Not all dioceses operate formal LMTs, choosing a broader form of locally-based collaborative team ministry, again mostly rural and at a benefice level.
Multi-Church Ministry: Other Local Collaborative Teams Two rural deans from another diocese consider similar issues: The expectation is that MPBs will become increasingly Team managed ... with fewer clergy and more lay members, virtually all of whom will be volunteers. This changes the role of clergy ... with new skills and experience required: working with volunteers, supervisory skills, local collaborative ministry coordination, training others. It involves a big change in understanding what ministry is and who does it. It has become very rapidly obvious that most members of ministry teams have no real idea how this works … The whole idea of sharing resources and people across different churches in an MPB or group, even one of long- standing, is very nebulous. Yet [we] expect more-and-more from clergy without having adequate support or resourcing for them. The burden falls very unevenly, and largely on the rural parishes where most MPBs are found.
Both types of experience highlight several significant needs: • Guidance on how churches, teams and MPBs relate to each other, especially where some churches choose not to be part of a team; this should include training in resource and personnel sharing between different churches in a LMT or MPB.
• Comprehensive support and resourcing for clergy responsible for a LMT or MPB. • Specific guidance for congregations on supporting and relating to their clergy as team leaders and facilitators of the ministry of others.
• Training and resourcing for clergy in the new roles required of them in teams, e.g. supervision skills, work with volunteers, and training of others for ministry.
These are not exclusively Anglican concerns: one Methodist minister strongly expresses the opinion: Without local collaboration our rural churches will … die!
e. Training for Rural Teams and Church Groups
These reflections all imply the need for a more comprehensive approach to resourcing and training in relation to the existence of multiple rural church groups and ministry within them. A training provider in a large rural diocese concludes: We need more help with our rural teams and benefices, especially to benefit the congregations involved in these structures ... with the clergy and congregation learning and working together. Strategically, the key elements of this approach are: • Training for lay people, who are increasingly expected to carry responsibility in MCM, especially for leadership and team-working.
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