Training in the Chaplaincy
Setting up the Curacy
Training Incumbents for stipendiary curates are identified through consultations between the Diocesan Bishop, the Suffragan Bishop, the Archdeacon, the DDO, the IME 2 Officer (DDMD).
The financial circumstances of the chaplaincy, and equally important the chaplain’s expertise as a training incumbent, as well as the ability of the chaplaincy to offer the training environment and variety of ministry required for a successful curacy are carefully considered when selecting a training incumbent and a training post.
A series of meetings initiate the setting up of the curacy, involving the DDO, the potential training incumbent, the ordinand, the DDMD (IME 2 Officer) and the Diocesan Secretary, whose involvement from an early stage is essential because the financial and legal circumstances of setting up curacies vary greatly in different countries on Continental Europe.
The Terms and Conditions of Service is introduced at this stage and will be referred to in detail later in the process of planning the curacy.
The prospective curate is invited to visit the chaplaincy, preferably more than once.
With the agreement for the curacy to go ahead the following procedure is followed.
The Training Incumbent and the Curate
Copies of the Formation Framework for IME2 Priestly Ministry in the Church of England and the Diocese in Europe IME Phase 2 Handbook will be sent to the training incumbent and the prospective assistant curate.
A preliminary joint meeting of the new training incumbents and prospective assistant curates with the DDO and the DDMD takes place in October of the year prior to the Petertide ordinations.
At this meeting the IME 2 Handbook is introduced and the national and diocesan expectations of a curacy are outlined. Details of setting up the Working Agreement (Learning/Work Agreement) and the Training Plan are explained. The Training Plan has two interconnected aims, an annual training plan setting out specific training goals for each year of the curacy, and an all three-year training plan setting out the training goals to have been completed by the end of the curacy. Training incumbents and curates are referred to the IME 2 Handbook (Formation Framework, Part 1, Section 3) and will also, as a tool for reference, receive a Training Plan Template/ example of a previous Training Plan used in the IME2 Programme. Training expectations and the process of training on chaplaincy and diocesan levels are explained, such as the shape of the residential IME2 course and online training seminars, and the diocesan requirement for experience of wider ecclesial ministry, particularly placements in other parishes or ministry contexts.
The Terms and Conditions of Service and the timing for completing this document will be explained.
Following the joint meeting, individual meetings between training incumbent, curate, the DDO and the DDMD take place over the next approximately six months as plans for the curacy are being finalised.
The most significant of all training relationships for the newly ordained deacon or priest is the relationship with his or her training incumbent. This relationship will influence profoundly the continuing formation and education of the new curate and the direction of his or her future ministry. It is a mutual relationship in which the curate and chaplain can help and support each other in their pilgrimage and ministry.
The success of the training relationship depends in part on the compatibility of the individuals concerned. However, it also depends on the degree of care, preparation and openness with which both approach it, and their willingness to work through any problems.
Planning Training in the Chaplaincy
There should be a continuing link between the pre-ordination training of clergy and their chaplaincy-based continuing education which should take into account the particular training needs and situation of the individual person. To facilitate this continuation, the curate’s final year IME Phase I Report will be shared with the training incumbent.
It is recognised that working conditions differ between stipendiary and SSM/non-stipendiary clergy and that SSM/non-stipendiary ministry includes those whose ministry is based wholly in the chaplaincy and those who are in secular employment. However, all newly ordained clergy are ordained to a ‘title’ post and are thus in a training relationship with their training incumbents/chaplains.
The Working Agreement
In all cases the new assistant curate and training incumbent should together, and in consultation with the DDMD, complete the drawing up of a Working Agreement and a Training Plan (Part III, Sections 9 and 10 in the IME2 Handbook).
The documents should be finalised and sent to the DDMD with copy to the Suffragan Bishop (Chair of the Ministry Team) no later than eight weeks before ordination. The documents could usefully be re-visited approximately six months into the curacy. Both documents should be revised and sent to the Suffragan Bishop (Chair of the Ministry Team) and the Diocesan Director of Ministerial Development well in advance of the end of the diaconal year, before ordination to the priesthood. The same applies to continuing deacons completing their first year of ordained ministry.
