Short courses for Church people

Equipping the present, informing the future: reflective practice for ministers and lay leaders

Our churches – and indeed the world around us – are in a period of significant transformation and change. As we acknowledge our place in this ever-changing landscape, we can find ourselves navigating profound questions in relation to our calling, role, purpose and practice.

Core to how we manage and navigate change in a rapidly changing context, is our willingness to reflect on our past experience as a way to better understanding our present practice, and as a means of informing future practice.

What is Values Based Reflective Practice® (VBRP®)?

Models of reflective practice abound within the caring professions but most value the work and the quality of work over the worker. One of the distinctive hallmarks of VBRP® is that it explicitly values the worker who does the work and therefore begins not by asking ‘what did you do?’, but rather, ‘why do you do what you do?’ In other words, VBRP® takes as its starting point, not what happened in the recent past, but rather whatever it is that drives and motivates us in the first place.

At root, these questions are all about the relationship between soul (motivation), role (what we are required to do) and context (the dynamics involved in our ‘work setting’). VBRP® fosters an intentional dialogue to take place between Motivation, Actual Practice, and Potential Practice.¹

Session 1: A VBRP® Taster

Thursday 19 January 2023, 6-7.30pm, Online

This 90-minute stand-alone session will be led by Dr Linda Dunbar, Practice Educator (Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy), NHS Education for Scotland.

The session will be open to all – from those engaging with reflective practice for the first time, to those with previous experience or a current interest in this area.

The session will introduce participants to VBRP® theory and dimensions of practice, and participants will have an opportunity to explore VBRP® tools.

You can apply and pay for Session 1 (£5) via e-Pay at the bottom of this page.

Deadline for registration is 12pm Tuesday 17th January 2023

Session 2: Using VBRP® [NEW DATE]

Thursday 2 March 2023, 6-7.30pm, Online

Over 90 minutes, there will be an opportunity to explore the benefits of using reflective practice as a specific means of helping shape and support self in ministry. For participants wishing to experience the use of the tools for themselves, a there will be an opportunity to join with others in a facilitated real-time VBRP® session. This session will be introduced by Rev Sheila Mitchell and facilitated practice will be led by Dr Linda Dunbar.

You can apply and pay for Session 2 (£15) via e-Pay at the bottom of this page.

[EXTENDED] Deadline for registration is 12pm Monday 27th February 2023

VBRP® Follow-up

For those who have completed both sessions and wish to explore this area further in their own time, NHS Education for Scotland will grant access to its Essential Tools module – online learning over three 2-hour sessions.

Please pay separately for Session 1 (£5) and Session 2 (£15) via e-Pay at the bottom of this page.

¹NHS Education for Scotland

A short course for ministers and lay leaders to equip them to offer the kind of leadership the church requires at the moment.

"Leadership is necessary only if a group is under orders to go somewhere. Without a mission there is no need for leaders." - Will Willimon

The church is commissioned by Christ to play its part in God’s mission to the world. Many parts of the church in Scotland are both rediscovering the central place of mission and struggling to work out what this means in practice. They are looking for leadership.

There is an urgent need for both ministers and lay leaders to offer appropriate leadership so the church can play its part in Christ’s mission. This short course is designed first, to help you offer the leadership the church requires, and second, to help you develop the leadership potential others in the church have.

Week 1 (Wednesday 1st March): Recalibrating the church

The way the church operates was designed for a world that no longer exists. In simple terms, the church needs to rediscover its missional identity and purpose. The task of recalibration begins with leaders defining reality. It continues with leaders helping God’s people understand what becoming missional involves.

Week 2 (Wednesday 8th March): Releasing Leadership Potential

The myth that leadership is a trait a few are born with will be debunked. This seminar will explore first, how defining leadership as taking responsibility can help many more people exercise leadership, and second, how the Bible’s depictions of the shepherd suggests different ways of leading.

Week 3 (Wednesday 15th March): Developing as an Adaptive Leader

Deep changes in habits and attitudes are required for the church to play its part in Christ’s mission. Adaptive leadership understands both the magnitude of this change and is a way of leading that can help the church make the sorts of changes it finds very difficult.

Week 4 (Wednesday 22nd March): Improvisation

How does the church navigate the uncharted territory it finds itself in? Many shrink from leadership because they think leaders are expected to know where they are going, when they too feel lost and confused. Rather than being people who know the answers, this seminar explores how Christian leaders listen to God and begin to improvise based on what they discern.

Format

• The seminars will take place online, with a blend of input and discussion, drawing on Christian theology and leadership theory. Each lasts 90 minutes, from 6-7.30pm. The fee for the course is £60.

• The seminars will be facilitated by Rev Dr Neil Dougall. Neil is a Church of Scotland parish minister in North Berwick and an Honorary New College Fellow. In recent years his particular interest has been in developing leadership within the church.

You can apply and pay for this course (£60) via e-Pay further down this page.

Deadline for registration is 12pm Monday 27th February 2023