Guidance for Consultants

You will receive an email from the MMDR Administrator confirming that you have been assigned as a consultant for a minister’s review. This email includes links to guidance and forms. Read the information carefully so you understand your role, timelines, and expectations.

Once the minister has chosen you (or you’ve been allocated), the Administrator will confirm your assignment and provide contact details. Reach out promptly to the minister to introduce yourself and agree a date for the review meeting. Once you have set the meeting date, please notify the Administrator.

Before the meeting, review the minister’s self-reflection and the feedback from Local Context Reviewers. Take time to understand their context, affirm strengths, and note areas for discussion. Your role is to facilitate a constructive, forward-looking conversation. Use the link below if you’d like to view a PDF version of the form ministers will complete.

Thank you for the wisdom, experience, and care you bring to this work. The Mission and Ministry Development Review (MMDR) process depends on the richness of your insight and the unique style you bring to each conversation. What follows is offered humbly as a resource to support you. It is not a script or a set of rules; it is a framework you may adapt or set aside as you see fit. Please use what is helpful and shape it in ways that fit your approach and the needs of the minister you are meeting with.

Purpose of the Conversation

The minister will have completed the Reflecting on Your Ministry form, and you will also have access to feedback from local context reviewers. These two sources provide rich material for the conversation. Your role is not to re-ask every question but to engage attentively with what has been shared. Begin by reviewing both sets of input before the meeting. During the conversation, give your attention to what stands out as positive and affirm it explicitly, both from the minister’s own reflections and from the affirmations offered by local reviewers. Where you notice areas that might need attention, whether because the minister has named a challenge or because reviewers have highlighted something for development, invite the minister to reflect further. The aim is to deepen understanding, celebrate strengths, and co-create realistic next steps.

The MMDR conversation is designed to create space for reflection, affirmation, and forward movement. It enables the minister to look honestly at their context, celebrate what is going well, explore areas for growth, and agree development objectives that will guide the next season of ministry. The meeting should conclude with an agreed summary and objectives that can be submitted online.

A Suggested Flow for a 90–120 Minute Conversation

You may find the following structure helpful for pacing the conversation. Please adapt it freely.

Welcome and Grounding

Begin by creating space for welcome and, if appropriate, prayer. Set a tone of mutual respect and clarity about the purpose of the meeting. Confirm that the conversation builds on the minister’s written reflections and that the goal is to agree a summary and development objectives together. If there are any safeguarding or wellbeing considerations, acknowledge them at the outset.

Exploring the Ministry Context

Rather than asking for a full recap, acknowledge what the minister has written and highlight what you found encouraging or striking. For example: “I noticed how clearly you described your priorities—what feels most life-giving about that?” This approach affirms their effort and invites deeper insight. Where reviewers have affirmed aspects of their ministry, name these clearly: “Your reviewers spoke very positively about your leadership in worship; how does that resonate with you?” This approach honours both voices and invites deeper insight.

Attending to Wellbeing

Draw on what they have shared in the form. Affirm any positive practices or habits you see. If something suggests strain or vulnerability, explore it gently: “You mentioned feeling stretched; what would help sustain you better?” This keeps the focus on care and support. If reviewers have noted signs of strain or concern, explore these gently: “One comment suggested you might be carrying a heavy load; what would help sustain you better?”

Leading Mission

Refer to the minister’s reflections on the Five Marks of Mission and any affirmations from reviewers. Where responses or feedback suggest gaps or uncertainty, invite conversation: “You wrote about discipleship initiatives, and reviewers noted strong engagement; what feels most fruitful and what feels harder?”

Leadership and Impact

Notice any self-awareness or learning expressed by the minister and affirm it. Where reviewers have highlighted strengths, celebrate them. If feedback suggests areas for development, explore these with curiosity rather than critique.

Ministry Practice and Confidence

Highlight strengths first, drawing on both the minister’s self-assessment and reviewer affirmations. Where confidence is lower or reviewers have raised concerns, ask what support or learning might help.

Key Challenges

If the minister or reviewers have identified conflict, financial strain, or safeguarding concerns, acknowledge these honestly and explore what strategies are being used. Offer space for naming what feels most pressing.

Future Aspirations

Use the minister’s initial ideas and any themes from reviewer feedback as a starting point. Affirm what feels clear and help refine what is vague. Ensure objectives are specific and achievable, and identify supports that will make progress possible.

Co-Creating Development Objectives

Use their initial ideas as a starting point. Affirm what feels clear and help refine what is vague. Ensure objectives are specific and achievable, and identify supports that will make progress possible.

Agreeing the Summary and Next Steps

Summarise what you have heard, highlighting affirmations from both the minister and reviewers, along with agreed actions. Confirm the process for drafting and sharing the summary by email before submission. Ensure development objectives and support needs are recorded for follow-up.

Guidance for Consultants

A Posture of Listening and Enabling

Your presence and questions create the space for reflection. The minister’s voice is central. Use the prompts as scaffolding rather than a checklist and allow time for silence and story. Advice should be offered sparingly and only follow after you have reflected back what you have heard and asked what would be most helpful.

Affirm Before Advising

Begin by affirming strengths and naming what is going well. When challenges arise, frame them as opportunities for learning rather than deficits. This helps the conversation remain hopeful and future-focused.

Co-Create Objectives

Rather than suggesting goals, invite the minister to shape objectives that feel truly theirs. Encourage objectives that are specific, realistic, and measurable where possible. Ask, “Does this feel like your goal?” rather than “You should…”

Hold Space for Wellbeing and Mission

Ensure wellbeing is attended to and signpost diocesan resources where needed. Explore how their ministry connects with the Five Marks of Mission and their Mission Action Plan so objectives are rooted in both personal and parish priorities.

Keep the Process Clear and Shared

After the meeting, draft the agreed summary and share it by email for refinement before submission. Make sure development objectives and support needs are captured for follow-up by the adviser team.

Presence and Practice

Maintain curiosity over certainty. Ask open questions such as, “What feels most alive for you right now?” Balance empathy with gentle accountability, especially around safeguarding and sustainability. Treat objectives as shared work while ensuring the minister’s agency remains central.

Closing Thought

Please feel free to adapt, expand, or set aside any of these suggestions. Your experience and discernment are invaluable in making this process fruitful. Thank you for the care and wisdom you bring to enabling ministers to flourish in their calling.

After the meeting, draft the agreed summary of the conversation. Share it with the minister by email for approval. Once wording is confirmed, submit the summary using the online form provided.

Work with the minister to confirm development objectives. These should be realistic, purposeful, and aligned with their ministry context. Once agreed, you (the Consultant) submit them via the designated online form, linked below.

Email the Administrator when the summary and objectives have been submitted. The minister will already have submitted their self reflection. The Administrator will compile all documents and share them with Bishop’s Staff.

Remind the minister about the next steps: meeting with a Mission and Ministry Development Adviser and planning for CMD resources. Your role is to ensure the process feels supportive and clear.

Please handle all information with care and confidentiality. If any complex issues arise, refer them immediately to the Deputy Director of Mission and Ministry (details below). Safeguarding issues should be referred to the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer.