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Ordained pioneer ministry training

CMS Pioneer ministry foundation degree

CMS are launching a training course in pioneer ministry which will be a foundation degree. The course is being piloted from September 2010 and launching fully in September 2011. It will be a valid pathway for both lay and ordained pioneer leaders. You can find out more in the following newsletters:

CMS Pioneer newsletter - issue 1 (PDF)
CMS Pioneer newsletter - issue 2 (PDF)

Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham

Cranmer Hall provides training that is tailored to take account of your previous experience, your current circumstances, and the shape that you expect your future ministry to take.

  • Training at Cranmer Hall will provide you with the opportunity to study at certificate, diploma, BA, MA, or even doctoral level (DThM) including specific modules on mission in the emerging culture and pioneering ministry.
  • You will be integrated with the wider community of Cranmer Hall, the Wesley Studies Centre, and St. John’s College, sharing in worship, meals, teaching, and socialising.
  • You will collaborate with local churches on the design and delivery of an ecumenical pioneering project.
  • You will be given the opportunity to undertake summer block placements in pioneering contexts both in the UK and overseas.
  • You will engage with CODEC – a research initiative at St. John’s College, Durham that seeks to explore the interfaces between the Bible, the digital environment and contemporary culture through regular seminars, events and mentoring.
  • You will have regular tutorials with the Director of Mission and Pioneer Ministry (Revd. Michael Volland - previously an OPM in Gloucester), with a specific focus on in-depth formation for pioneer ministry.
  • You will have the opportunity to be part of a small team designing creative worship at Durham cathedral and Greenbelt Festival.

Cranmer Hall are playing an active role in the formation, training and resourcing of a new generation of pioneering Christian leaders who are able to discern the voice of the Spirit, read the culture, collaborate with the church, and sustain themselves for the journey into authentic mission in the twenty first century.

The Eastern Region Ministry Course

The Eastern Region Ministry Course offers a pathway for ordained pioneer ministry training which will involve:

  • supervised contextual practice with an experienced pioneer minister;
  • a specially designed placement with a pioneer minister;
  • a full range of training modules with opportunities to focus on Christian engagement with post modern society;
  • modules to assist reflective practice on what it is to be a pioneer minister;
  • access to mission shaped ministry courses as part of training;
  • a special easter residential school in Cambridge with others training for pioneer ministry.

ERMC is a vibrant and diverse community training for ministry. Part-time training is ideal for those committed to existing employment and ministry. We have a passion for making connections between faith and life.

Lancashire and Cumbria Theological Partnership

The Lancashire and Cumbria Theological Partnership can offer a course which has the option to include three validated mission shaped ministry modules. They are all at level four and are titled, Preparing and planting a fresh expression of church, Christian formation in fresh expressions of church, and Sustaining a fresh expression of church.

If you successfully achieve the award University Certificate this can be carried and used to contribute towards another award, for example:

  • Certificate in Higher Education;
  • Foundation Degree or Diploma in Higher Education;
  • BA (Hons) in Practical Theology.

St John's College Nottingham

St John's was itself a pioneer in developing Mixed Mode training and this has been a popular route for OPM ordinands. We are unique in offering a course which goes from vocation-testing through to incumbency-readiness. In other words, you don't do a curacy after you finish training with us; you do it at the same time - it's part of your training with St John's. And for some students that 'lay curacy' is in a fresh expression, which often our students have played a key part in starting. We are passionate about the interplay of parish context and college learning because we believe it enhances both personal high academic standards and high quality contextual reflection.

Mission has long been at the heart of training at St John's and we work hard to make multi-dimensional mission-thinking central to all aspects of learning here. The college was founded to train people for ordained ministry who didn't fit the normal mould for Victorian clergy and the ethos of widening access has continued to this day. As a result of this, a good many of those who leave St John's go on into pioneer ministries even when they have not been designated Ordained Pioneer Ministers on entry. All our students, whether or not they are pioneer candidates, have the opportunity to engage in a fresh expression placement.

You can view a video about mixed-mode training at St John's.

St Mellitus College

St Mellitus College offers a mixed mode route for those in training for ordained pioneer ministry. Students engage in supervised work for roughly half of their time in a mission context (fresh expression or local church etc.). They study in the other half of their time, through one day a week in west London, seven residential weekends and one residential week per year. Candidates can study for a three year BA in contextual theology with Middlesex University, or (for theology graduates) a two year MA with King's College London. The course focuses on different aspects of missional leadership.

