SOUTH WEST MINISTRY TRAINING COURSE 

MDMI Weekend 6 2008 This weekend is very much a drawing together of the threads the first year have been working on all year.  In listening skills they will be working on what to do after you have listened - specifically the importance of support for the listener and when referral would be appropriate and to whom.  The session on power and authority draws together threads which they have touched on in their work on their home church situation and on their observation placement. Change and the church is a stand-alone session looking at how as ministers we deal with change – whether initiated by us or imposed from above – and how we deal with the wider reactions to it.  The ethics session is fairly self- explanatory from its title and the final teaching session on the Sunday morning draws together the year’s theme of the church in context, setting it within the wider context of mission.

Brief information for Personal Tutors on the content of Weekend 6

MDMM     Weekend 6     New Ways of Being Church The final weekend in the MDMM residential programme is on ‘New Ways of Being Church’.   Having looked during the year at what it means to share in God’s Mission in God’s world, this final weekend looks at what kind of Church is needed to serve the present age.  In a very brief opening session on Friday night (following debriefings of the Long Placement for year 2 and of their teaching a course for year 3) we shall brainstorm what new ways of being church the students can envisage where they are.   In the two sessions on Saturday morning we welcome Revd David Muir, the Adult Education and Parish Development Advisor of the Diocese of Exeter, who will introduce ‘Fresh Expressions’.  There are, of course, other New Ways of Being Church on offer, and in the last session on the theme on Sunday morning, Andi Hofbauer will introduce some of these other perspectives.

Personal tutors

On entering ordination or Foundation training on SWMTC students are allocated a Personal Tutor, who is appointed by the Course in consultation with the sponsoring church and the candidate.

The Personal Tutor will undertake to:

§         Meet with the student at least six times each year at times mutually convenient soon after each residential event. Normally the student travels to the Tutor. 

§         In the second year of training (or first year of pre-ordination training for Methodist candidates) to act as facilitator for the long placement.  This involves an initial meeting with the student and the host minister to help agree the terms of the placement, a meeting with both at the end of the placement, and if necessary a mid-point meeting.  These two or three meetings would be part of the normal six meetings in the year.

§         Write a confidential report to the Principal each year, which will contribute to the End of Year Report which assesses progress in training and suitability for continuing training or ordination. 

§         Meet with the staff and other Personal Tutors at least once a year to reflect on the Course, its practice, and the role of Personal Tutors.

The role of the Personal Tutor is to:

§         encourage the student to reflect upon personal development, growth in personal awareness, relationships with others, and spiritual life by helping to reflect on the student's learning journal and portfolio.

§         explore the impact of the Course on the the student's faith and understanding of the Church, vocation, and ministry.

§         enable a learning process to take place as the student responds to and reflects on the experiences of training and preparation for ordained ministry.

§         Personal Tutors will not be responsible for setting or marking any written work, nor for the care of the student's family.

This role can be more fully described in terms of support and challenge:

§         support: by standing at one step removed from the Course the Personal Tutor is in a position to ask questions which will help the student to reflect on and explore at greater depth the impact that training is making on every area of his or her life.   It is important, therefore, that the relationship is supportive and that it is clear that the Personal Tutor is there to help rather than to be part of the evaluative and assessment side of the Course.    Relationships of trust and confidence take time to build and it is important that this is done carefully at the beginning of the relationship.    The Personal Tutor will use the written reflections in the learning journal to explore what has been happening in the Course, how the student has responded to the different elements of a programme, what he or she is learning as a result, where points of difficulty or pressure arise, and how any such points are being tackled or addressed.    The concern throughout is to help the student to become more critically reflective upon his or her experience and to help explore the nature of his or her responses and what is being learned about strengths, gifts, graces and areas of need.     

§         challenge: Personal Tutors are expected to ask the difficult questions in order to promote and enable a more rigorous and demanding process of exploration.

Confidentiality: it is to be expected that in the course of a good relationship with a Personal Tutor difficult issues will be explored and addressed.   This inevitably raises important questions about the boundaries of this relationship and what, if anything, might be communicated to the core staff.   Three points might be helpful.   First, the report that is written by the Personal Tutor is confidential to the core staff and will be seen by nobody else.   The Personal Tutor’s observations will help to contribute to the end of year report and to assist the core staff in testing out their observations and perceptions, but it will not be quoted directly and forms only one part of the evidence that goes to make up the end of year report.   The Personal Tutor will discuss with the student the material of this report and the issues that are being raised with the core staff.   However the actual report is not required to be shown to the student.   Second, the report should not focus on the content of what has been discussed in the tutorials but on the way in which the student is dealing with those issues, learning and developing.   It is important to respect the personal and privileged nature of the material that is being discussed while still being able to report on the way that these issues are being addressed.    Third, if it becomes clear to the Personal Tutor that issues that have been raised in confidence are of wider significance the Personal Tutor should make every effort to help the student to deal with the matter appropriately.   As a matter of last resort, the Personal Tutor may have to decide that such matters cannot remain confidential.  

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Last modified: 30-04-08