The morning session provided an overview of the Ely programme and then invited the delegates to experience part of the process through a guided reflection.

In the afternoon, the focus moved to experiences of mission, offering an opportunity to explore this through an exercise based on the learning from Ely. Throughout the day, the team looked at the implications for leadership through the day’s discoveries.

As part of our programme to share ideas and reviews about leadership across the country, the FCL held its fifth regional consultation in Portsmouth for the southern dioceses on March 24^th 2009.

FCL made two presentations. In the first he examined definitions of leadership, five ways in which leadership can be understood and the ways in which Jesus can be seen as someone who ‘’built’ a team of disciples. In his second presentation he described what has been found to work in the reviews which FCL has conducted of diocesan leadership programmes. These are contained in the FCL Leadership Review booklet No 5 Revealing Leadership.

View FCL’s First and Second Powerpoint presentations.

In a pre-lunchtime reflection the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Kenneth Stephenson, shared with delegates what it is like to take on the leadership responsibilities of being a diocesan bishop. After talking of the need to shed the constraints of previous jobs and roles he looked at the church and public responsibilities of being a diocesan bishop as: Prime Minister - giving a sense of direction and setting the tone, Monarch - being a public figure, Speaker - to ensure fair play, and Scapegoat - to absorb the projections, praise and blame attached to the role. From the Rule of St Benedict he gave us the commendation that the leader ‘must so arrange everything that the strong have something to strive for and the weak nothing to run from’. Read the full notes from the Bishop of Portsmouths reflections

Canon David Isaac, the Diocese of Portsmouth’s Director of Mission and Discipleship expanded on definitions and understandings of leadership at the beginning of the afternoon session. He then introduced a discussion on the ways in which needs of ministers can be identified in effective ways through Ministerial Review processes. Frameworks for training and support were then examined in an extended group discussion session.

Issues for further examination which emerged included:

• The necessary balance between autonomy and responsibility which give energy to parochial ministry.
• The supportive nature of Action Learning Sets or equivalent as ways in which clergy and lay leaders can be grouped to facilitate their continuing development.
• The importance of sharing good practice across dioceses and denominations.
• Ways in which training needs can be identified and programmes developed through feed-back on issues which emerge in Ministerial development reviews.
• The place of, and the demands made on, bishops and senior staff in review programmes.
• What can be done to encourage those clergy who are reluctant to participate in any deanery or diocesan activities?
• Do such programmes as are in existence at the moment provide what is needed for training in multi-parish/benefice responsibilities?

Two principal speakers developed themes key to the projects and consultations which have been an essential part of FCL’s life. Dr Sara Savage who, with Dr Eolene Boyd MacMillan, led our research into Conflict Transformation made a significant and engaging presentation about where next for the FCL and for church leaders on conflict transformation, urging church leaders to “wear their scars of conflict with pride”. Sara’s talk where next in conflict transformation promted many questions from the audience. The FCL’s book Transforming Conflict supports and expands on Sara’s talk.

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard spoke about Where Next in Senior Church Leadership, the responsibilities and opportunities of being a diocesan bishop and about the ways in which the FCL can support senior leaders as they develop new strategic approaches - from ‘liberating the local’ to ‘sustaining the sacred centre’ for faith and life. 

Sir Philip Mawer, on behalf or the Trustees reviewed the work and achievements of FCL so far with critical reflection on the learning points for the churches about the development of leadership at various levels in the life of the denominations.

Lunchtime gave Sir Philip and Bishop Michael Turnbull, our first Chair, the opportunity to thank Canon Malcolm Grundy for his very significant work as founding Director and to make a presentation.

In the afternoon Trustee, Bishop Trevor Willmott, outlined FCL’s strategy for the next four years and introduced Julie Farrar as the new Director. An ‘open forum’ panel allowed creative contributions from the floor. The Very Rev Adrian Dorber, FCL Trustee and Dean of Lichfield, summarized the discussions of the day before Malcolm closed the event with prayers.

The programme commenced with Bishop Nicholas Reade introducing ‘Why Start from Scratch’; their early thinking. Sandra Cobbin then gave a very stimulating presentation about the Blackburn Ministerial Development Review, a programme that Sandra herself had devised and implemented. Sandra’s Powerpoint Presentation

As part of Sandra’s presentation Revd Dr Alan Leeson and clergy who had taken part gave their view of the MDR project which raised a number of questions from the interested audience. The afternoon session gave the delegates opportunity to probe further into the MDR project through group discussion, facilitated by Revd Canon Sue Penfold, around the two questions “What have we spotted that you’ve missed” and “What have we missed that you have spotted”. Flipchart Discussion Notes

FCL Trustee, Bishop Trevor Willmott concluded the day with the following “We are meeting on the Feast of the Epiphany when we continue to remember the significance of God’s choice in taking human form - ‘The Glory is revealed in God made flesh’. This forces us to take seriously the concept of the human being in society and the role of Christianity and its ministers in the Divine Plan.

