, Revd Preb Nick Helm and I will also be involved with assessment at various stages. We have a great team involved in providing curate training in this diocese and I am confident that they will support and encourage you at every stage. Successful completion of your curacy is our aim and we will do all we can to enable this. The Church of England is facing significant challenge at this time, and we are very conscious of some particular dimensions to this in our Diocese. Its rural nature means we have greater contact with the people than in many urban areas, but it can often be particularly hard to talk about faith, God and relationship with Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we are determined to rise to this challenge. As ministers of the Gospel, we are called to find ways of using the opportunities there are and to create opportunities to enable spiritual conversation thereby enabling people to recognise God’s grace in their lives and be encouraged to receive it and respond. Be assured of my prayers and support for your unfolding vocation through curacy in the Diocese of Hereford. +Alistair Bishop of Ludlow. .
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Nick Helm Ministerial & Spiritual Development and Ministerial and Spiritual Development Officer (MSDO)
Welcome as an ordained minister in the Diocese of Hereford.
Thank you for embarking upon this stage of your development with this Diocese. I, along with the 3 Year Tutors, have the privilege of overseeing your second phase of IME under Bishop Alistair. We are excited by the gifts, ideas and experience that you bring to life in the Diocese and your unfolding ordained ministry. This Handbook should tell you what you need to know about the programme of ongoing training in the Diocese. Our intention is that you will flourish as a person, a child of God and mature into the ordained ministry of Christ in his Church. I do encourage you to take every occasion offered to develop and extend your experience and ministry. Whilst you are a curate in training, you have opportunities to explore, to experiment and to extend your knowledge, understanding and experience in a supportive atmosphere that is not so readily available at later stages in ministry. Do make the most of all possibilities. All events on the Initial Ministerial Education Phase 2 (IME2) Programme are compulsory. You need my permission in order to miss an event. Should this be granted, you must inform our Administrator, Fiona Bowkett, for the purposes of booking catering etc. CMD events on the general diocesan programme are open to all ministers and you are expected to attend at least 2 of these each year.
Under the oversight of the Bishop of Ludlow, I am the IME Phase 2 Co-ordinator. Alongside me in this role are three Year Tutors. We are all committed to providing support for curates and do our best to enable your ongoing formation and achieve the learning outcomes required in curacy.
Will you uphold and
encourage them in
their ministry?
WE WILL!!
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YOUR MINISTRY AS A CURATE You have become a curate because of your response to the call of God. That call has been tested by the Church through the discernment process. It has been tested through your training over the last three years, and now you have come to a new stage for which you have been waiting and preparing for long time. It is good that you have come to this place in your life.
But you have not yet arrived. This is just the beginning, and it will continue to develop and change throughout your
ordained ministry
Ordination day brings both excitement and hope, and also anxieties about this awesome moment. You will have great hopes for your curacy but the early years of ministry are not always easy or straightforward. There will be testing moments and times of conflict. There will be times when you are tempted to be distracted from the gospel and the kingdom by the conflicts inherent in the church and the world. You, yourself, are still a place where spiritual forces battle for control – we go on being a work in progress! But God, who has called you, is faithful. God will continue to equip you for all that He has called you to be and to do; to provide all the resources that you need to share in bringing in the kingdom in your parish or benefice. Do your best to steward the resources of time, energy and finance that God provides you with wisely and in accordance with the principles of kingdom living.
What is of ultimate importance always in all you do is your own relationship with God, however you express this and work it out. You should always prioritise that time which is given to the nurture and development of this relationship. It is for this reason that the Diocese expects all Clergy, including Curates, to have a spiritual director / guide / soul friend and to meet with them on a regular basis. You will find a leaflet about Spiritual Directors ‘Growing Closer to God’ enclosed in this handbook. Ask for advice if you need it.
God responds to faith but will not surrender to our desire for control
(Dreaming with God by Bill Johnson
2006 p56)
Do your utmost to live by faith and to resist the very human desire to stay in
control
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THE DIOCESE OF HEREFORD
Vision Statement
Proclaiming Christ, growing disciples
“In July 2016 Diocesan Synod formally adopted the Shared Priorities below
1. Growing Christians and churches all ages 2. Making a difference as Christians in our communities and wider world 3. Re-imagining ministry for mission in the 21st Century 4. Resources – focussing all that God has given us where there is greatest need
and opportunity” (from the ‘Follow’ Leaflet) The Bishops launched a ‘Follow!’ initiative in September 2015 to encourage discipleship and outreach. The ‘Follow!’ prayer expresses this intention:
God, who in Jesus calls us, open hearts and minds to your invitation.
God of the pilgrim way,
be our companion day by day.
God of the still, small voice, teach us to pray.
Grant that in our calling,
our following, our pilgrimage,
We may see your kingdom of truth and peace And delight to bring others to your love.
We make this prayer through Jesus, the Lord.
Amen.
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Deaneries Hereford Archdeaconry A Abbeydore B Bromyard C/D Hereford City and Rural – now one combined deanery E Kington & Weobley F Ledbury G Leominster H Ross & Archenfield Ludlow Archdeaconry I Bridgnorth J Clun Forest K Condover L Ludlow M Pontesbury N Telford Severn Gorge
LOCAL MINISTRY CONTINUES TO BE A KEY STRATEGY FOR PROVIDING MINISTRY AND MISSION THROUGH THE LOCAL CHURCH
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WHO’S WHO IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE DIOCESE Here are some of the people with whom you are more likely to come into contact. There are many other amazing people who support the ongoing work of the diocese, some have a more hidden, some more obvious ministry. Bishop Alistair Magowan is both Bishop and Archdeacon of Ludlow, and Paddy Benson is the Archdeacon of Hereford.
The Diocesan Office has two bases, one at The Palace, Hereford, and one at the Eco Park in Ludlow.
