Council of Assembly has appointed a group to review Theological Education and Leadership Training in our Church (TELT). We are Simon McLeay, Erin Pendreigh, Caren Rangi, Rob McIntosh and Sharon Searle.
We have had a first meeting and wish to share our plans for consultation.
Our first step has been to begin to have conversations with a number of people to help us understand the lie of the land.
In August this year we plan to produce a consultation document outlining what we are currently doing and naming where we see the needs for further discernment.
We imagine that this document might ask us all to consider five areas, with questions like these:
1. What do we discern about the changing shape of ministry into the future?
(NOM, LOM, LMT, Amorangi, recognised ministries, bi-vocational, missional, eldership and leadership.)
2. What has been our experience of internship as a training model?
(What has worked well, where is there more work needed, is this the model for the future?)
3. What other needs do we have for leadership training across the Church?
(What are we not doing that is important?)
4. What is the ongoing place of KCML; have we got its purpose clear and its governance right?
(Are we doing the right things, and have we got the right structure?)
5. How best can we use our library and archives to serve the Church?
(What resources have we got and how can we best deploy them?)
We will be looking for input from individuals, churches and presbyteries during August, September and October. We will also seek further expert input. Then there are several more steps. It is my aim to give you a monthly update. A fuller version of this introduction is available here.
Simon McLeay (Convenor)