It is essential that theology undergirds the ‘hospitality’ which is evident in the warm response from clergy to well developed and sensitively applied Ministry Development Review programmes such as the one here in Blackburn.

We have to ask what Ministerial Development Reviews are for. Are they primarily to care for and develop the individual - or are they also a way of developing care for the institution of the Church - or the Church as a caring institution?

There is an appropriate place for the bishop to exercise a ministry of oversight in the ministerial review process. It is unfortunate if negative ‘top down’ feelings of hierarchy are the primary perceptions. We need to explore more about the anxiety which surrounds this method of applying the review process.

Effective Ministerial Development Reviews are about capacity building for the individual and for the whole Church. They are not primarily for creating a more efficient church; they are part of what is needed for building up the whole Body of Christ.”

Supporting Documents

Invitation Letter to Clergy from The Revd Dr Alan Leeson, Clergy Support and Development Officer and Ministerial Development Review Co-ordinator Alan Leeson Letter

In December 2006 The Foundation for Church Leadership awarded a £5000 grant to fund a project ‘Listening Hearts’ by Canon Dr Arun John and his team in the Bradford Inner Ring Group.The aim of ‘Listening Hearts’ was to gather and reflect upon stories of work being done by local church people who live and work alongside those of other faiths in the central urban parts of Bradford. Background to the Project, Arun John

The project worker was Ms Sheelah Hidden. Sheelah conducted 40 interviews with clergy and local Christian workers which were then summarised into the FCL Publication, The Listening Leader (order your copy priced £7.99 by emailing helen@churchleadershipfoundation.org )

The Foundation for Church Leadership held their third in their series of regional consultations on November18th at Bradford Business School.

In the morning Canon Dr Arun John gave a summary of the background to the project followed by Sheelah Treflé Hidden who talked in warm and witty detail about some the of the interviews. Major Michelle Wheeler gave her reflection of the project and the morning was then closed with the reflections by the Ven David Lee.

The afternoon was opportunity for the delegates to discuss in more detail how the project and its findings enlightened their own work and hopes and ideas for the future.

This was explored in groups, charting up the response to two key questions-

Q1) What do you recognize in your work from today’s presentations?

In terms of ministerial leadership, too many competing demands

Dialogue at the level of life: stems from co-existence, with latent element of spirituality

Element of fear often present at local level

Discouragement of decline

Is mindset - survival or living?

Question of leadership - how to release energy

Relationships before projects/structures or vice versa

Listening-Listened to. Praying together

Constraints of institutions

Poor communication/perceptions not getting it together is a coherent way- need to continue gazing at the stars

Willingness to change and its challenges

Reflection leading to renewed vision

Opportunities to listen (Assumptions vs Actual)

Awareness of what is happening around us

Q2) What have we been missing in our research work so far?

How ecumenical are we at the grass roots?

How many leaders are working ecumenically?

Recognition of changing demography

Missed out on growth of other ethnic Christians

Something similar for other faiths

Trends over time

Impact of schools systems

Common meeting points for celebration or listening

The day was concluded with the reflections of Graham Brownlee who suggested that there were five emerging issues

• 1) Identity - listening leaders need to be confident in their identity. We are who we are through our interaction with others but need to be confident about our values and the places from where they are drawn. Conversion involves change and this affects our willingness to develop as people and thus adapt our identity.
• 2) Diversity - for communities as for leaders the challenge of living with - and within - diversity is a daily challenge and reality. Beware of the collusion to have leader-led communities rather than community being formed through the diversity of their makeup with leadership being exercised in different places. There is a real question about whether leaders are primarily preserving institutions of enabling and creating new futures. There needs to be space for creativity in leadership. If not leaders work within ‘themed’ ministries. Issues need to be one focus of leadership
• 3) Dialogue is not for its own sake but for its outworking in practical action and projects.
• 4) Approach - leadership involves giving space and allowing flexibility. Leaders need to be responsive to change taking place in communities and in the approaches of local churches.
• 5) Loose identity to find mission and to change. More work needs to be done to enable leaders to have the flexibility and the confidence to speak different professional cultural languages in different places. We can hold together diversity and difference.