HEREFORD OFFICE
Sam Pratley: Diocesan Secretary: responsible for Diocesan administration and at the hub of the office.
Pam Brown: Diocesan Secretary’s PA & Office Manager: source of paperwork and useful information.
Stephen Herbert: Financial Director
Kate Bayliss: Diocesan Accountant
Stephen Challenger: will sort out housing issues if you are stipendiary and also covers DAC, Church buildings and Faculties & Parsonages.
Catherine Cashmore: Communications Director: If you have any questions about dealing with the media, if you want advice on preparing a press release, or giving a radio interview, if you are about to do something that will hit the headlines and make a stink, please contact Catherine or Cheryl Combstock: part time admin support for Communications first.
Sarah Girling, Pastoral Secretary: Legal and admin aspects of pastoral re-organisation.
Hereford Diocesan office Secretaries:
Sarah Bassett Kerry Preedy Judy Pearce
LUDLOW OFFICE
Revd Preb Nick Helm, Ministerial & Spiritual Development Officer: Nick has responsibility for co-ordinating Curate Training and the continuing development of clergy after curacy. He also oversees our Ministerial Development Review programme and co-ordinates the diocesan network of Spiritual Directors/Advisers.
Revd Neil Patterson, Diocesan Director of Vocations and Ordinands.
Revd Preb John Daniels, Local Ministry Development Officer: this is probably more the concern of your incumbent, but John will be a useful person to talk to about the development of Local Ministry in your benefice. John is also the Warden of Readers.
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Revd Preb Caroline Pascoe, Lay Development Officer: has specific responsibility for enabling the development of the lay members of the Church in their personal discipleship and in the skills required by the Church, also for Mission Action Planning.
Wendy Coombey, Community Partnership and Development Officer: who sources funds for the Diocese, and works with parishes on project development.
Simon Whaley Church Project Funding Support Assistant
Lizzie Hackney, Children and Families Support Officer: Overseeing the children's and youth work across the Diocese; training, supporting and resourcing the leaders and volunteers.
Kathy Bland, Intergenerational Church Pioneer & Messy Church Regional Co-ordinator
Behind each of these people is a team of PAs, Assistants, Volunteers and Management Groups who sustain and support the work of each department:
Suki Gregson-Smith: PA to the Local Ministry Development Officer and Office Manager
Fiona Bowkett: PA to Nick Helm
Mary Oxley: PA to the Community Partnership and Development Officer & The Church Project Funding Support Assistant
EDUCATION
Philip Sell, Diocesan Director of Education: You probably won’t come across him much as curates, but he is experienced in the hierarchical work of schools and school governors.
Allyson Taylor, Assistant Diocesan Director of Education.
Sian Lines, Assistant Director – Business & Premises: supporting and developing business and premise needs of the schools.
Hannah Coleman Education Co-ordinator
Jenny Sykes Admin Assistant
OTHER SUPPORT STAFF
Amanda McPhee, Safeguarding Adviser: (part-time) Barbara works with Pam Brown and others at the Cathedral to manage the Child Protection and Safeguarding Issues for the Diocese.
Anne Lanyon-Hogg: offers invaluable and experienced support for Self-Supporting Ministers.
Revd Preb Jane Davies Diocesan Advisor for Womens Ministry
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HEREFORD CATHEDRAL
The Cathedral is also a key part of the Diocese and is full of excellent people and resources.
Do make the acquaintance of this, our mother church, and discover all that it has to offer in liturgy, education and history – together with a pleasant place to have lunch or coffee when you are in Hereford!
During your curacy, you will be invited by the Dean to spend a day at the Cathedral learning more about this aspect of the Church’s ministry and mission.
CATHEDRAL STAFF
The Very Revd Michael Tavinor, Dean ([email protected])
The Dean chairs Chapter and has overall responsibility for the Cathedral’s life, mission and ministry. He also represents the Cathedral in the city and county and holds responsibilities in the wider diocese. In the Cathedral, he has special responsibilities for administration, finance and fabric matters.
Revd Canon Andrew Piper, Precentor ([email protected])
The Canon Precentor is responsible for the Cathedral’s liturgical work and music. He plans the many special services, working with musicians and vergers. He also has wider diocesan responsibilities, being a member of the Diocesan Advisory Committee for church buildings.
Revd Canon Chris Pullin, Chancellor ([email protected])
The Canon Chancellor has oversight of adult education, the Cathedral chained library and Mappa Mundi exhibition and locally, has special links with the ecumenical life of the city through Churches Together in Hereford. He also represents the Cathedral on Hereford Deanery Synod.
Glyn Morgan, Chief Executive/Chapter Clerk and Chief Executive of Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust [email protected])
Glyn has responsibility for overall management of administrative staff as well as being Chief Executive of Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust. His role includes strategic and business planning, development and external relations. He also has responsibility for finance and properties and the activities and events that take place in the Cathedral. As Chapter Clerk, he co-ordinates and executes the work of Chapter.
Gill Atkins, Dean’s PA ([email protected]) Gill supports the Dean on all Cathedral administrative matters and the organisation of many special services. She controls his diary!
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ONGOING DEVELOPMENT FOR CURATES IN TRAINING
Life Long Learning
Life is a continuous process of development; that development occurs at different stages, in different parts, and at different rates. Sometimes, the most necessary thing to do is to sit down and reflect; at other times maintaining an active balance is essential in the longer haul. The latter course of action may seem more appealing, but an ordained person, priest or deacon must reflect the due concern of God for all and the knowledge that it is God, not ourselves, who holds all things in the palm of His hand.
Training as a Curate The Church of England is committed to ensuring that those it ordained are supported through their first 3-4 years to grow and flourish as ordained ministers.
