Ministerial Development Review consultants gathered at Foxhill to share experiences in supporting clergy Ministerial Development Reviews, and to engage in further training facilitated by Emily Dean.
Since restarting in September last year, the MDR scheme has seen 165 clergy begin their MDR journey with a meeting either with a Consultant or with one of our Suffragan Bishops. MDR consultants provide a confidential and structured space for clergy to focus on the fruits and challenges of their ministries, and to identify priorities for their own development in the year ahead. MDR Consultants are volunteers drawn from clergy and laity, and bringing clerical and secular experience and expertise to their role.
All licensed clergy are expected to participate in MDR (and those with freehold are invited to do so) as part of their accountability to the wider church for their share in the ministry of Christ.
MDR is designed to provide a place for clergy to reflect and prioritise, to seek specific support or development opportunities, and to offer their particular strengths for wider benefit. It allows a space for the successes of ministry to be celebrated - in the everyday encounters and quiet pastoral moments as well as the initiatives among schools, parish development, with those mourning, among those with particular needs and in many other areas.
The MDR process is also providing data on the key issues that clergy are facing today, with recurrent themes of the pressure of work, conflict, financial and building concerns, and the struggles of finding the necessary volunteer officers to keep parishes fully functioning in our mission to the people of this diocese.
Ian Arch (Bishop's Adviser for Ministerial Development) said, "We are so thankful for the care and insight our MDR Consultants offer to clergy, and for the wealth of experience and skill that they bring. The MDR process is one small part of the support clergy need as they follow God's call, and as they bear significant burdens for God's people."