A final quotation from Zigmund Bowman, ‘Identities are for meaning and for sharing not for storing and keeping.’

Graham’s final advice - Break rules, take risks, go with themes.

Transforming Conflict is taken from the FCL’s commissioned project ‘Conflict Resolution’, funded by the Henry Smith Charity and delivered by Eolene Boyd-MacMillan and Sara Savage (with Jose Liht), PRRG, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.

After a welcome and introduction fromthe Foundation for Church Leadership, Dr Sara Savage gave a very informative talk about the project and how it was devised. Eolene Boyd-Macmillan then expanded on the delivery of the project, the three workshops the delegates attended and how, despite the guidance and coaching during the workshops, conflict resolution is a matter practise, practise, practise!

Questions from the floor asked Dr’s Savage and Boyd-MacMillan whether their findings and experience could be applied in other contexts. Their answers clearly encouraged everyone that Transforming Conflict was not limited to senior church leaders as many books were sold on the night and orders from the UK and overseas have been flooding in since.

Transforming Conflict is available from the Foundation for Church Leadership at the price of price £17.99 +£2pp, (ISBN: 978-0-955057335).

To order your copy email

Read the documents from the presentations-

FCL summary

Eolene Boyd Macmillan presentation

Sara Savage presentation

After a welcome from Dame Janet Trotter, Chair of FCL and a brief description of the work of FCL, Lynwen Plowman introduced the Southwark programme and described the work of her review. Many questions were then asked about Lynwen’s work.

This first presentation was followed by the Bishop of Southwark who described how he and the Senior Staff have been influenced by the programme. The morning session was concluded by Jane Steen who gave a lively talk about how the Diocese is using and developing the work.

After lunch, there was a presentation of the recently published FCL Leadership review Revealing Leadership. This FCL Publication provides an overview of clergy leadership programmes across the Church of England.

The delegates then gathered into discussion groups to consider the questions and thoughts raised from the day.

The day closed with the Bishop of Tonbridge, Rt Rev Brian Castle’s reflections of the day.

Notes and the presentation from the day can be downloaded here.

Flipchart Notes

Lynwen Plowman (PowerPoint Presentation)

Reflections by the Bishop of Tonbridge

Listeners heard a  presentation of the Diocese of Newcastle’s Clergy Leadership Development Programme Leading from the Future by Colin Gough and the leadership team.

A presentation was also made of the recently published Revealing Leadership by Martin Kitchen. This FCL Publication provides an overview of clergy leadership programmes across the Church of England.

Notes and the presentation from the day can be downloaded here.

Flipchart Notes

Reflections on the day by the Bishop of Jarrow

Diocese of Newcastle Presentation (PowerPoint file)

It seemed appropriate that, with half of the dioceses in the Church of England developing leadership programmes, a review of a range of themes would be helpful.  FCL was fortunate in gaining financial support from the Dulverton Trust to commission further work. The Rev Dr Martin Kitchen has examined a range of programmes and given a description and theological reflection on them. We are most grateful to him for this thorough contribution.

The Trustees of FCL felt that a further piece of work was required to go alongside Martin’s review. They the Foundation for Church Leadership to examine the stories of the establishment of the programmes as well as their educational content and to describe areas of good practice in establishing a leadership development programme.  His review forms the second part of this booklet and we appreciate the knowledge he has applied in identifying emerging ideas and issues for consideration. He has also described the key components of an effective programme and we hope that this analysis will stimulate further thought and action.

While there are many dioceses and parts of some other denominations with leadership development programmes, there remain half of the dioceses in the Church of England without such provision. FCL will continue with its advocacy role with the aim of encouraging senior leadership teams to introduce such activity into their dioceses. Support from the Dulverton Trust will enable us to continue this work.

A learning church with a mission-oriented focus cannot be effective without properly trained and supported leaders and leadership teams. I am grateful that FCL has been welcomed as a partner in this work. We lead from a particular place, committed to the strengthening of the leadership within the churches and to the communication of the Christian gospel. This Research Paper gives an overview of the achievements and issues which emerge as leadership development becomes embedded in the life of our churches. A Foundation such as ours has a distinctive contribution to make in this endeavour and we hope that our work supports and encourages all that you would want to do.

FCL Publication
ISBN: 0-9550573-7-X
Price: £7.50
To order FCL Publications  download the order form or email us.

