I Thanks to Nick Shepherd’s excellent Friday Mailing I recently came across this November 2018 paper “Reimagining Ministerial Formation” by David Heywood, Deputy Director of Ministry (Ministerial Formation) in the Diocese of Oxford. A quick summary is below as the document is 91 pages. If you have the time, the whole paper is well worth … More Reimagining Ministerial Formation
The Diocese of Oxford has published a Flourishing in Ministry resource: the booklet is available to download from their website. In announcing the booklet they say that the section of their website covering this will have further sources of inspiration and support. They also plan to publish some guidance for churchwardens and laity. This … More Flourishing in ministry – the key thing is to talk with someone you trust, don’t bottle it up.
“We don’t travel well…” – this is one of the characteristics that rural church communities often acknowledge about themselves. It may be acceptable to drive to the nearest large supermarket, but going to a neighbouring village to worship in a different church… that’s a whole other thing… I was musing about how this is so … More Church on tour?
The following are extracts taken from this Devon Churches Rural Forum post and the resources it links to. “The Diocese of Auckland has a model of “Local Shared Ministry”. This idea is apparently around two decades old in its application. It draws from the work of of African missionary, Roland Allen, who said “every congregation … More Local Shared Ministry – some ideas from Auckland, New Zealand
Still in some minds the uber-model for Anglican rural ministry, George Herbert was born in Wales in 1593 and spent only 3 years of his life as a parish priest. He also packed into his 39 years a stint as an MP and a period as an academic as well as the poetry and the … More If you meet George Herbert on the road…
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Below this summary is some background on the programme, some ideas from it that maybe implementable without the substantial funding the Salisbury Programme has, and a bit more detail on each of its 5 strands. The programme’s substantial funding is from the Diocese and Church Commissioners. The 5 strands are: Rural placements for … More Salisbury Diocese’s Rural Ministry & Mission Programme – a summary
Just back from an excellent few days reflecting on what it means to lead churches in a rural context. The Germinate Leadership course from Germinate: the Arthur Rank Centre is an 18-month programme that “combines leadership theory, theological reflection on the nature of leadership in ministry, the development of co-consultancy groups and practical leadership issues … More Seedtime
The following summary is based on this ” Oversight Ministry: What we have learnt ” website article from March 2017 and a response to it by David Heywood Director of Pastoral Studies at Ripon College Cuddesdon. For the original article Dr Jonathan Rowe, Director of Ministry, was asked what had been learnt from a national conference on … More Oversight ministry – insights from a conference and some research
This video of Michael Volland’s 2016 Germinate lecture on entrepreneurs in rural church leadership is well worth a look. Here’s a summary of his top 10 tips and then a quick tour through the video if you don’t have time to watch all 50 minutes. Top 10 Tips for Rural Church Entrepreneurs 1. Think of … More Entrepreneurs in rural church leadership – 10 tips & headlines from a lecture
