Effective Ministry in Every Parish (EMEP) is the key diocesan strategy to shape and provide for ministry in each of our communities.
The EMEP strategy has created:
- A culture encouraging the ministry of all within the Body of Christ, and seeking to ensure visible local representation of the church in each community;
- A programme designed to identify and train individuals and teams to take on the role of ‘local ministers’ who are willing to represent the ministry of the church in each locality, and to support incumbents and other ministers in a changing role.
Local Ministers
Can be Readers, deacons, self-supporting priests, retired clergy or Licensed Lay Workers, they need to already hold a license for ministry in the benefice. Each of these will fulfil the role in different ways recognising the distinctiveness of calling to specific orders or offices of ministry. For example, a Reader may feel called to be Local Minister for a parish but not all Readers will be called to this role.
Local Ministers are relational and collaborative, are skilled practitioners in enabling the ministry of all God’s people. Self-aware, careful of their own spiritual and personal needs, are team players and community builders. Local Ministers have three core functions:
- To lead the local congregation in mission;
- To enable the ministry of all the baptised;
- To represent the church in the local community and be a point of contact.
The agreement of the PCC and/or DCC are integral to the responsibility invested in the minister. The incumbent and the Local Minister will need to decide between them their respective roles and make these clear within the benefice.
Growing Teams
In each parish and benefice are teams who fulfil the ministry of God in those places.There may also be teams are made up of people with similar passions—a pastoral team, a worship leading team, a children’s work team.
The Growing Teams course is a diocesan resource for any team which, through a variety of exercises and applications, enables ministry whilst encouraging individuals to work better together. Recognising different context, learning styles and team outcomes Growing Teams offers a flexible resource which can help to build a new team as well as it can encourage already existing teams; it is written so that it can be facilitated locally (self facilitating).