For a curate in training, the Church provides:-
a title benefice which will be the context where that development may be lived and worked out;
a Training Incumbent to oversee that development and at
a Diocesan level, the oversight and courses offered by the MSDO. In the Hereford Diocese, it is the Bishop of Ludlow who is responsible, together with the MSDO and Year Tutors in ensuring this. You also have the support of colleagues within the Deanery Chapter, Readers and Local Ministry Development Group members, the Rural Dean, Archdeacons and the Bishops. Do make the most of all the experience that is to hand. We all enjoy passing on knowledge that has benefited us and it reminds us of past demonstrations of the grace of God.
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EXPECTATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT IME Because the training at Diocesan level is arranged for the benefit of all curates, it is too difficult to re-arrange dates. Whilst every effort is made to hold the training at appropriate times, there will be occasions when other ministry or training could be on offer. IME 2 events offered by the Diocese always take priority. If you have difficulty in attending a particular IME 2 programme event, you must email or ‘phone the MSDO to seek permission to miss that session and let Angela Deakin know. Fiona can be contacted on 01584 871079 when she is in the office or a message left for her on the answerphone. The most direct method of contact is by email at [email protected]. Each curate has a responsibility towards his/her peer group, to support one another and towards the wider church in their preparation for ministry. The curacy holds opportunities for training that will not be on offer again. The training period is only three or four years; your ministry in the church of God will continue for the rest of your life.
The costs of curate training are borne by the Diocese. Travel expenses to curate training days are part of the working expenses of the curate and should be borne by the training benefice.
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CURATE DEVELOPMENT
Your Training Incumbent (TI) is your primary focus. They enable opportunities for ministerial development within and for theological reflection on the life of the benefice and its communities. The Training Incumbent will ensure supervision and is required to assess and provide formal reports on development at key stages. The benefice also has a responsibility under the Training Incumbent to support and encourage the curate in the development of their
ministry and life in the benefice, and to help them explore the strengths and weaknesses of their lives as ordained ministers. The benefice is expected to recognise the need for training at Diocesan level as well as all that can be offered in the parish(es), and to give the curate time and travel expenses to fulfil those requirements. The curate is expected to prioritise the training that is on offer; to make time to reflect on the training; to support other curates in their peer group and to pray for themselves and for others in the training process that the grace of God might be more clearly given in the world. Curates may become aware of obvious gaps in the training and should, with the MSDO, seek ways of filling the gaps, through placement or other ministry development beyond the training benefice. The Diocese provides the training programme and the help and support of the MSDO in caring for the curate, overseeing relationships of the curate with Training Incumbent and with benefice; offering training and support to the Training Incumbent and meeting the costs of the training programme. The Bishops and Archdeacon offer additional oversight and pastoral support. The support ministers of the Diocese offer specialist knowledge of their particular area. They are always on hand to share their knowledge and expertise and to put you in touch with other experts in their field. Do make use of these resources.
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BEING A CURATE There is no single model of being a curate. Each curate is in a unique position and must develop a working pattern appropriate to his or her particular situation. Guidelines for drawing up a Learning Agreement are issued with this pack; they are downloadable from the diocesan website (www.hereford.anglican.org) and help is available from the Year Tutors. Stipendiary, Self-Supporting and Local Ministers must work out the development of ministry that is possible and most beneficial for them, within the guidelines and possibilities offered by the Diocese. The Learning Agreement is a document in progress and should be put together prior to ordination as deacon. The Agreement must be agreed within 3 months of ordination. It should then be revisited after six months, and again around the time of priesting. It should offer a scheme of work which is practical, achievable and takes into account, the gifts, skills, life and other commitments of the curate in training. In developing the working agreement, it is important that time for family commitments, managing the home and leisure are taken into account. It is very important indeed that Self-Supporting Ministers should ensure that their Learning Agreement is really achievable and not aspirational. In other words, start with what you know you can actually manage in terms of the sessions and hours you offer – you can always increase the time you give, but it’s very much more difficult to reduce it when you find you’ve set the bar too high. Your Training Incumbent is well aware of the need to prepare your Learning Agreement.
There will be occasions where a curate would benefit from some particular training that may not be obviously on offer from Diocese or training benefice. Your Year Tutor, with MSDO, are there to discuss and facilitate such training needs insofar as is possible.
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SELF-SUPPORTING MINISTERS
There are lots of different sorts of Self-Supporting Ministers (SSMs) and this can be confusing, not least for people in the parishes. No one SSM is exactly the same as any other in the way they fulfil their calling and the way employment and family responsibilities can impact on the amount of time they are able to devote to ministry and mission. A key question is where the main focus of an SSMs ministry may lie. SSMs do fall into certain distinct groups:
SELF-SUPPORING MINISTRY
Within these groupings, of course, there is still great diversity but all are recognised as Self-Supporting Ministers (SSMs.) Very carefully drawn up Learning and Working Agreements are essential for SSMs, to try and balance all the demands of life (eg: work, family, rest) and ordained ministry. OLMs You will be a member of a Local Ministry Team or Development Group. Your ordained ministry will be characterised by your local roots, relationships and your collaborative nature – you’ll be a team player who shares leadership with others, who spots and nurtures the gifts of those around you. OPMs You will be an SSM who has the particular focus of an Ordained Pioneer Minister – establishing and building up new ways of being church. MSEs You will be an ordained minister who senses God calling you to exercise the main focus of your diaconal/priestly ministry in your workplace. This may be in an informal or formal way eg: you might be a formally recognised Chaplain in your workplace or it may simply develop and grow around you once others come to know you have been ordained. The bulk of your ministry may not be seen by most of the people in your home parish(es). They may not realise why – good communication and the addressing of expectations is very important so that people understand why your ministry is distinctive and different. Being an MSE can be a lonely path in ministry.
