Formation for Ministry

Form­a­tion describes the train­ing and edu­ca­tion that together form people for their par­tic­u­lar min­is­tries as dis­ciples of Jesus Christ. 
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“baptism marks us as fol­low­ers of Jesus.”
Philip Richard­son

Bishop of the diocese of Waikato & Taranaki

Formation is for

everyone!

Form­a­tion describes the train­ing and edu­ca­tion that together form people for their par­tic­u­lar min­is­tries as dis­ciples of Jesus Christ. 

In our diocese, a variety of education training and formation programs are offered throughout each year that are tailored to meet the needs of those who are ordained, lay ministers, and people simply wanting to explore their faith more deeply.

 

Min­istry is the action of all bap­tised people who are called to re-present Christ in all aspects of their daily life. In this Diocese we believe that every member of every Min­istry Unit has a God-given min­istry and it is our hope that these Guidelines empower all to min­is­ter more fully in the name of Christ.

Some min­is­tries have been iden­ti­fied as being rep­res­ent­at­ive of the Church in a more formal way; these min­is­tries, both lay and ordained, require a Min­istry Cer­ti­fic­ate or a Licence.

A min­is­ter is lit­er­ally someone who ‘acts upon the author­ity of another’. Lay and ordained min­is­ters in this Diocese acts under the author­ity of the Bishop. There­fore a Licenced Lay Min­is­ter is someone who has been author­ised by the Bishop to exer­cise a par­tic­u­lar responsibility.

What kinds of roles do those with a Ministry Certificate or LLM hold?

A person with a min­istry cer­ti­fic­ate exer­cises min­istry under the direct super­vi­sion of someone who already holds a licence from the Bishop. They might;

  • Assist in leading public worship (e.g. a litur­gist, inter­cessor, reader, etc) 
  • Assist with edu­ca­tional groups and pro­gramme (e.g. helps with a home group or Sunday school pro­gramme). 

 

A ‘lay’ person is someone who is not ordained. A licenced lay min­is­ter is someone who has been dis­cerned and trained to exer­cise min­istry on behalf of the church. A lay licence can cover up to three cat­egor­ies of min­istry: 

  • Edu­cator 
  • Pastor 
  • Worship Leader

 

You can read more about Lay Licenses and Min­istry Cer­ti­fic­ates here.

​Why do we do formation?

Regard­less of whether you are serving a local com­munity as a person with a Min­istry Cer­ti­fic­ate, as a Lay Licensed Min­is­ter, or as someone ordained, a level of form­a­tion will be neces­sary to do the tasks appro­pri­ately, to have the con­fid­ence of the com­munity you are serving, and will be enga­ging and enrich­ing for you personally.

What does ‘ordained’ ministry mean?

You also might be vis­it­ing this page to know more about how the ordin­a­tion process is handled in our diocese.In the Anglican tra­di­tion we recog­nise three orders: Deacons, Priests & Bishops

The process of entry into these orders is called ordin­a­tion. All ordained people begin their lives as deacons, some become priests, and a small few bishops. Although each order has dif­fer­ent respons­ib­il­it­ies they are cumu­lat­ive. That means that a priest is also a deacon, and that a bishop is also a deacon and a priest.

Each order is equally import­ant, but they differ in the tasks they do on behalf of the whole Church. See pp 887–924 of A New Zealand Prayer Book He Karakia Mih­in­are o Aotearoa.

Deacons – have a com­munity-facing min­istry or service. They encour­age Chris­ti­ans to fulfil Christ’s mission and care for others.

Priests – build up the con­greg­a­tion as pastors and pro­claim­ers of God’s word.

Bishops – are called to lead by example, main­tain wise dis­cip­line, keep the Church true to its faith, ordain pastors and preside over the wor­ship­ping life of the Church.

If you feel called to ordained min­istry the first thing you need to do is talk to your vicar. The vicar (a priest that a bishop has given a parish to) will be able to talk to you about what it means to be ordained and they will help you begin to under­stand what your future min­istry might be. Sub­sequent to these initial dis­cus­sions your min­istry leader can reach out to the Bishop’s Exec­ut­ive Chap­lain, who will help guide you through the process.  In our diocese it will look like the following;

What does the ordination journey look like?

The Chap­lain for Voca­tional Form­a­tion is respons­ible for helping people explore the call God is making on their lives. Even if you are dis­cerned for ordained min­istry it is common for the dis­cern­ment and process to take 18 months or more before ordin­a­tion. This time is a crit­ical part of the process.

Indi­vidu­als invited into the ordin­a­tion form­a­tion process will have a pro­gramme tailored to their voca­tion. However, there are a number of shared ele­ments includ­ing regular engage­ment in the Dio­cesan Form­a­tion Group.

It is an expect­a­tion that you are serving a local com­munity through a Min­istry Cer­ti­fic­ate or as an LLM during this process, and that you are reflect­ing on these experiences.

The Ven­er­able Sue Burns is the Chap­lain for Voca­tional Form­a­tion. The Revered Kat Maxwell (Bishop’s Exec­ut­ive Chap­lain) sup­ports Sue and over­sees the admin­is­trat­ive part of the form­a­tion and dis­cern­ment process. After talking with your vicar, Kat is the first point of contact for people explor­ing ordin­a­tion for our diocese. For more inform­a­tion and to start talking, please contact Kat [email protected]

My testimony ...

Kia ora, my name is Kim Wright and I am the Chaplain at Taranaki Diocesan School in Stratford. 

I am rel­at­ively new to this role having spent the last few years being dis­cerned for ordin­a­tion, taking part in the Dio­cesan Form­a­tion pro­gramme and being ordained into the diac­on­ate and later, the priesthood.

During this time I also under­took my theo­lo­gical study and gained min­istry exper­i­ence through an intern­ship programme.

Prior to being dis­cerned for ordin­a­tion, I was a Police officer and then worked in the health sector. I had a strong desire to help others but found the ‘ambu­lance at the bottom of the cliff’ approach dif­fi­cult to recon­cile day after day. I came to realise that I wanted to share with others how Jesus can trans­form lives, just like my own had been years before.

In my work I organ­ise chapel ser­vices, teach reli­gious edu­ca­tion to Year 9 and 10 stu­dents and provide pas­toral care. No two days are the same and I am con­tinu­ally encour­aged by the will­ing­ness of stu­dents to engage in matters of faith.

I was a Police officer… and I had a strong desire to help others but found the ‘ambu­lance at the bottom of the cliff’ approach dif­fi­cult to recon­cile day after day.
Kim Wright

School Chap­lain