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SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT
Details of the various areas of work covered by the Ministries Support and Development Committee are available on other parts of this site. For ease of navigation, you can follow the links below:-
Remit and Areas of Responsibility: the Ministries Support and Development Committee operates through six Task Groups:
Accompanied Review Task Group
This Task Group supports a process which helps all those engaged in the ministries of the Church consciously to review their experiences, celebrate their achievements, recognise their weaknesses and face the future in the faithful confidence that its challenges can be met. Details of the Accompanied Review Process are highlighted in
General Assembly Report 2007, 3/15.
Chaplaincies Task Group
This Task Group was established following the 2005 General
Assembly in recognition of the large and important contribution
which chaplains make to the Church of Scotland's mission
among the people of Scotland. Its remit is to:
- ensure that those involved in such ministries are included within the support and care of the Ministries Council and, while working beyond the confines of the church, continue to belong within the community of the church
- provide meaningful and tangible pastoral support for those involved in such ministries
- liaise with and create effective partnerships with presbyteries and the various bodies who are served by these ministries
- represent the views of Chaplains and the bodies they serve to the Ministries Council
- monitor the development of these ministries
- provide, along with the bodies being served and within the overall compass of Ministries Development, opportunity for personal and professional development
- examine and, where appropriate, facilitate the work of transferring contracts from the Church of Scotland to other employing agencies
Further details can be found in the report to the General Assembly Report 2007, 3/16.
Conference & Development Task Group
This Task Group has overall responsibility for the organisation of in-service training and development for all the ministries of the Church, including responsibility for the Study Leave Scheme. Conferences are organised for those in the first five years of ministry and a programme of integrated conferences is provided for readers, auxiliary ministers, deacons and other parish staff [more].
Health & Healing Task Group
This Task Group (replacing the Advisory Committee on Health and Healing) has taken over responsibility for the annual Ministry of Healing Conference [more] which takes place at Carberry in the autumn of each year. This new group has only been formed recently and is already working to develop a wider remit. Details will be posted on this site at a later date.
Interim Ministries Task Group
This Task Group oversees the implementation of the following tasks:
- training of Interim Ministers
- deployment of Interim Ministers
- monitoring of Interim Ministries
- assessment of Interim Ministries
- exit strategy formulation, in conjunction with individual Interim Ministers
- redeployment decisions
- in-service training
The Task Group would normally expect a completed set of responses to the background questions before taking an enquiry into Interim Ministry any further. [see resources page]
Pastoral and Spiritual Care Task Group
This Task Group is responsible for:
- overseeing the delivery of pastoral care, as it is provided by members of staff of the Ministries Council, hearing reports on general trends in the wellbeing of the ministry of the Church and, in the light of these, making recommendations to the Council on the shape of pastoral and spiritual development
- encouraging best practice of pastoral and spiritual care in local presbytery networks and ensuring good communication between those who support the ministries of the Church, both at local and national level; and developing a resource of people and centres which could be offered to individuals seeking spiritual direction or personal spiritual growth
- delivering training and support for those engaged in the direct support of the ministries of the Church
- monitoring the effectiveness of the delivery of
such services as the Church's Occupational Health
Service, the Ministries Counselling Service and the
First Assist telephone helpline and other such provisions
as, from time to time, the Ministries Council may
determine [see
Ministers' Handbook]
- overseeing the Graduated Return to Work programme for those engaged in ministry who have been absent from work for a prolonged period [see General Assembly Report 2007]
- overseeing research and development in the areas of pastoral and spiritual care in order to encourage healthy patterns and wellbeing in all forms of ministry
- making recommendations on policy to the Ministries Support and Development Committee
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