SELF SUPPORTING MINISTERS
OPM
OLM MSE
Parish-based
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PARISH-BASED You will spend the hours/sessions/days you are able to give to the expression of your ordained ministry largely in parochial ministry, alongside other clergy and lay ministers/leaders. Your ministry will be most like what most church members will think of when they think ‘priest’ – that is, the work of a Vicar. Managing expectations in yourself and in others will be really important for you, with the help of your Training Incumbent. UNDER AUTHORITY All SSMs – whatever the nature of their ministry, like all ordained clergy, are ‘under authority’. You are given the Bishop’s licence, not as a licence to go off and just do whatever you think is right, but as a curate in training, you are also under the authority and oversight of your Training Incumbent. That oversight extends to you wherever your ministry takes you. For some, this will be outside the home parish(es) and even outside the diocese. An MSE curate will need to be extremely sensitive to issues of authority and to be guided by their Training Incumbent in how their MSE ministry develops in the workplace. If working across Diocesan borders, you must seek advice from your Incumbent about how this should be approached – it may be necessary, for example, for you to seek the permission of local clergy and even the Bishop of the Diocese in question before you can do anything. None of us is free to go and ‘do’ ministry. You may need a formal Permission to Officiate in another area. Local clergy can be very sensitive to others coming in and ‘doing things’ without their permission. Remember that during IME 2, there is still a lot for you to learn. The Training Incumbent’s role is not confined to what happens in the parish(es), but is about your development as a whole. You need to keep communicating, to seek her/his advice and to accept that there may be limitations. Others around you in the workplace may not easily understand that you are still in training – they will see you simply as a deacon, or a priest. It may be you that has to put the brakes on and instead of responding immediately to a good idea, or a request to take a funeral, seek your Training Incumbent’s wisdom first about whether you should and are able to help in any situation. The Diocese asks Training Incumbents to maintain appropriate and careful oversight, to affirm our curates in diverse ministry contexts and to help you reflect on your experience, self-awareness and development.
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LIFE IN THE BENEFICE Ordination is not the end of a journey, but a staging post. As people have grown and developed through their life experience, more recently through training at course or college, they are expected to continue to develop in knowledge, skills and prayer.
As an ordained minister, you take up an obligation for the Daily Office to be prayed in one form or another. It is important that the curate and Training Incumbent worship together regularly, within a discipline that is possible for both. Decisions about time, place, format and content need to be taken jointly, with a mutual awareness of the constraints of family and work life (in the case of self supporting ministers.) This is covered by the Learning Agreement guidelines.
Personal prayer is also a priority, as for any Christian, and the development of suitable prayer patterns and habits is an important part of the training process.
Curates are encouraged in the discipline of a Spiritual Director, to take an annual retreat, to take time each week to read theologically and to remember how to play! The MSDO can help with resources for some of these processes, but usually leaves you to organise play and fun for yourself!
A retreat is not the same as a holiday and does not count as part of annual leave for Stipendiary curates.
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LEISURE TIME AND PRIVACY One of the most threatened boundaries in ministry is that of leisure and work; privacy and public ministry. Many ministers have been heavily committed to the church prior to ordination, in a voluntary ministry. Serving as an ordained minister, whether Stipendiary or Self-Supporting, requires different disciplines and good personal awareness. The proper commitment of a minister can easily turn to being over-stretched, to guilt and burnout. Jesus took His disciples apart from time to time, to rest awhile; He Himself made time to pray, spent quality time with friends developing relationships and enjoyed a party, (when he thought he was off duty, though his Mum had other ideas!) You need to develop patterns and practices of recreation of varying styles in order to sustain a lifetime of service to the Church. Every Stipendiary member of staff should have a complete day off a week wherever possible, with the evening before included in that time. This should ideally be the same day each week. Training Incumbents should model this way of working to their curates. Self-Supporting Ministers need to ensure that they are not giving every spare waking moment to the Church on top of their jobs. Training Incumbents should be understanding about this. Diocesan training events are not leisure time - on the contrary, they are often quite demanding days. It is sensible to plan a quiet Sunday for a curate after a Saturday training event. Curates, like all human beings, need to give time to self-care and important relationships. It is important to find balance in your time off to provide appropriate self-care in managing your own household matters and in sustaining and building relationships with family and friends.
It is important that our use of time reflects our theology. A God of love requires that we love one another as much as we love ourselves. God, who rests after the act of creation, offers as the first experience of humankind, a day of rest prior to taking up the blessing of work.
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TIME OFF
The leave entitlement for Stipendiary clergy is detailed in your Statement of Particulars (see Common Tenure.) You are entitled to Bank Holidays off – but of course not Christmas Day or Good Friday. Full details are in the documents you will be sent. Self-Supporting Ministers should define carefully within their Learning Agreements, sensible holiday arrangements. These should take into account, family responsibilities and the demands of the ‘working life.’
Remember what was said above about realistic Agreements!
Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angels’ age, God’s breath in man returning to his birth. The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth; Engine against th’ Almighty, sinners’ tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear, The six-day’s world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear; Softness and peace and joy and love and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best. Heaven in ordinary, man well drest, The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard the soul’s blood, The land of spices; something understood.
George Herbert
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND BEING ORDAINED
Facebook … Twitter …??
