Ministerial Development Review 

Theological Rationale 

• Bible: all disciples need to keep learning and growing, including those who serve as leaders in the church. We do so in mutual relationship, as part of Christ’s body. 
• Tradition: the Ordinal speaks of mutual accountability and development in ministry which invites regular reflection in changing times and contexts. 
• Reason: good practice in other professions indicates that regular review helps develop reflection, wisdom and creativity. 

Purpose 

• To express the Diocesan Bishop’s support for the ongoing formation, development and wellbeing of the clergy. 
• To enable clergy to be more reflective and effective servants of Jesus Christ in the light of the Diocesan vision and strategy. 

Process 

• At the heart of MDR is a one-to-one conversation with a trained Reviewer appointed by the Diocesan Bishop.

MDR involves:

• Review: looking back at our experiences in ministry over the past two years. 
• Reflection: experiencing both encouragement and challenge through finding new insights about yourself in the role. 
• Re-imagining: looking ahead and identifying objectives for self-care, development and ministry. Report: a summary of the conversation is agreed by the reviewee and reviewer and sent to the Bishops.
• Bishop’s Response: The Diocesan Bishop responds to all MDR Reports.  

• MDR is confidential to the Reviewee, the Reviewer, the Diocesan and Suffragan Bishops. 
  • The Diocesan Bishop keeps a copy of the Summary Note and the Bishop’s response in the ‘Blue File’. 
  • A copy of the Summary Note and Bishop’s response is sent to the Suffragan Bishop. 
  • A copy of the Objectives and training and support needs will normally be passed separately to the OMD officer. 
  • In order for their agreed Objectives to be understood and achieved, Reviewees are invited to share some or all of them with their PCC or equivalent body. 
  • The Reviewer will retain a copy of the Summary Note, unless they are not your Reviewer next time, in which case they will destroy it. 
  • All other supporting paperwork is destroyed following the review. 
  • When a new Reviewer is appointed s/he will be allowed access to the Summary Note from past reviews. 
  • Confidentiality will not be held if issues relating to safeguarding or harm are raised. 

MDR takes place every two years unless circumstances, such as transition points or other needs suggest supplementary reviews. 

At the end of the MDR conversation, an optional informal interim review is also offered. This conversation takes place 12 months after the MDR discussion and takes the form of a 45-minute conversation with the same reviewer, based on the objectives from the most recent MDR. The optional interim conversation is not written up. 

In one of these two-year cycles, the Reviewer will be a member of the Bishop’s Senior Staff Team. In the following two-year cycle, the Reviewer will be chosen from a wider group of peers (lay and ordained). 

The location for the MDR conversation is agreed between the Reviewee and the Reviewer. It is advisable that a location be agreed which allows for between 1.5 and 2 hours of uninterrupted time and is a place in which both are at ease.