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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodist News |
February 2002 |
Residency in Ministry:
Job training of a different sort
"This time is spent as a way of developing good practices of ministry." -- Marie Lang
By Nancy Crowe
Hoosier UM News Special Correspondent
Watch any medical drama on TV, and you'll undoubtedly hear at least one reference to a residency -- a period of supervised on-the-job training following medical school course work. Now, due to changes made by the 1996 General Conference in the ordination process, you're likely to run across residents of a different sort in church.
As before, new seminary graduates are required to undergo a three-year probationary period, at the end of which they may apply to the annual conference for ordination as elders. According to the 1996 Book of Discipline, the Board of Ordained Ministry is to assist the probationer by providing assessment, structure and supervision.
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'Instead of just evaluation and voting yes and no as they have traditionally done, they will play a role in developing the skills and bringing out the best in (residents) so that they become effective pastors over a lifetime of ministry.' |
The South Indiana Conference's first Residency-in-Ministry class consisted of the probationary members commissioned in 1999. Covenant groups of around six to eight residents meet regularly. Each resident works one-on-one with a mentor who is a full member of the annual conference, and retreats are held three times a year. Residents are also assessed by DOMA, a corporate consultation firm, on their ministerial gifts and strengths.
The cost of the program averages $750-$1,000 per participant per year, said the Rev. Marie Lang, executive director of the South Indiana Foundation and a member of the conference's Residency-in-Ministry team. Funding comes from the Board of Ordained Ministry's budget and is supplemented by Ministerial Education Funds for the DOMA component.
"It is a time-intensive program," Lang said. "What the residency program has been fairly insistent about is that this time is spent as a way of developing good practices of ministry, which includes removing yourself occasionally from the parish setting for refreshment and renewal."
Support and renewal for probationers
Such support is appreciated by the Rev. Gloria Nelson, pastor of Arlington UMC in Bloomington. She went through the probationary process both before and after Residency in Ministry came to be, finishing the program in 2001.
"It solidifies the person as pastor. We hold one another accountable," said Nelson, who has elected to stay with her covenant group even though it's no longer required. She added that she hopes the program can help prevent burnout, which causes many to leave the ministry.
Burnout became a concern for NIC officials, who realized that a number of pastors were leaving the ministry within 10 years of ordination, said the Rev. Charles Johnson, executive director of the NIC's Residency-in-Ministry program. "Part of what we felt might be the cause was the fact that as people came from seminary into ministry, they were placed on the front line of action" -- in many cases, he said, with inadequate practical skills for ministry. "As a result, they made mistakes and oftentimes were not getting support during those difficult years. Congregations were … holding high expectations for them that simply could not be fulfilled until they'd had more experience."
Mentoring churches funded by Lilly
In the NIC, Residency-in-Ministry exists apart from the probationary process. Residents will be assigned to work in mentoring churches for two-year placements beginning in June 2002. The Rev. David Michel, pastor of Huntertown UMC in Huntertown and chair of the program's board of governors, said that there are currently more congregations willing to be mentoring churches than there are residents.
The mentoring-church model was inspired by a program at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis and funded by a $750,000 grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. The grant covers the residents' salaries, but mentoring churches must pay for housing, utilities, pension, health insurance, travel and professional expenses -- a total of about $25,000 per year, Johnson said.
"We kind of adapted a medical residency model," he said. "We rotate people in their local church assignments through a series of skill areas in ministry -- three months in one area, three months in another. They'll also be in a covenant group which meets regularly."
First RIM grads to be placed in June
Both Lang and Johnson say it's too early to fully gauge the success of their respective resident programs, but the SIC's first Residency-in-Ministry graduates -- the group commissioned in 1999 -- will come back before the Board of Ordained Ministry this month. The NIC's residents won't be placed until June, but "we feel there's a tremendous advantage to local churches," Johnson said. "Instead of just evaluation and voting yes and no as they have traditionally done, they will play a role in developing the skills and bringing out the best in (residents) so that they become effective pastors over a lifetime of ministry."
Nancy Crowe is a freelance writer and author of the book Bethlehem Road, available in April.
Last updated on 01/14/2004