An amazing opportunity for fellowship and mission? Yes! But … please remember that even some Bishops have found themselves in hot water after
rash and unwise postings on social media! You need to be alert to the potential pitfalls for public ministers. This is one of the grey areas of ordained life, where it’s sometimes difficult to walk the right boundary between ourselves as private individuals and public representatives of the Church of England. One danger is that we can say something we come to regret. Another is that people we never intended to have access to our postings can misinterpret them. Remember! When you post a comment or let off steam to friends about a tricky situation or bad day, you are publishing your thoughts and opinions – and they stay out there, from then on. The challenge of integrity for clergy We want to be ordained ministers of integrity where the ‘me’ of my private life is the same as the ‘me’ in the pulpit or at the Lord’s table. So think carefully about how you describe yourself and your interests – think very carefully about what you trust to the various media you engage with, for your own sake as well as the Church’s. You must also make absolutely sure you know and observe all safeguarding policies that relate to the Church and other institutions you are involved with in ministry – especially beware posting photos of children and vulnerable adults without permission. We also know that social media are a wonderful way of providing pastoral support to individuals, of staying in touch with people who’ll never cross the church doorstep and of sharing the good news! So if it’s your thing, do be on Facebook, do use Twitter – just remember we need to think first and make sure we haven’t forgotten who we are as deacons and priests. As a professional, seek on social media to behave accordingly. Criticism of your Incumbent, other lay leaders or ordained colleagues, your Bishops and Archdeacons is inappropriate as is being seen to be supporting or tolerating racist opinions, or other extremist views.
A Basic Rule of Thumb: before pressing ‘post’, pause, ask yourself
‘Am I comfortable with my Bishop or a parishioner reading this??!’
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MORE ABOUT THE DIOCESAN IME 2 PROGRAMME
The IME 2 Programme is an integral part of the Church of England’s Initial Ministerial Education programme. It is carefully arranged to be accessible to as many curates as possible and to balance the training opportunities offered in the parishes. It is a compulsory part of your training and development and takes priority over any ministerial opportunities in the benefice. It has been designed so that Self-Supporting Ministers can participate equally fully and the expectation is that they will also give priority to these events when their work commitments permit.
The Initial Ministerial Education Phase 2 (IME2) programme is drawn up in relation to the national Formation Criteria which is Appendix 2
The programme is planned in two parts.
Part One: A programme tailored to the needs of a particular year group Year One is a programme which introduces you to the Diocesan offices and Officers; helps you reflect on your new identity and its challenges and prepares you for priesthood. Year Two offers occasion for reflection on the occasional offices Year Three focuses on the development of leadership skills and responsibilities, both your own and that of those among whom you minister.
Part Two: A three year rolling programme This offers training and experience not normally available in a parish situation. It might include things like a trip to a prison and practical input from the Registrars on weddings, funerals and the legal side of running a parish. Each year, there is a weekend residential in the autumn, giving time for fellowship and reflection.
Throughout these programmes runs a thread of developing spirituality and prayer, with biblical and theological reflection, to encourage you that at the heart of all our learning and ministry is a desire to increase our knowledge and love of God, revealed to us through the life, death and resurrected life of Jesus Christ. Our developing relationship with God and our service of those made in His image in whatever ministry he has called us to, is the foundation on which all that is on offer in the way of training should be founded.
All curates are now required to keep careful records of their participation in the training programme and to complete a portfolio to provide evidence of their experience and development during the years of curacy. This will be reviewed annually and must be assessed at the end of your title post by the MSDO and Bishop. You will need to complete your training period satisfactorily before you are able to take on a first post of responsibility or become an Associate Minister. The MSDO will give you more information and advice about this. The portfolio guidelines are included later in this handbook.
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Emphasis is given to the peer support of a year group for the members of that group. You will be asked to meet in addition to IME events to grow in fellowship, to share experience and to pray together for one another. We call these your Cell or Reflection Groups and there is a page telling you more about such groups later in this handbook.
Each curate has a review every year. This will focus on reviewing your progress and development over the previous year and usually happens between February and May, and will also involve your Training Incumbent. Other appointments can be arranged as required, and both the curate and Training Incumbent are free to contact the MSDO for that purpose at any time
Towards the end of the Deacon’s year, the Training Incumbent prepares a report on the deacon which goes to the Bishop of Hereford. You and your Training Incumbent will be invited to an interview with the Bishop after which he will decide whether and when you should be ordained priest. Ordinations to the priesthood at present take place on the Saturday of Petertide, 4.30 pm in the Cathedral.
The Bishop of Ludlow will interview you approximately two and a half years into your curacy for your THIRD Year Review. Your Training Incumbent and the MSDO will be asked to submit reports ahead of this interview. All reports from Incumbent and Diocesan supervisor of Phase 2 are ‘open’ and you will have had the opportunity to see and discuss them before they are submitted.
At the end of the training period, the curate is invited and encouraged to write a review of the curacy process, commenting on training in the benefice and in the Diocese. The development process is continuously under review within the Diocese. It is developed for the benefit of the curates in training and any comments, ideas and suggestions are always listened to and taken seriously.
… What does a Priest do? Tries to colour in God.
Uses words to explain miracles which is like teaching
a millipede to sing, but even more difficult.
What does a Priest do?
Tends the flock through time. Oil and incense
Would secretly like each PCC to commence
With a mud pie making contest. Sometimes falls asleep when praying. Would like to ice-skate with crocodiles
And hear roses when they pray …
What does a Priest do?.....
From ‘Priestly Duties’ by Steward Henderson
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LEARNING AGREEMENT AND SUPERVISION Licenced Clergy and Common Tenure Under Common Tenure, the Diocese is required to provide a Learning Agreement for every curate in training. The proforma for the Learning Agreement is Appendix 3. There will be a meeting of curate and Training Incumbent with the MSDO within the first three months after ordination to agree and sign this document. The agreement should be completed before ordination or as soon as possible after. It must be ready at the interview with the MSDO mentioned above. It should then be reviewed after six months, and again on the curate’s ordination to the priesthood. The Agreement is a document in process, not something carved in stone. The Learning Agreement should be seen by the PCC(s) (this is a formal necessity for the payment of expenses, but is also good practice in collaborative ministry that we, as a Diocese, are trying to model and encourage.)