The Working Agreement is crucial because it sets out clear mutual expectations. Lack of clarity about expectations is often a major source of problems. The document covers matters of housing and maintenance, days off, holidays, study time, retreats, the priority of training commitments, attendance at daily worship, frequency of preaching and preaching reviews, staff meetings, supervision sessions between the curate and training incumbent, specific responsibilities within and beyond the chaplaincy, relationships with the chaplaincy council, expenses and allowances.
The Training Plan
The Training Plan forms the other part of the overall curacy learning and training plan, and the two documents, the Working Agreement and the Training Plan, are intricately connected. The Training Plan should be drawn up by the training incumbent and curate at the beginning of the diaconal year and revised annually to reflect the goals for training set out in the Formation Framework (Part I, Section 3). It should be signed by both training incumbent and curate and a copy should be sent to the DDMD.
The Training Plan outlines the specific areas of training and ministerial development to be covered in the chaplaincy in the forthcoming year as well as the training goals that must be fulfilled by the end of the curacy, goals on which the curate and training incumbent are asked formally to agree. The Training Plan requires careful preparation and long-term planning since it contains the substance of the work to be delivered and the training expectations that need to be fulfilled by both parties in the training relationship before a curate can be ‘signed off’ and, along with the Working Agreement, amounts to a professional contract signed by both. The expected goals for training in each of the years of the curacy are shown in the Formation Framework (Part I, Section 3) The Working Agreement and Training Plan are crucial in shaping the entire curacy.
The Training Plan must be drawn up after close consideration of the following:
- The material covered during initial training at a theological college or course, together with experience gained prior to initial training. These should both suggest particular areas for further development.
- The ‘Worklist for Training’ (Part II Section 7). This is a detailed catalogue of the areas of training and experience which might be covered in the early years of ministry. It is a guide or checklist that can help in assessing areas of competency and in highlighting personal priorities. Some of the points may not be relevant to the curate’s or chaplaincy’s particular situation. It is offered as a tool to help reflection and planning. It should not be submitted as part of the Training Plan.
The Training Plan, like the Working Agreement, should be submitted to the Diocesan Director of Ministerial Development at least eight weeks before ordination to the diaconate. The DDMD serves as a consultant to the training incumbent and curate and may offer advice in terms of changes or amendments to both documents.
Towards the end of the diaconal year the training incumbent and curate are asked to review the first year of training. This should include a review of the Working Agreement and the Training Plan.
The curate will be asked to write a ‘Letter of Reflection on the First Year of Ordained Ministry’ to the bishop and the training incumbent is asked to write a report for the bishop on ‘The Curate’s First Year of Ordained Ministry’ (both documents copied to the Diocesan Director of Ministerial Development). These documents form part of the assessment of the curate’s readiness to proceed to ordination to the priesthood. The documents should be sent to the bishop approximately eight weeks before ordination to the priesthood. For continuing deacons, a similar assessment of ministerial development takes place at the time of the first anniversary of their ordination.
The new Training Plan and any modifications to the Working Agreement should be sent to the Director of Ministerial Development at least six weeks after ordination to the priesthood; for continuing deacons within six weeks of the anniversary of their ordination. The process of reviewing the Working Agreement and adjusting the Training Plan takes place annually in the period of the curacy.
Regular Supervision Sessions between Curate and Training Incumbent
It is crucial for the formation and ministerial development of the curate that regular supervision sessions take place with the training incumbent once every two weeks, more often if needed It is also important for the curate to be included in meetings involving all the staff of the chaplaincy, particularly meetings where ministry strategy is considered.
Supervision may centre on a piece of work (such as a sermon), but should also involve opportunity for wider exchange and reflection when the curate and training incumbent can share perceptions about progress being made, both in general terms and in terms of The Training Plan. The approach required for this process to work effectively has been described as including the ability and the willingness:
- to listen
- to own one’s own feelings
- to be open to different personal circumstances and ways of working
- to be able to enter into the feelings and thoughts of others
- to create a supportive relationship
- to ask open questions, and to be genuinely interested
- to be sensitive to where the other is ‘at’
- to be patient
- to recognise the significance of resistance
- to acknowledge and use the process going on in supervision
- to see the positive value in making mistakes.
