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Continuing Ministerial Education
Training Courses: Sept 2006 - June 2007

'NOT JUST FOR CURATES'

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MINISTRY DEVELOPMENT

From October 2006, all curates ordained deacon in the Diocese of Southwark and serving their title here will have their own programme of courses on the second Thursday of the month based in Trinity House. This is called IME 4-7 (Initial Ministerial Education, with years 1-3 being preordination training ). They may, in addition, attend sessions in Not Just for Curates with the agreement of their incumbent but they may not do so instead of their own programme.

By 2008, all curates will be on the new programme and Not Just for Curates won’t really be for curates at all. Its focus will therefore shift to meeting the needs of clergy of incumbent status, including ministry development.

CME and Ministry development between them may be seen as the spiritual, Biblical, theological, personal and skills-based formation needed to sustain a life-long ministry., with CME concentrating on the needs we have now, and ministry development assisting us to grow and develop.

Some early steps towards enabling ministry development are made in this edition of Not Just for Curates. These are:

1. a real attempt to provide termly courses on those areas which have most frequently appeared on CME forms as a result of annual interviews, such as biblical studies and leadership
2. a greater attention than in previous years to the needs of those at particular stages of incumbent ministry, this year emphasising especially the first two years of incumbency in the Diocese.
3. a more concentrated time of training for those who will be training others in curacies.

To ensure that Southwark CME really does meet the needs you have in the exercise of ordained ministry, please, please complete your CME form carefully and realistically, talking it through in your annual interview – or contact the Canon Theologian for a conversation.

Are you in the first two years of your first incumbency or your first incumbency in Southwark?
If so, the monthly sessions entitled “New to Southwark?” are for you, even if you served your title here or if you have experience of incumbency elsewhere. They should enable you to have a better understanding of some of the workings of the Diocese, an introduction – or a refresher – on some of the things incumbents need to address, like leadership and church growth, and, perhaps most importantly, they are designed to offer you access to a peer network of people in a similar situation.

• Note that some of these sessions are compulsory:
  • Ministering Across Cultures
  • Obligations and Legalities of Incumbency
  • Child Protection

Please register for these three and any others which interest you. A glass of wine is on offer at the first session on 10th October 2006.

Would you like to undertake regular Biblical or theological study?
If so, there is at least one session each term which is designed to help you take responsibility for your ministerial development in this area by registering for it.

Are you an ordained local minister transferring to non stipendiary ministry?
The courses which the Bishop has particularly asked you to undertake are found in various sections of the courses listing below, but those which have been provided in addition to ensure that there are spaces are listed together under “OLM to NSM?”

Are you new to a particular aspect of ministry?
If so, you may find sessions which aim to help you attain the skills you feel you need- such as for being an Area Dean or having to do with a School, church or not, in your parish, or engaging with a building project.

Does Leadership play on your mind?
If so, you will find at least one Leadership course each term to help you here. Sessions cover questions of teams, theology and leading people who demand ever more from leaders while being ever less willing to follow!

Will you be receiving a training curate – stipendiary or nonstipendiary?
If so, please note that there is required preparatory training for you in March and May 2007. In addition, should you wish to make use of it, there are people available to act in a supervisory capacity for training incumbents: contact the Canon Theologian for more details.

In addition, there is a residential Leadership course in the pilot stages in one Episcopal area, which, if it is useful, will be opened across the diocese.

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