Guide to ministry

AREA TEAM MINISTRY

It is a positive, mission-based, response to ministry. It is a way of working that recognises the benefits and opportunities that come from congregations sharing some aspects of ministry.

An area team exists when ministers, parish workers and congregation members work in a ‘group practice’ approach to ministry and churches work together to provide the talents and resources to meet specific needs e.g. supporting family life; developing multi media worship; providing spiritual direction;developing youth ministry; providing Christian education programmes and sharing administrative resources.

Our goal

Our remit

• helping the development of team and area ministry in the Church of Scotland;
• learning of team working from existing church models within and out with the Church of Scotland as well as from the voluntary sector and elsewhere;
• identifying skills required for team and area ministry and providing development and pastoral support;
• promoting an open sharing of views and ideas.

The focus is on helping groups of congregations begin to work together to bring a shared ministry to a number of parishes.

Working together

• the natural evolution of territorial parish ministry with a growing number of congregations naturally beginning to work together;
• the evolving of team ministry within congregations and the growing acceptance that all members of congregations have a ministry to offer and that there are certain tasks that members with secular training do readily accomplish;
• the 2001 Church without Walls Report which recognised the need to support developments that are occurring at congregational level;
• the 2003 Task Force for Change Report that recognised the worth of team ministry and the potential for bringing congregations together;
• the recent trends in parish appraisal and presbytery plans towards parish groupings;
• and the 2000 Ministers of the Gospel Report which recognised the potential of group practice ministry where a number of ministers and others form a team to provide ministry to an area and where the skills of different team members complement each other.

Find out more

donald@forthchurchesgroup.org.uk

[top of page]

Ministries in the Church
A guide to the range of ministries roles including ministers, deacons, readers and elders

Chaplains
Our representatives in faith to industry, hospitals, prisons, universities and the Armed Forces

First steps to ministries
The 'call' to the ministries of the Church, recruitment, training, support and development

Deaf ministry
Supporting initiatives and providing resource for deaf people in the Church

New charge developments
Building communities of faith specific to the needs of the local area

Area team ministry
Parishes sharing aspects of ministry in a positive, mission-based way

Priority areas
Commitment to the economically poorest parishes of Scotland

The Ministries Council
The administration of the planning, deployment, support and development of the Church's ministries