Supervision Staff meetings play an important part of Benefice ministry and are important for a curate to attend where possible. But this is not the same as supervision! Regular supervision meetings form a vital part of the pattern of the Training Incumbent/ curate relationship. To start with, for a Stipendiary curate, supervision should be of the order of an hour and a half each week of dedicated time. This may become less as time goes on. Snatched conversations before or after morning or evening prayer are not the same as supervision and should not replace planned and focussed meetings when issues of weight can be chewed over thoroughly. Self-Supporting curates are encouraged to plan regular supervision times of the order of once every 2, 3 or 4 weeks, depending on how much church time you are allocating. It would be sensible sometimes to plan the content of supervision meetings in advance, although mostly talking over what is currently in progress is most useful. Under Common Tenure, it is obligatory for Stipendiary curates to have weekly sessions and for SSMs to have a minimum of 12 per annum. Training Incumbents are offered training to develop supervision skills and this knowledge can be updated if and when necessary. Learning is as much modelled as taught, and supervision should reflect this, with a willingness on the part of both Training Incumbent and curate to be open to learn from each other, to respect the variety of gifts and points of view that each brings to a situation. Curates bring a wealth of previous life experience to their ministry in the church and this must be valued and appreciated by the Training Incumbent.
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REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF CURACY Under the Clergy Terms and Conditions of Service arrangements, all curates – Self-Supporting and Stipendiary – will need to be formally assessed as they prepare to move out of curacy and into the next phase of ministry. The Bishop has to be able to say that someone has gained the necessary skills and shown the appropriate level of development and capability, before allowing a curate to proceed any further in ministry. The assessment indicates whether a curate has satisfactorily achieved the Formation Criteria, (Appendix 2) defined by the national Church as necessary on completion of Initial Ministerial Development Phase 1 and 2. These outcomes have shaped your training and development from the time you first entered formal ministerial training, so there is a real integrity and continuity through the whole of these years. There are outcomes common to all curates, but also additional aspects for Stipendiary curates, or those expecting to move into a post of responsibility (incumbent-equivalent), whether receiving a stipend or not. The precise nature of the assessment is still to be finalised, but it will be built on the continuing process of review and reporting that you have become accustomed to prior to ordination. It will include the evidence of your progress and development as demonstrated by your portfolio, reports from your Training Incumbent and the MSDO and interviews with the Bishop. Reviews:
Each year, there will be a meeting to review your progress as a curate. These involve both you and your Training Incumbent and are normally held between November and February. These reviews will be conducted by: Bishop Richard in Year 1. Revd Preb Nick Helm in Year 2. Bishop Alistair in Year 3. Your portfolio will be requested ahead of the interview and will form the basis of the review. It will be returned to you afterwards.
Towards the end of your 12 months as a deacon, your Training Incumbent writes a report on your progress and suitability for ordination to the priesthood for the Bishop, who may also consult the MSDO.
The Bishop of Hereford interviews you and your Training Incumbent before making the decision to ordain you priest.
Two and a half years into your curacy, the Bishop of Ludlow will request a report from your Training Incumbent and the Year Tutor. He will interview you again and your portfolio will be an important part of the lead up to this review. This interview will help you look to the future. It is hoped that any concerns about progress and any
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questions about whether a curate will satisfactorily meet the assessment requirements will have emerged by this stage. It may be possible for the Bishop to indicate that the curate has reached a satisfactory level of assessment, but you may have to wait until the end of the 3rd Year or later for this to be finalised. The Bishop will tell Stipendiary curates at this interview when they may begin applying for their first post of responsibility. He will also advise Self-Supporting Ministers about their transition from being a curate to an Associate or Assistant Minister. Where appropriate, questions about deployment for those who are self-supporting may also be discussed with the Bishop.
NB: A Stipendiary curate must ask the Bishop’s permission before applying for a post and may not usually move into a first post of responsibility until after the 3rd Year of training has been completed. Please also let the MSDO know as and when you begin applying for posts.
Questions What happens if I don’t have a satisfactory assessment? The Diocese is still developing an appropriate policy to deal with such situations, which we hope will be rare. In the vast majority of cases, assessment will be important but straightforward – a positive and encouraging experience. As indicated above, it is hoped that, as in your pre-ordination training phase, any areas of concern or problems will be known and addressed early enough and long before the point of decision-making. However, in the event that someone is not considered able or ready to move on in ministry, the Bishop and his senior staff will consider carefully what may be done. It is sometimes possible to extend a stipendiary curacy for an additional year, for instance, and might be necessary if more time will address the area(s) of concern. Sadly sometimes through nobody’s fault, a curacy period may become very deeply affected by factors beyond our control, such as sickness or a Training Incumbent leaving for some reason. The Diocese will always approach such situations in as pastoral and supportive manner as possible. But it is possible that in rare circumstances, the ethos of continuing discernment may possibly mean that at the end of curacy, the Bishop will have to say to someone that our corporate discernment is that, after all, ministry is not for them – it might be that someone is simply not able to fulfil the Formation Criteria and so the Bishop will not be able to permit that person to move on to a further post. Please do not be anxious about this – we hope and trust such instances will be extremely rare. There is an appeals procedure for anyone who finds her or himself in such a situation and wishes. The principles undergirding this will be those of transparency and natural justice. There will be 2 possible routes. The Bishop may invite a panel made up of a suitably informed lay person, a Bishop’s Adviser and another officer from the Ministry Development staff from this Diocese to provide an assessment OR he may refer the case to an independent DDO/Director of IME from another diocese within our region for assessment, depending on the circumstances. The curate will need to be available to meet with those handling the appeal and to provide her/his portfolio for them to see. The Bishop’s decision is final.
