MDR07-11 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND THE DIOCESE OF HEREFORD Ministerial Development Review MDR Preparing for MDR What MDR offers: An opportunity to receive support for your ministry: The reviewer is there to hear about your ministry, help you establish clearer appreciation of its strengths and areas needing development. A structure for undertaking discerning reflection on your ministry each year: This requirement of you, priorities each year time to step back and reflect on your ministry, reflecting on its and discerning God s leading for you. An agenda for your ongoing development: The goals set through the review provide a clear agenda set for your ongoing development that is recognised and affirmed by the Diocese. Approaching MDR: WYGODOWYPI What you get out depends on what you put in! Giving good focussed time and energy to preparing for your review will enable you to gain most benefit from the process. Listening to God One of the best ways of benefitting from MDR is to see it as a discernment process: Listening for God s leading as you reflect on your ministry, and seeking to respond to it. So through all the stages of the process, it can be helpful to remember this and pray for assistance and guidance. God s Gaze Processes that involve some sort of appraisal of ministry can, depending on the person, arouse senses of inadequacy and being found out or arrogance I don t need this. It is often helpful when one finds oneself reacting in either of these ways to remember that we are under the loving and compassionate gaze of God, and to seek to receive this grace of God with gratitude and humility. Your Call and Journey Remember the story of your call to ordained ministry. Bring to mind the sense of call, any vision for it and any subsequent developments in your understanding of your call and vision for ministry. How does your ministry today look in the light of this? Looking at the reality of your ministry today Seek to look openly and honestly at the reality of your ministry. Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you to do this.
Brainstorm Taking a sheet of paper, take time to list the many aspects of your ministry. Don t try to organise them at this stage just to get them all on the paper. It is helpful to breakdown big areas of ministry (say worship) into the particular aspects (for worship this may involve the types of services, the different congregations etc). This may be a task that is best done over several sessions even have the sheet on your study wall for a week, adding things as you become aware of them. It can be helpful to look over your diary over the last few months, identifying the different aspects and tasks. Also any documentation regarding your ministry statement of particulars, APCM reports you have produced, vision statements Sort - Use perspectives Once you have as much as you think you can bring, it time to try and bring some coherence to your list through grouping and sorting. The appendices offer several ways in which the aspects of a person in ministry could sort, analyse and reflect. These include: Up, In, Out based on Christ s summary of the law The Ordinal using the 8 commitments in the ordination Creative Ministry Henri Nouwen s five dimensions of ministry C of E assessment criteria for potential incumbents Each of these offers different ways of analysing the dimensions of the life and work of a minister. They are offered as ways in for you, in so far as they are helpful and relevant. Use whichever you wish, or any other perspectives that you may have found helpful. Having chosen your way of analysing all the aspects, give some time to group and sort them accordingly. Discerning In the review there is clearly not sufficient time to explore every aspect of your ministry so some discerning needs to be done in order to focus on the most significant aspects to reflect on. As you do this, pray to be open to the Spirit s promptings to guide you to the things to bring to review. Taking each grouping in turn, reflect on them and, in relation to your sense of your ministry and its ongoing development, determine for yourself how significant it is, in terms of how fulfilling or challenging you find it. Identify the aspects within the grouping that make it significant. It is these aspects that you can enter into the Self-Review Form, identifying the level of priority that they have for you, and the outcomes that you expect from them. 2
Outcomes from the Review What sorts of outcomes might one expect from the review process? Below is a fairly rough and ready list of things that seem reasonable to expect to emerge from the process. Personal Relationships: Affirmation or reminder of giving time and attention to friendships, family etc Boundary issues: Having clear off-duty times where you, and your personal and family life and commitments have priority Supports: Recognition of the need for a range of supportive structures and activities for your ongoing personal well being and development. Working Life Areas needing additional study / input / guidance / training Adjusting priorities of important but not urgent matters eg planning, reading, Areas of competency that could be shared with others Need to explore moving on from current post Need for Study Leave (sabbatical) Ongoing issues that need further support from Diocese / Archdeacon & Bishops Need for conversation or other communication with Diocesan Officials, Archdeacons or Bishops. Spiritual Life Affirmation and encouragement in maintaining the place of prayer, creativity, study, relaxation and refreshment Journeying with God: Prayer, Retreat, Pilgrimage Spiritual Accompaniment Outcomes for the Diocese A clear structured process for enabling its clergy to remain reflective and attentive to their practice of ministry and its ongoing development A process for identifying areas of expertise and giftings and development needs of the clergy, so that it can be more responsive to them. Information that can better inform the planning of CMD provision Annual direct contact between the clergy and the CMD Officer. Nick Helm CMD Officer July 2011 3
Perspectives to aid reflection on Ministry UP OUT IN Mark 12.28-31 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, Of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' (UP) The second is this: 'Love your neighbour (OUT) as yourself (IN).' There is no commandment greater than these. Looking at your own life and ministry, place the different elements, activities etc on this diagram. UP OUT After you have done look at the overall picture. How do you feel about what it is showing you? IN 4
The Ordinal Will you? By the help of God, I will 5
Creative Ministry Henri Nouwen 5 dimensions to ministry Preaching From retelling the story to entering personal darkness to find the light of God Teaching From transference of knowledge to personal transformation through learning Pastoral Care From a skilful response to faithful presence to suffering Celebrating From the protective ritual to offering self in serving God and celebrating his gift of freedom Organising From the manipulation of structures to continuous searching for structures in which there is lasting peace and unity 6
Church of England: Assessment for Potential Incumbents identified areas of ability 7
Steven Covey adapted from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People You can apply these three points to each of the aspects of ministry that you identify in your review to think through where you are going and what might be most appropriate to aim for in the coming year. Identify your life / ministry roles What is your mission statement for each role? What are your goals for the next 12 months in each role? 8