The Diocese of Southwark
Initial Ministerial Education Phase 2 Training Handbook
2015/2016
Introduction
In January 2015, the House of Bishops agreed new Formational Criteria to be used not only in the selection of those being trained for ordained ministry, but also in their assessment at the end of IME Phase 1 (years 1-3) and at the end of IME Phase 2 (years 4-7) and thus the end of curacy.
This change, together with my appointment in the Diocese of Southwark as Director of Ministry and Training, with delegated responsibility from the Bishop for IME Phase 2, has led to a significant revision of this handbook.
I hope that it is clear, helpful and informative and will enable both curates and training incumbents to build a shared understanding of their roles and their responsibilities, particularly in terms of written reports, assignments and the portfolio.
The use of a portfolio system is now widespread in the Church of England and enables curates to build up a picture of their formation through the period of their curacy. It is both a formational tool - helping with learning along the way - and an assessment tool providing evidence of disposition, knowledge and skills.
I am very much looking forward to working with the gifted curates, incumbents and clergy who support training in the diocese, in the year ahead. Our aspiration is continually to improve all aspects of training in the diocese, through feedback and dialogue. In this spirit I welcome the considered reflection of both curates and training incumbents on the overall process and on individual elements of the programme.
Mandy Ford
Contents
PageImportant Information / 1
Introduction / 3
Training Incumbents Dates / 7
Additional Information / 8
Supervision / 11
The Programme Overview / 17
The Portfolio / 21
Assignments / 23
Assessment of Curacy / 25
Milestones / 27
The Formational Criteria / 29
Dates for 2015-2016 / 51
Appendix A Skills Check List / 53
Appendix B Sample Reports
1. Supervision report
2. Supervisor’s check list
3. Sermon report
4. Church warden’s Report
5. Incumbents Report IME 4 (recommendation for priests ordination)
6. Incumbents Report IME 5 (progress report)
7. Incumbents Report IME 6 (final report) / 63
Appendix C Resources
1. Learning Styles
2. Reflective Practice
3. Book List / 79
Important Information
Key Personnel
Note: job titles are under revision at the time of going to press, so please be ready for an update on this page!
Director of Ministry and Training
Canon Dr Mandy Ford
Assistant Director of Ministry and Training
Dr Nick Shepherd
Administrator for Ministry and Training
Sue Maree until 30 July 2015
Area Directors of Initial Ministerial Education (ADIMEs)
Woolwich Area
Rev Anna Macham
Rev Jonathan Macy
Croydon Area
Rev Anita Colpus
Rev Simon Foster
Kingston Area
Rev Deborah Matthews
Rev Richard Sewell
Jargon Busting
IME Phase 2
Initial Ministerial Education Phase 2 describes ministerial education during curacy. Some Training Incumbents will remember this as IME 4-7 or even POT (Post-Ordination Training).
Formational Criteria
These are the nationally agreed guidelines by which curates are assessed at the end of their curacy. They were agreed by the House of Bishops in December 2014.
Learning Agreement
Curates and Training Incumbents are asked to complete a learning agreement prior to the start of the curacy, which will set the expectations for the first part of training. This will be reviewed after 9 months.
NSM
Non-Stipendiary Ministers. This is the preferred terminology for those clergy who are not paid a stipend, who may include those in full time secular employment or chaplaincy, or those able to support themselves, for example in retirement. We no longer use the term “honorary” to describe curates or assistant clergy.
Introduction
Southwark IME intends to enable curates to mature in ministerial character, being formed into the likeness of Christ for the service of God’s people. This will also involve gaining ministerial competence and growing in ministerial knowledge.
The majority of IME Phase 2 will take place in the parish, as the curate begins to acquire the skills of ministry and reflects on them with his or her training incumbent. This reflection will particularly take place in regular supervision sessions, which the curate will record as evidence for their portfolio.
Additionally, the curate will attend the IME Phase 2 Programme arranged by the Diocese, which includes Biblical reading and further opportunity for reflection. The programme is intended to supplement training in the parish to ensure that curates receive a wide range of opportunities that fulfill the Ministry Division Formational Criteria. Teaching and learning on IME Phase 2 days is delivered by the team in the Department of Ministry and Training together with experienced parish clergy and church officers. The experience that many curates bring to the diocese is also valued and, where appropriate, curates may be asked to lead sessions.
Curates will be expected to write two assignments of 2,000 to 2,500 words in the first and third years of their curacy, and three assignments in the second. These will be added to the portfolio and will be used, together with reports from training incumbents, in the final assessment of curacy.
Each of these things is described in more detail below.
Parish IME
A title curate should expect experience of the full breadth of parish ministry, receiving regular supervision with the training incumbent, and participating in a supportive training relationship. The Learning Agreement will outline many of the parameters and expectations that frame a title curacy.
In our rapidly changing world, as the church seeks to proclaim the gospel afresh to each generation, those embarking on public ministry need to be equipped to respond to God’s call in flexible and responsive ways, while being always faithful to the gospel. For this reason, ministerial formation embraces all aspects of Christian living, including prayerful reflection on ministry. One of the gifts that training incumbents and curates are given is the opportunity to share and grow in this task together.
Learning in the title parish will not only come from the training incumbent. Curates will also learn, for example, from lay and ordained authorised ministers in parish and deanery, from others engaged in Christian leadership and ministry, and from those among whom they minister.
Area IME
Each Area Bishop appoints one or more Area Directors of IME to support those serving their titles. ADIMEs are incumbents in the same Episcopal Area as the title parish. The ADIME will meet new curates in July, and then three times a year with all the curates in their Area. In addition to this, they review the Learning Agreement at six and eighteen months with curate and incumbent. They are also available to curates should all seem not well in the curacy. Attendance at these meetings is part of training and should be seen as a priority. Where possible these dates are included in the diary on p 57.