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Can I have a longer curacy? If you are a Self-Supporting Minister, the simple answer to that is ‘Yes!’, if you, your Training Incumbent or the Bishop feel that is right. If you are Stipendiary, the answer is more complicated. As you will know, your curacy lasts for a maximum of 4 years from the day you are ordained deacon and begin your stipendiary ministry – you will have received an appointment letter at the time you were offered your title post, outlining these terms. However, the Bishop does occasionally grant an extra year on pastoral grounds. As mentioned above, it may be that in the future, such additional years will be granted to enable someone to reach a satisfactory assessment of their training period. However, budgetary considerations are vital and it will remain the exception for someone to complete 5 rather than 4 years in a curacy. If you think you might wish to explore a longer curacy, you need to discuss this with your Training Incumbent and the MSDO as early as possible please. What happens if my Training Incumbent is on long-tem sick leave, or moves from the benefice? The Bishop and MSDO will ask someone else to have responsibility for you as acting Training Incumbent in such circumstances. You may or may not need to be attached to a different benefice to enable your training to continue. Each situation will be assessed individually and much will depend on the timing and your stage of development. It may be important to support you in sustaining the ministry and mission in your home benefice for example – but your training will be the priority. What if things get difficult in my curacy? Things will, at some stage, get difficult. It’s a normal part of formation and growth and not a sign of weakness or failure. The important thing is to recognise difficulties and address them sooner rather than later. Often, a conversation at an early stage can help significantly. The obvious first point for conversation is your Training Incumbent. A simple request to talk about the issue should mean time is given to this. However, if this is difficult or proves fruitless, then the Year Tutor is there to help. At times of crisis, your Rural Dean or MSDO (Nick Helm) may be sources of support or help. It may be that a facilitated conversation between you and your Training Incumbent is arranged and this can involve you bringing a friend or supporter if you so wish. Sometimes, a curacy just does not work out. This is rare, but when it happens, it can become necessary for the curate to move to a different post to provide a positive training context. The Bishop, Archdeacon and IME2 Co-ordinator will offer advice and help as they work to resolve such a situation.
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PLACEMENTS In the third year, there is sometimes an opportunity to do a placement. This is mandatory for Stipendiary curates, and negotiable for others. You are expected to spend a prolonged period of time interacting with a different institution and way of doing ministry. This should be something beyond what the benefice can offer. There are now possibilities for our curates to engage with the wider church through our diocesan links with Tanzania and Nuremberg. Please ask the MSDO about this if you are interested. Examples include: working with a hospice or hospital chaplain one day a week for three months, spending a term or half a term in a secondary school for one or two days a week, being attached to a prison, shadowing an industrial missioner. You may come up with other ideas. The placement is organised by the curate in training with the support and encouragement of the MSDO and in collaboration with the Training Incumbent. The MSDO must approve any placement and you should write it up afterwards for your portfolio.
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PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS’ VISITS
Tanzania While you may think that a trip to Africa as part of curacy would be a pretty expensive way to go about your learning about ‘Church’, my own experience is that it was quite simply the most eye opening example of what the difference between “The Church” and “my church”, is in real life. The Hereford Diocese document 2015 gives a pretty scary look into an imminent future in which the curates will (well, sort of) be the only ones left while the 2025 document we received while in Tanzania gives an altogether different picture. You get a real sense that there is a church of God out there reaching out to people in need who are, in many real ways, aching to hear the good news and creating communities of faith out of next to nothing! What, for example do we make of the plan to create 1 new parish a year until 2025? Tough? Not there. There have been 17 new parishes created already in the first 18 months since the writing of the plan! What are you going to do in your summer holidays? Well if you are a student at St Mark’s Theological College, you go and found a new church community, (2 real life new churches with 20 & 27 members this year). And you get a real feeling that church is a group of worshipping people not an ancient building sucking up your resources and that conversions to Christ are happening weekly if not daily and in one case before our very eyes with baptism being instant! It is true that there are Victorian era churches needing a lot of money/work to restore or repair, (Zanzibar and Korogwe cathedrals come to mind) but also there are Christian communities who meet in small rooms to hear the word of God, new church buildings being built out of the very soil they live on and new life in Christ being created before our very eyes. In view of this, mission may not be for you to live in Africa, they are doing pretty well without you already, but the enthusiasm that a trip there gives you reminds us that our mission is simply to keep spreading the word and letting God do the rest.
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Nuremburg Visiting Nuremburg was a valuable experience and one which I would encourage (and have already done so) other curates to undertake. The experiences were at different levels and include:
A chance to get to know some of my fellow curates rather better. In such a geographically elongated diocese getting to know others can be a problem when you live as far south as the diocese gets!
The opportunity to visit the ‘Street of Human Rights’ and consider in detail just what ‘loving your neighbour’ might mean. (Good sermon material).
Finding out how useful ‘church tax’ is when it comes to maintaining buildings – we should continue to lobby for funding for the maintenance of our ancient buildings.
Discovering Bavaria and the hospitality of its people.
As a teacher I found the visits to schools (two in my case) was really interesting. I was able to talk to young people from 11 to 18 and be reassured that their priorities were much the same as those in the UK.
Making new friends.