Supervision during a Vacancy
Particular circumstances arise when a training incumbent leaves the chaplaincy during the curate’s training or is absent for an extended period of time. In this event it is important to ensure that continuing support and training are made available. It is the responsibility of the Diocesan Director of Ministerial Development, in consultation with the Chair of the Ministry Team and the Archdeacon, to seek to ensure that this happens. Usually an Interim Training Incumbent will be appointed to guide and supervise the curate through the period of vacancy.
End-of-Curacy Review
Towards the end of year three or in the course of year four there will be an overall assessment of the priest’s or deacon’s curacy measured against the Church of England’s Formation Framework for Ordained Ministry (Part I, Section 3) in the form of an End of Curacy Review. This will usually be conducted by the Diocesan Director of Ministerial Development; in exceptional circumstances by the Chair of the Ministry Team (the Suffragan Bishop) or a senior diocesan officer designated by the Chair of the Ministry Team.
The End-of-Curacy Review is a review of the entire curacy in the form of a meeting between the DDMD and the curate over a whole morning or afternoon. In preparation for the Review, training incumbent and curate are each asked to fill in extensive forms, documenting the training and ministerial development of the curate over the years of the curacy. The assessment of the curate’s formation, training and ministerial development is measured against the level of competence expected at the completion of IME2, as set out in the Formation Framework for Ordained Ministry in the Church of England (Part I, Section 3).
The training incumbent is asked to write a report on the curacy, to accompany the completed forms for the End-of-Curacy Review, covering the ministry of the curate overall and make recommendations as to the direction and scope of the curate’s future ministry. This is particularly important when curates are expected to move directly into a post of responsibility/incumbency/lead a church in mission.
The curate is also required to write a paper reflecting on her/his formational and ministerial development in the first three years of ordained ministry. The curate will also include a report on his/her placement in another context of ministry which will have taken place in the course of the curacy.
Stipendiary curates preparing for a post of responsibility/incumbency/lead a church in mission, the paper must specifically take into account what aspects of their curacy training will have prepared them for the next stage in ministry and how they envisage making use of skills learned when they move to a ministry of greater responsibility and greater autonomy.
Upon the successful completion of the End-of-Curacy Review, the DDMD writes a report to the bishop confirming that the curate has fulfilled the curacy training goals and is ready to complete the curacy and move on to his/her next appointment.
The report, in the form of a letter, is sent to the Diocesan Bishop, the Suffragan Bishop (Chair of the Ministry Team), the Curate, the Training Incumbent, the Diocesan Appointments Secretary, and is placed on the curate’s permanent ministry file (“blue file”).
Follow Up Review
A retrospective process for measuring the success of the curacy and the IME2 Programme is being implemented for curates completing IME2 from 2023. The aim is a process for assessing the curate’s preparation and readiness for their first incumbency/next post and how their training in the chaplaincy and their learning and formation in the Diocesan IME Phase 2 Programme have equipped them for ministry after curacy training.
Towards the end of the curacy, in the transition of taking up a post of greater responsibility and in the first period of the new appointment (this can vary in length), the former curate is linked up with a Mentor, an experienced priest whose ministry in some way resonates with that of the newly appointed priest. The mentoring process is one of mutual reflecting and the sharing of experience as well as advice and practical assistance relating to the particular context of the newly arrived priest’s situation. This could be help in addressing particular and local situations, important in Europe as there are considerable local, regional and national variances in ministry.
It is envisaged that the formal arrangement of mentoring end after the first year of the new ministry and that a Panel be formed, consisting of the new incumbent, the Mentor, the DDMD and one or two persons appropriate to the incumbent’s context, to discern together with the new incumbent if specific further training could helpfully have been part of the preparation for taking on the post of responsibility/lead a church in mission/incumbency. This process can ensure that a ‘top up’ of additional skills for ministry are made available for the new incumbent, if needed, while identifying possible additional areas of training that could be included in the IME 2 Programme.