A helpful definition of consultancy has been given by the Rev Dr George Lovell. Through many years he has developed sophisticated methods of analysing work situations. With Catherine Widdicombe he founded the training and consultancy agency AVEC. He has put together much of his consultancy experience in a comprehensive book Consultancy, ministry and mission (i). His definition of consultancy work is this:

Consultancy is a process of seeking, giving and receiving help aimed at aiding a person, group, church or organization to achieve their purposes in specific situations and circumstances. Analyses and designs are produced through the creative interplay between consultors and consultants as they focus on their work, the what and why and how of what they want to achieve in the circumstances in which they operate. (p23)

A description of the purpose of consultancy could be:

To offer the client focussed conversations about their work with the aim of increasing their capacity for reflection and action.

Some definitions

Consultant: someone or group completely independent of you or your organisation who is asked to come in and listen review and analyse your work or your organisation and make suggestions of recommendations.

Work consultancy: a process of thinking through issues with a trained consultant as they relate specifically to you and your work/ministry.

Work consultant: a trained and experienced person who helps you to analyse, understand and develop the work which you have been asked to do.

Organisational consultant: a trained and experienced person or group who are asked to analyse and make recommendations about your organisation.

Mentor: someone with an understanding of your area of work or specialism who, through their knowledge, experience, expertise and enthusiasm can accompany you through a task to an agreed series of outcomes.

Coach: someone who can keep boundaries, set objectives and who can work with you to progress a task, understand a situation or achieve outcomes.

Some of these titles seem to be interchangeable in a rather loose way. That is why it is essential to know what you want when any one of these people or groups is hired. If there is a lack of clarity then you may feel deeply disappointed and the person asked to do the work let down and frustrated. An enormous amount of time can be wasted and, on occasions, money not spent well.

Basic approaches

Trained consultants and mentors will have approaches whichcome from the way in which their own development has occurred. It will be important to explore these in an initial meeting. Some will have a pragmatic and practical approach drawn from years of experience in a particular area of work. Others will have as a part of their professional approach skills which may include training in organisational or group analysis, psychological profile skills or some other specialised form of analysis. Whatever the background of a consultant they will be bringing ideas and assumptions to bear on your situation and their analysis of it. You will be helped enormously if you can get those you are considering for your work to explain the approach which they will be using. Some excellent people with great qualities and skills will fit what you are looking for while other approaches may not. You may also want to ask if you can approach others they have worked with to gain some feed-back about their work.

Hiring a consultant

This section is designed to give advice for those individuals or teams who are considering hiring a consultant, coach or mentor. (These follow some of the guidelines offered by the Institute of Directors. See note iii)

What is the end result you are looking for?

Is the output you are looking for describable and a development of what you have now?
Are you asking to be guided towards developing a set of new ideas?
Who will ensure the delivery of the end result - the consultant or your own team?
Be clear about why you need external advice and support to achieve your objectives.

Consider which tasks are better done in house, and which are best done by a consultant
Consider the alternatives
Do not expect a consultant to solve your internal problems for you. Expect them to work with you on them.
Qualities to look for

• Integrity - if you feel that you cannot trust a person fro any reason, not least confidentiality, then they are not to be used.
• Reliability - however good they are and have the skills you are looking for if they cannot deliver what they promise then they cannot support you.
• Credibility - will what a consultant says give enough authority in the person and in the way they work to persuade you, and others, to listen to their views?
• Technical expertise - how is ability to do the job conveyed? If it is so jargon-filled that you cannot understand what will happen be suspicious.

Basic questions

• Will they be doing the work themselves or will it be a colleague?
• What are the charges and what do they include?
• When do the charges begin?
• Where has work been done before and can other clients be approached for a reference?
• How much time are you contracting for?
• If you are agreeing individual consultations, how frequently will they be, how long will they last and are they for a fixed length of time?
• If the commitment is ongoing, how and when will it be reviewed?
• What will happen to any written documentation?

Briefing a consultant

1. Summarise the situation to be improved or the problem to be solved.
2. List your objectives. Describe the place the consultant could have in achieving them. Remember that consultants are willing to give advice which will put them out of a job.

Criteria for success

The acronym SMART is an easy way to examine if consultancy is what you want. (ii)

Is the work:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievement focused
• Realistic
• Time bounded

Questions to ask yourself

Before you, your team, your church council or whoever approaches a consultant, ask yourself these questions:

1. What is the objective and has it been agreed by the appropriate group?
2. When does the work need to be completed by?
3. What do you expect the work or the consultancy to ‘look like’ when it is finished?
4. How will you know if the work has been successful?
5. What could go wrong?
6. Are any payments going to be made?
7. Are written reports and reviews expected?
8. How do you want to feel when the work is completed?