Myth busting: German trains do not all run on time. A group of Curates accompanied by Bishop Mike Bourke and others spent a few days in Nuremburg in October 2013. The purpose was to strengthen existing links between the Diocese of Hereford and our friends in the Lutheran Church in Nuremburg. Highlights – the best times were spent getting to know people: so times spent over meals, with fantastic German beer and wine, were always welcome. We had the great privilege of spending time in a local school and we were quizzed by some German young people speaking very good English. My favourite time was spent with a group of young Lutheran ministers preparing for a life in service to God and His Church in Germany and comparing some of the different challenges facing the Church in Western Europe and it was interesting to break out of our own local concerns here in Hereford to think about what is going on across Western Europe. Nuremburg itself is a fantastic city, largely destroyed by allied bombing in 1945, the rebuilding of the old city is impressive and to wanders its street now is a great tourist experience. However, Nuremburg is not really about tourism and that was not the purpose of our trip. St Sebalds, a 900 year old church was left shattered and ruined by bombing, much like the Cathedral in Coventry. St Sebalds was re built to a medieval specification and has at its centre the story of the re building and reconciliation that followed. Coventry Cathedral is one of the world's oldest religious-based centres for reconciliation. Following the destruction of the Cathedral in 1940, Provost Howard made a commitment not to revenge, but to forgiveness and reconciliation with those responsible and this is the continuing mission of the great Cathedral Paul tells the Corinthians: God... reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
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WHAT TO DO IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
Don’t suffer alone or in silence. Talk to someone. Do something before things get too
bad.
Your Year Tutor is there as support to listen and help you.
The other curates can provide support. They are going through similar enough experiences to be able to say to some extent: “I will pray with you..”
Talk to your Spiritual Director regularly and keep your Training Incumbent and Year Tutor informed of any on going difficulties. It is easier to sort things out at an early stage than to let them fester.
When prayer seems to hit a glass ceiling, the Bible seems dry as dust and worship loses its savour, remember the truth is that God remains the same, whatever our feelings, and He is faithful.
When you can’t talk to your Training Incumbent, remember that you are not the first for whom this has happened, nor the last. Talk to your year Tutor about this.
When relationships in the parish break down, keep talking. Each of you is made in the image of God, however hidden that is.
When something goes wrong with your clergy house, contact Sophie at the Hereford office (or your Archdeacon if she is not available) as soon as possible (for Stipendiaries only.)
Areas of difficulty can arise because . . .
Both Training Incumbent and curate care deeply about their work. They have different gifts and priorities, or they have competing gifts and abilities.
Boundaries are often blurred in working relationships in the church - between work and leisure (what is a parish picnic??); between personal and professional issues; between home and church. This blurring is different for Stipendiary and Self- Supporting Ministers.
Because of the deep commitment which you have given to this outworking of your life as a Christian, you are vulnerable and open (good, but potentially risky traits.) The same is true for others in ministry. You will hurt and inflict hurt. Neither side will mean it. Maturity as a Christian minister means working out how to go on loving, how to forgive, how to be reconciled. Remember, you are a child of God and so is your Incumbent.
Conflict is also normal, creative and a point of growth. It can lead to the most amazing resolutions when not avoided but faced up to in a mature way.
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TOP TIPS TO SURVIVAL
Reflect theologically and try to see God’s point of view as well as
your own, remembering that this is His work and He has called you.
Pray – keep on praying!
Develop selective hearing.
Remember the praise and not just the criticism.
Bear in mind that each person is trying in the best way they can to
express their faith and love for God.
Thank God that not everyone is like you.
Look for the gifts in those who are different from you.
Remember that God and the church are not synonymous.
Laugh a lot.
Make sure that fun - or at least relaxation! - is still part of your life.
Keep things in some sort of perspective in terms of the coming
Kingdom of God.
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USEFUL CONTACTS
The Rt Revd Richard Frith, Bishop of Hereford The Bishop’s House, Hereford, HR4 9BN Tel: 01432 271355 Fax: 01432 373346
Email: [email protected]
Susan Lawson, Bishop of Hereford’s PA Tel: 01432 271355 [email protected]
Gail James, Bishop of Hereford’s Secretary
Tel: 01432 271325 [email protected]
The Rt Revd Alistair Magowan, Bishop & Archdeacon of Ludlow
Bishop's House, Corvedale Road, Craven Arms, Shropshire, SY7 9BT Tel/Fax: 01588 673571Email: [email protected]
Joanne Gibbon, Bishop of Ludlow’s Secretary Tel: 01588 673571 [email protected]
The Venerable Derek Chedzey, Archdeacon of Hereford
The Palace, Hereford, HR4 9BL Via Tel: 01432 373316 Email: [email protected]
Cheryl Combstock, PA to Archdeacon
The Palace, Hereford, HR4 9BL Via Tel: 01432 373316 Email: [email protected]
Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance
The Palace, Hereford, HR4 9BL Tel: 01432 373300 Fax: 01432 352952 Email: [email protected]
Diocesan Office (Ludlow) Ludlow Eco Park, Sheet Road, Ludlow, SY8 1FD
Tel: 01584 871070 (Main Office)
Revd Preb Nick Helm, Continuing Ministerial Development Officer Tel: 01584 871082 Email: [email protected]
Revd Neil Patterson, Diocesan Director of Vocations and Ordinands (DDVO)
Tel: 01584 871182 07933 741760 Email: [email protected]
Angela Deakin, Administrator to the MSDO Diocesan Office, Ludlow Eco Park, Sheet Road, Ludlow, SY8 1FD
Tel: 01584 871079 Email: [email protected]
Mrs Fiona Quayle, Diocesan Counselling Co-ordinator 3 Stanway Barn, Rushbury, Shropshire, SY6 7EF
Tel: 01584 841840 Email: [email protected]
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YEAR TUTORS
Year 1: Revd Alan Walden St Michael’s Vicarage, Church Street, Madeley, Telford TF7 5BN
Tel: 01952 586 645 Email: [email protected]
Year 2: Revd Melanie Horton The Rectory, Walwyn Road, Colwall, Malvern WR13 6EG
Tel: 01684 540 330 Email: [email protected]
Year 3: Revd Mike Catling The Rectory, Leintwardine, Craven Arms, Shropshire, SY7 0LL
Tel: 01547 540235 Email: [email protected]
