Resources, Reports and Guidelines

The 2008 House of Bishops report on Continuing Ministerial Development

Since the publication of The Continuing Education of the Church’s Ministers (GS Misc 122) in 1980, a review of the developments in Continuing Ministerial Education in the dioceses has been prepared for the House of Bishops every five years. A copy of the most recent review, now undertaken by the Continuing Ministerial Development Panel under the chairmanship of +Richard Kingston, can be found by clicking on the grey button on the left hand side of your screen.

The report makes the following twelve recommendations:

R1. Dioceses should maintain 1% stipend per licensed clergy person per annum as a minimum budget and for this purpose count SSMs as if they were stipendiary.

R2. Dioceses should focus their mandatory provision on key transitions in ministry and make full use of collaborative possibilities in regions to deliver this.

R3. Dioceses should review their arrangements for CMD for all licensed ministers with regard to:

• the nature of present CMD provision to ensure that this is related to ministers’ present and future vocational development in the context of the diocese’s mission priorities.
• the structure of their funding to enhance the accessibility of development opportunities, e.g. should a self-supporting minister receive a greater allocation than a stipendiary one, e.g. to compensate for loss of earnings whilst attending mandatory training or to pay for childcare to enable equality of access? Indeed, if collaborative ministry is a goal, when does learning only become possible with lay participation, and who pays if they’re not licensed ministers?
• their arrangements for developing and delivering CMD provision within the region, with Higher Education partners, and, with the national network of practitioners.

R4. Dioceses should review their arrangements for MDR provision with regard to the Interim Ministerial Development Review Guidance, produced by the CMD Panel, and the consultation days designed to support the training of those involved in conducting reviews, to ensure that they support learning and development.

R5. Dioceses should review how all with a responsibility for development are collaborating with a regard to ensuring that knowledge about who may be best placed to support particular learning is shared and that less formal learning is made use of and recognised.

R6. Dioceses should review their overall CMD provision with regard to ensuring that adequate attention is paid to new posts, mid and late-ministry. And, if operating a leadership development programme its role and adequacy to deliver in these areas.

R7. Dioceses should review their particular CMD provision with regard to addressing any weaknesses in the following areas:

• Diversity issues
• Confidence and competence in the occasional offices
• Adult education

R8. Dioceses should review the arrangements they have in place with regard to enabling them to make ‘capable’ appointments, and enhance these if necessary.

R9. Bishop’s staffs should review what arrangements they have in place to communicate with their CMD leads with regard to ensuring that these enable all to be fully conversant with mission and ministry, development and deployment priorities, particularly in the context of MDR.

R10. Dioceses should revisit the Mind the Gap report and review whether they have a ministry development plan that addresses questions of future patterns of ministry and deployment. If they have no plan they should put one in place.

R11. Dioceses ensure that all those in CMD roles have clear role descriptions and when new to post take up offers of induction, mentoring and opportunities to obtain formal qualifications in the field of learning and development.

R.12 Dioceses should review what strategies they have in place to identify and develop individuals who may take on CMD roles in the future.

The report from which these recommendations come was based on a review of national provision conducted between April and August 2008. Three questionnaires were sent out to all dioceses in order to assist this review. These went to all diocesan bishops (28 responses), those with a lead responsibility for continuing ministerial development in each diocese (36 complete responses), and finally to the practitioners who were responsible for its development and delivery (50 responses). Preliminary results of these surveys were reflected on at the National Continuing Ministerial Education Consultation in July 2008 and in conversations with individual officers and bishops, some form of contact has been made with all dioceses.

If you would like further details of the questionnaires or the full data analysis carried out on the practitioners’ questionnaire please contact the National Adviser for Continuing Ministerial Development, Dr Tim Ling, tim.ling@c-of-e.org.uk.