Oak Hill Theological College

Oak Hill has a dedicated ordained pioneer ministry strand. You will study the main core elements of your academic programme with every other student, but with a bias towards mission, apologetics and youth cultures. The ordination strand, the Certificate in Ministry, has a strong practical leadership theme, and alongside that you will have specialised placements, chaplaincies and missions. You will study alongside students on the World Missions programme who will give a global perspective on emerging models. Oak Hill is ideally placed to make the best of the exciting opportunities that London offers for innovative patterns for ministry, combined with a commitment to deep and broad theological study that will equip you for a lifetime's ministry.

Ridley Hall & Westcott House, Cambridge

Ridley Hall & Westcott House provides pioneer training for pioneers, taught by pioneers through:

  • a dedicated cohort of OPMs who meet weekly both for teaching and pastoral support;
  • teaching and support from pioneer leaders;
  • staff with specialist knowledge and experience of fresh expressions;
  • academic routes designed specifically for pioneers to enable them to connect their pioneering with their academic studies;
  • placements and attachments in fresh expressions of church, locally,nationally and internationally;
  • opportunities to spend time with the leading thinkers and practitioners.

We are committed to training pioneers and to ensuring that they are envisioned, equipped and resourced for the next stage of their ministry.

The Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme

The STETS BA and MA programmes approach Scripture and theology in a mission-orientated way, which is contextual, culturally sensitive and aware of new developments in ecclesiology. Ordained pioneer ministry students follow a tailored pathway, planned in the light of their prior learning and experience. This ensures that they receive a focussed, but comprehensive ministerial education.

Experienced practitioners appointed by STETS supervise weekly OPM training and pioneer-orientated placements. Specialised developing ministry modules guide students and mentors in this work and ensure that it integrates fully with the academic programmes. Regular residential training events provide times for learning, friendship and mutual enrichment.

The South-East Institute for Theological Education (SEITE)

SEITE offers a context-focused pathway for training in Ordained Pioneer Ministry that enables our students to reflect on the practice of pioneer ministry whilst engaging in rigorous theological study within a diverse community of ministerial formation. Features of the programme include:

  • specialist placement modules in fresh expressions of church, with mission accompaniment by established experts in the field;
  • part-time, non-residential training, which is ideal for those committed to existing employment and established ministries;
  • mid-week and weekend components, with teaching centres both in London and Kent

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford

All students are given teaching and training in pioneer ministry and Mission-shaped Church (church planting, fresh expressions, new ways of being church, etc.). But there is also specific input for those in training to be ordained pioneer ministers, in terms of tutorials, personal encouragement from tutors and placement/mission opportunities. We are appointing a Tutor to be the 'OPM Champion', who will have particular oversight of this area. We are also very blessed to have close partnerships with the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA) and the Church Mission Society (CMS), both of which enrich our training of pioneer ministers.

The Yorkshire Ministry Course

The Yorkshire Ministry Course recogises that ordinands recommended for ordained pioneer ministry start training already with significant experience of pioneer ministry. It provides training in a wider field of theological and ministerial studies to equip them with the core components of a theologically reflective ministry, including study of Scripture, Christian history and doctrine, liturgy and worship, spirituality, practical theology and Christian ethics. Then, secondly, it provides ways in which they can relate all of this to the pioneer ministry they expect to exercise in the future. These include the following:

  • pioneer ministry related assignments within the different modules, including a profile of the home church community from which the ordinand comes;
  • dedicated reflection groups for pioneer ordinands;
  • two major placements in related contexts with accompanying reflection modules;
  • participation in one or two related modules at Wilson Carlile College of Evangelism, which is a national centre for pioneer ministry and a partner institution within the Yorkshire RTP;
  • a related research project, with supervision often provided by staff at WCCE.

It is the three year package as a whole, which includes worship and community life of students and staff together, which provides the necessary balance between spiritual, intellectual, emotional and practical formation.

For further details please contact The Administrator, The Yorkshire Ministry Course, The Mirfield Centre, Stocksbank Road, Mirfield WF15 OBW, nocoffice@mirfield.org.uk, 01924 481906.