The Director of Ministry and Training works closely with the ADIMEs, and curates should expect that the DMT and the ADIMEs will normally share information, at least in outline.
Diocesan IME
The Director of Ministry and Training coordinates IME Phase 2 provision and is responsible for the assessment of curates on behalf of the Bishop.
Attendance at IME Phase 2 is normative and expected. Curates who need to be absent from IME must notify the Administrator/ IME Co-coordinator (see Important Information at the beginning of this Handbook for details), who administrates IME, with the reason for absence.
Diocesan IME Phase 2 provision takes place on the second Thursday in the month from October to July, inclusively, unless this falls in Holy Week or Easter Week. Curates who are training full time should expect to attend between 9.00am and 4.30pm. The day will always include Morning and Evening Prayer, and time for Bible reading and reflective practice in year groups.
All first year curates will be required to attend a day on Safeguarding, and at least one day of reflection with their incumbents, in addition to the regular Thursday sessions.
In September, following ordination to the diaconate, both training incumbents and curates will be invited to meet the DMT, who will outline the provision for IME Phase 2 and explain the portfolio process
A diary is included on p 57. Your IME Programme will be given to you as a separate document.
IME Provision for Non-Stipendiary Curates
We recognize that those who have been selected for assistant status and those whose ministry will be non-stipendiary will be offering a range of differently shaped ministries: some whose focus will be in their place of work – sometimes referred to as Ministers in Secular Employment, and others who may eventually take up incumbent posts in a non-stipendiary capacity, and that they bring a very wide range of professional and personal skills to the role.
For this reason, training will be flexible and tailored to individual needs whenever possible. It will be possible, for those who wish, to join the full time cohort and complete a curacy within 30 months. However, most part-time curates will need a genuine part-time programme as outlined below.
Those training part time will be offered a menu of options for their Diocesan IME Phase 2. The provision will depend on the needs of the cohort. However, it is important to ensure that the provision for those training part time does not take a disproportionate amount of their committed ministry time, and for this reason, they will normally be expected to attend 50% of the formal sessions over three years, and to complete the written requirements over four years.
Provision for part-time or nsm curates, training for associate clergy status, may include afternoon, evening or Saturday sessions.
Training Incumbents: dates for your diary
Training incumbents training residential / 15 – 17 June 2015Introductory day for curates and training incumbents / 10 Sept 2015
Follow up day for curates and training incumbents / Sat 30 Jan 2016
6 month review with Area Director of IME / Feb/Mar 2016
IME 4 Report (see Appendix) / Fri 29 April 2016
Dates of Priests ordinations / Sat 2 July 2016
18 month review with Area Director of IME / Feb/Mar 2017
IME 5 Report (see Appendix) / Fri 28 April 2017
IME 6 Report (see Appendix) / Fri 24 Feb 2017
Additional Information
Spiritual Direction and Confession
In order not to confuse the role of the training incumbent as supervisor, curates should not act as spiritual directors or confessors until they have served three years in holy orders. This applies equally to the beginning of such ministry and to the continuation of a spiritual direction ministry begun prior to ordination.
Pregnancy and parental Leave
Arrangements for pregnancy and parental leave will be dealt with on a case by case basis, taking into account the guidance in “How Long is a Curacy” and the diocesan guidance on parental leave.
Two things are likely to be affected by parental leave: the timing of ordination to the priesthood, and the length of a curacy.
Where parental leave is such as to extend the length of a stipendiary curacy beyond four years, the diocese will take a view with regard to the provision of a stipend and housing for a further three months only.
Dealing with problems
If the incumbent and curate are unhappy about anything, they should speak with one another first and attempt to resolve the difficulty. Honesty in a working relationship is vital and has to be developed over time. If difficulties cannot be resolved by them, this should first be discussed with the ADIME, and then, if necessary, with the DMT.
If appropriate, matters may be referred to the Archdeacon or the Area Bishop. Should the curate need advice about his or her legal position, he or she should, in the first instance, consult the Bishop’s Chaplain.
Curacy during a vacancy
If it becomes clear that the training incumbent is unable to complete the supervision of a curacy, whether through illness or appointment to another role, the Director of Ministry and Training should be informed at the earliest possible opportunity. She will liaise with the Area Bishop to identify a suitable person to supervise the curate, and will ensure that they are properly prepared for, and understand, the role and responsibilities they are taking on.
There should be no change in the local arrangements for supervision (for example, supervision transferred from the Team Rector to the Team Vicar) without consultation with the DDO and the DMT, and proper training and preparation for the transition and the new supervisor.
Supervision
Defining Supervision
Supervision in our context should be understood as a structured and purposeful conversation, through which the training incumbent and curate reflect together on the curate’s practice and discern possibilities for the development and enhancement of their ministry.
Prior to receiving a curate training incumbents will be given experience in the skills of supervision and models of reflective practice to assist them in this task.
Supervision is not primarily evaluation or assessment, but a tool in formation.
The Practice of Supervision
Timing
Supervision must be regular, and happen with appropriate frequency. For a stipendiary curate, or an NSM curate working more than three days per week in the parish, supervision should initially be fortnightly. For NSMs remaining in full time employment the pattern will depend on available time, but again it must be regular, and should initially be no less frequent than monthly, and later not less than every four to six weeks. It is strongly recommended that supervision sessions happen at a regular time, or that they are put in the diary at the beginning of the curacy for the whole of the first year.