Making the agreement

Get the consultant to submit a proposal based on the outline brief. With some clarification you can work out a detailed agreement. This will avoid ambiguities and misunderstandings.

i. Define what you understand by project completion. Does this include your team meeting certain targets?

ii. Specify who is responsible for achieving what.

iii. Set out either an outline or a detailed project schedule, depending on the work which you are asking to be done. Milestones are vital and keep the work moving towards its final targets.

iv. Agree the fees and when they will be paid. (There can be a fixed fee, a daily fee and even a success fee)

v. Some agreements include a disputes procedure if you fall out with the person or company you hire.

Guidelines for Consultants, Mentors or Coaches

Training

Training exists in many places for those who want to develop consultancy, mentoring or coaching skills. Many would say that no kind of consulting should be undertaken without some basic training and that a consultant should first be receiving consultancy themselves. One good place to gain more information about consultancy training and the professional networks which exist is from the Church of England’s Board of Education Website www.cofe.anglican.org . The European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) have produced an important Ethical Code. See end note (iv)

Essential guidelines:

• Make a clear agreement before you begin
• Build relationships at every contact level
• Review and revise the agreement if any part of the situation changes
• Identify lack of client commitment and act quickly
• Keep reminding the client if an end has been agreed and that this gives a time deadline for everyone to complete work.
• Continue with your own inservice training and review

The EMCC Ethical Code states competences and expectations in an extremely professional way:

The primary responsibility of the coach, mentor or consultant is to provide the best possible service to the client and to act in such a way as to cause no harm to the client or sponsor.

The coach, mentor or consultant is committed to functioning from a position of dignity, autonomy and personal responsibility.

Competence

The coach, mentor or consultant will:

i. Ensure that their level of experience and knowledge is sufficient to meet the needs of the client.

ii. Ensure that their capability is sufficient to enable them to operate according to their professional code of ethics and any standards that their organisation or network requires.

iii. Continue with relevant training and professional development.

iv. Maintain a relationship with a suitably qualified professional supervisor.

Context

The coach, mentor or consultant will:

Ensure that the professional relationship reflects the context in which the work is taking place.
Ensure that they themselves understand how it is agreed that the expectations of the client will be met.
Seek to create an environment in which all concerned are focussed on creating an environment in which learning can take place.
Boundary management

The coach, mentor or consultant will:

At all times operate within the limits of their own competence and recognise that where that competence is likely to be exceeded, that they will seek advice or refer the client to another professional.
Be aware of the potential conflicts of interest which can emerge either of a commercial, or person al nature and seek to deal with these in an appropriate and professional way.
Integrity

The coach, mentor or consultant will:

Maintain throughout a level of confidentiality which is agreed and appropriate to the work.
Disclose information only when specifically agreed with the client.
Act within the law and not collude with anything which is dishonest, unlawful, unprofessional or discriminatory.
Demonstrate respect for the variety of different approaches there are to this work and not denigrate the approach and training of colleagues.
Never represent the work and views of others as their own.
Ensure that any claim to professional competence is explained and that no false or misleading claims as to training or professional qualifications are made.

Working with the churches
There is a growing view that if a consultant, coach or mentor is coming from an ‘outside’ situation to work with a Christian group, there is some advantage in being equipped with a broad understanding of the context of the church group with which they are working.
It might be helpful to:

1. Gain an understanding of the history and values of the particular denomination.
2. Find out something about the national and international issues facing that denomination.
3. Seek an objective, external, briefing about the parish, congregation, diocese, district etc. before the first formal meeting.
4. Visit the area to get an understanding of the context.
5. Look at any national or local websites for the congregation and its denomination.
6. Be familiar with how to access information about legislation affecting a denomination or congregation.
7. Gain an understanding about where the person or group fits into the structure of a denomination.
8. Explore the person or group’s previous experience, or lack of it, when using a consultant.

Notes

(i) Consultancy, ministry and mission, a handbook for practitioners and work consultants in Christian organizations, George Lovell, Burns & Oates, 2000, ISBN 0-86012-312-X

(ii) Taken from Consultant, be your best . . . . and beyond. Anna Hipkiss, 2003, Q Learning, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-85623-8

(ii) Institute of Director’s Briefing: Human Resources Management: Using a Consultant, www.iod.com

(iv) European Mentoring and Coaching Council, Sherwood House, 7 Oxhey Road, Watford, Hetrts WD19 4QF. www.emccouncil.org
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