DDO Handbook Section 9

Ordained Local Ministry

Contents of this Section:

Stranger in the Wings

A report on Local Non-Stipendiary Ministry, called Stranger in the Wings, published by ABM in 1998 says that, “Ordained Local Ministry is part of the ministry of Christ which he shares with all baptised members of the Church. Those called to this ministry by the local church need to have made the calling their own. For its effective operation, Ordained Local Ministry requires the local church’s commitment to shared ministry, including the collaboration of local church leaders, ordained and lay. It is a development in ministry open to parishes and candidates of all social backgrounds.”         

Training on an OLM Scheme

Candidates for whom it is envisaged that they will be deployed locally and who will train on a Diocesan OLM scheme attend a Bishops’ Selection Advisory Panel in the same way as any other candidate. 

Sponsoring procedures

The same procedures should be followed as for any other candidate.  However, Sponsoring Papers should be accompanied by the following additional paperwork:

• PCC Resolution.  The Incumbent and Parochial or District Church Council should confirm that the future ordained local ministry offered by the candidate is acceptable to them. Such confirmation should be in the form of a PCC Resolution accompanied by a note of the voting figures.
• Parish Profile. This should include a description of the parish, details of main spheres of church activity and a description of the current ministry team and collaborative setting and the context of the wider community. When rural parishes are moving towards pastoral reorganisation, the 'local' context of a candidate's proposed ministry may not be sufficiently well defined. It is therefore important for Bishops’ Advisers to have a clear view of the future of each benefice.
• Job Description.  This should be agreed by the OLM Officer, Incumbent, parish and candidate (in the absence of a current Incumbent, it may be appropriate to involve the Area/Rural Dean). This may, in some instances, be carefully worked out and articulated in some detail. In other instances, there may be merely an outline of the sphere of ministry anticipated. However, in all cases, the Job Description should give some indication that the local church is committed 'to shared ministry, including the collaboration of local church leaders, ordained and lay' [ABM Policy Paper No.1 p.37].  The Job Description should identify the number of hours to be worked each week by the candidate, a description of responsibilities for leading worship, and provide details of other ministerial activities to be undertaken. Information should also be given regarding proposals for ministerial supervision.
• Diocesan Scheme.  Bishops’ Advisers should be provided with sufficient information about the Diocesan Scheme to enable them to assess whether the candidates' profiles and job descriptions are consistent with the Scheme's aims and objectives particularly in the areas of training, assessment and deployment. An extract of relevant parts of the Scheme may be appropriate. If a candidate is already in training, a note of the stage reached should be included.

The Criteria for Selection

The Criteria for Selection are the same for all candidates who attend a Bishops’ Advisory Panel.  However, it is important that in the discernment process, note is taken of the focus of the ministry to which that call is addressed. The process seeks to discern in a candidate that which has been identified locally - a vocation to serve and a vocation to stay - recognising that in Ordained Local Ministry the vocation of the individual should not be separate from the vision of the parish.

Bishops’ Advisers will need to be satisfied on the usual questions, as for other candidates, but bearing in mind the differences between Ordained Local Ministry and other forms of ministry. This means that they will be particularly concerned to have information in the following areas:

Criterion A - Vocation: OLM may come essentially from the calling out of the local church, which the candidate has made their own. You will need to be assured that the candidate has thought deeply about entering ordained ministry over a period of time and that the vocation first suggested by others has become an inner reality.

Criterion C - Spirituality:OLM requires a spiritual stability that is different from the kind of flexibility required of those whose ministry is expected to be mobile. The candidate should be practised and regular in personal prayer as well as in attendance at their local church.

Criterion F - Leadership: A candidate is being selected for their own particular local community. An OLM will not be an incumbent but will nevertheless have to exercise some leadership role within the local congregation, and possibly, to some extent, within the local community. Length of residence in an area is an important consideration in assessing this quality.

Criterion F - Collaboration: Candidates will need to be flexible and able to work under the authority of the incumbent of the time. An incumbent may change several times in the ministerial 'life' of an OLM. Older OLMs will need to display a willingness to work with an incumbent younger, and perhaps less experienced, than themselves, and the flexibility in being willing to adapt to a whole range of activities. The ability to work alone in certain situations and to make hard decisions is necessary even when the emphasis is on a collaborative form of ministry.

Criterion I -Quality of Mind:For OLM the training in ministerial preparation and the intellectual demands of ministry are different from other forms of ordained ministry. However, those who offer for OLM are expected to speak with clarity and commonsense about their faith. They must also have the capacity to benefit from the course of training approved by the House of Bishops.