Making the most of potential ministers

This handbook gathers and presents the accumulated wisdom and good practice gathered over a couple of decades in the training of new ministers during their first posts. Keith Lamdin and David Tilley are experienced trainers who have been in the front line of ministerial formation in the local setting. A great deal of the experience reflected in this book comes from our own diocese which is training a large number of people in ministerial work and has become a leading centre for adult learning in the local context of ministry.

It covers some key topics that are important for training incumbents who are responsible for the professional development of curates and a wide range of other ministers. What is involved in being the supervisor of someone who is learning on the job? How do adults learn in the midst of their experience of work?  How can the differences between people who work together be a positive learning experience? How can reflective learning contribute to our professional development? How can problems in working relationships between ministers be overcome and teamwork deepened?
This handbook is deeply committed to the integration of theory and practice and on this point it practises what it preaches. It makes good connections between some academic models of adult learning, psychological type and theological principle, and the practical outworking of this in the local ministry team.

This is a very helpful handbook for any incumbent who is interested in making the most of all those potential ministers in their local congregations.  It will help us all to become better learners ­ at whatever stage of ministry we may have reached.

Geoff Maughan is Vicar of Cumnor and was formerly Director of Ministry at Wycliffe Hall (1998-2007)