Clergy Leadership Programme
What is the purpose of the Programme?
The purpose is to equip clergy in the diocese with the insights, skills and resources that will enable them to exercise effective and transformational leadership in God’s church. Our focus is on leadership-for-mission both for the church of today and the emerging church of the future.
Background
The Chelmsford Clergy Leadership Programme began in 2001. Our programme is built on and resourced by the national programmes offered by The Leadership Institute (TLI).
For more than a decade TLI have thrived on creating small, transitional communities that offer spiritual resting-places for the church’s emerging leadership. Clergy have come together in generosity of spirit, to re-vision what a journey to ‘a city set on a hill’ might look like.
On a CLP, theological engagement in ‘a community of practice’ happens naturally when we reflect on our present context in the light of Scripture and Gospel, the memory-wells of our church’s tradition, listening to the voices and experiences from the margins, and in renewing our spiritual life in an authentic worshipping, learning, community. New insights emerge from our mutual experience of prayer, study, dialogue and worship in a community learning to ask the questions of obedience to our calling as we re-engage with the issues of mission in our own generation.
Why is the Programme needed?
Our society and culture are rapidly changing. The whole context of ministry is radically different from what it was when most clergy undertook their theological training. Clergy are equipped as pastors and theologians but few are trained to be effective leaders.
Yet the contemporary context now requires that clergy should have the leadership skills needed to unite God’s people in forging a shared vision, and to help equip and mobilise a community for service and mission. Clergy across the spectrum of churchmanship see the need for this, but can struggle to find appropriate resources, skills and insights to enable them to exercise more effective leadership.
The CLP encourages participants to stretch the limits of their creative thinking, to re-evaluate existing structures, assumptions and methods. By the end of the programme clergy should return to their ministries with new insights and heightened confidence in their own ability to lead, not just manage, in our rapidly-changing environment.
Who is the Programme for?
The CLP is of most benefit for stipendiary clergy who:
· have the ability to learn fresh concepts and adapt to new situations and challenges
· want to increase their personal effectiveness in coping creatively with change and conflict
· are looking for new ways to balance competing roles in parish and family life
· want to develop positive models for lay leadership in the parish team
· are of incumbent status and have been in their present role for two or more years
and are not planning to move in the immediate future.
Content of the Programme
The CLP integrates in-depth residential learning with application and follow-up. It consists of three carefully integrated elements: a five-day residential component; a personal project which is developed over the following six months and a second five-day residential period.
In the residentials, we explore models of leadership which are values-based, visionary in focus, empowering in expression and participative. The best insights from the business world are subjected to theological scrutiny and considered alongside the wisdom from Scripture and church tradition (such as the Rule of St. Benedict) to form a coherent and relevant framework for Christian Leadership development today.
The first part of the programme focuses on the individual and the personal foundations for leadership, which are further developed in a project (Personal Development Plan) back in parochial ministry.
Each participant identifies and develops their own project. You will find that the first week provides ample motivation and resources to enable you to focus on developing some aspect of your leadership abilities which are vital for the future of the church. The project ensures that your learning does not gather dust, but is thoroughly digested. By putting the project into practice within the realities of your situation, the project becomes life-changing.
In the second residential period we reflect on the progress we have made through the personal projects and apply this to the challenging leadership task of parish development. The main focus of the second week is on public leadership, team building, change, conflict and power issues. The key question we will have in mind is “what does this mean for God’s mission in my context?”.
Some key issues
- How can we move from an over-busy, reactive, ‘survival mode’ of ministry to a transformational one?
- We gain insights into our strengths and weaknesses, as well as learning principles, new competences and skills that will make us more effective Christian leaders.
- What is changing? What needs to change? If the old models and paradigms are not working, what are the new ones?
- We take a global perspective, and then work out the grass-roots implications for our parishes and for ourselves.
- How can we and our congregations learn to engage creatively in a continuous process of renewal and change?
- We learn to break out of fixed destructive patterns, habits and attitudes by integrating theology, experience and action.
Finally we consider how we resource ourselves for the on-going demands of leadership through the various ways of renewal and developing a personal support network.
In summary, the Clergy Leadership Programme is
- long enough to cover a wide range of new learning;
- short enough to be manageable without major disruption to one’s ministry or parish life;
- intensive enough to learn deeply, and for changes to develop at spiritual, emotional and intellectual levels;
- far enough away for participants to be free from parochial pressures.
Timetable, Commitments, Costs and Bookings
The first week begins with lunch on Monday (week two begins at coffee time) and both finish after lunch on Friday. The daily routine is carefully crafted to integrate learning (in a variety of styles) with worship, food and free-time so that you will not leave too exhausted at the end of the week. However, do plan to take the rest of Friday off and Saturday too if you can! A typical day looks like this:
Morning Prayer
Breakfast
Bible Study
MORNING TEACHING SESSION
Midday Eucharist (Both men and women are invited to preside)
Lunch
Personal study/Free time
Afternoon Tea
AFTERNOON TEACHING SESSION / WORKSHOP
Evening Prayer
Dinner
GROUP WORK
Fellowship & relaxation
Because of the integrated nature of the process, participation in the whole of both weeks is essential. Clergy are normally expected to be residential for the whole time as it really is not possible to handle any parish business and do justice to the programme at the same time! We will do our best to handle real emergencies that would, for example, cut short a family holiday but funerals and parish meetings do not count!
The Chelmsford Clergy Leadership Programme costs £650 but because of the strategic importance of leadership training there is a large diocesan subsidy and so the charge to your personal CME grant is not the full cost.
Bookings can be made with Sue Denham, CME Administrator. Please note that all correspondence concerning the programme will be by email.
Advance Preparation
Participants will receive a more detailed programme in advance of the first week together with a CD-Rom and one or two personal assessment questionnaires to complete.
The CD-Rom provides resources and readings for the programme but advance study is not required.
What has the Programme Provided?
Here are some comments from previous participants:
- A regaining of confidence and new feeling of empowerment, real excitement at much of what I’ve seen and heard
- Lots of material and tools which I hope to implement and other prompts to re-focus my life and ministry
- A valuable course giving space for reflection, stimulating input, and very comfortable surroundings.
- Besides the formal input, the informal contact with other course members is invaluable.
- It is certainly worth working with a group in our Diocese. There is real value in meeting together afterwards to evaluate and work through the material.
- Thank you for space to reflect on my journey, help in self awareness and for opening up issues in social change and concepts in leadership.
- the course has been the most worthwhile I have ever been involved in. It was hugely enjoyable, and I learned a great amount
- it attends to the roots rather than just polishing the fruit!
- CLP helped me crystalise my thinking on how I do life and how I lead church. I have done things differently over the last two years and the results are palpable!
More Information
If you want to find out more, please contact your Area CME Adviser. Sue Denham can give you their details if necessary and can also give you names of other clergy in your locality who have completed the programme.
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Page last edited: 13/12/2007
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