Interim Ministry Resources

November 2005

Dear Colleagues in Transitional Ministry:

In January, 1997, five Interim Ministers held a meeting to articulate concerns and hopes and dreams for Transitional Ministry in the Massachusetts Conference. There are many specific items in their original document, but the theme was that we achieve some consistency in the processes and expectations and support related to Transitional Ministry here.

Well, we have come a long way! Since that time, the Transitional Ministry Committee has been established as part of the Conference Leadership Development Commission. This Committee is staffed by one of our Area Ministers and is represented on the Leadership Commission. The TMC has instituted an annual Fall Continuing Education Event and has developed an excellent Manual for the Area Ministers to use with congregations. Through the Pastoral Excellence Program, our Interim Ministers were able to attend an extended training workshop with Peter Steineke and have a Community of Practice Group, especially for Interim Ministers.

Now, we introduce the results of the next stages of our common work: Click on each title to access the PDF file.    Interim Ministry Manual

    1. A Massachusetts Conference Interim Profile (PDF)  OR in WORD format:

        http://www.macucc.org/central/documents/MassConfInterimProfileForm.doc

    2. Protocols for Interim Ministry in our Conference

    3. “Living the Covenants” - Conference-wide expectations

    4. Categories for Transitional Ministry – Some common descriptions of settings for Transitional Ministry

    5. Background Authorization Form

Many, many people have worked hard to develop these materials and the common understandings. We all hope they will help the Massachusetts Conference and those serving our churches. Please read the materials carefully and if you have not completed the new profile materials, please do so as soon as possible and send them to the Area Office(s) where you would like to be considered for work.

We also want you to know that our work is continuing. We are currently exploring the establishment of a fund for assistance with payments for Health and Dental coverage between calls; a manual and training program for Redevelopment Ministry and systematic work of entry and exit processes for congregations.

Thanks to all of you for your faithful service in this important work!

Transitional Ministry Committee Members: David Fountain (Chair), Dianne Arakawa, Bob Livingston, Fred Anderson, Sharon Goss, Sue Thompson, Christine Fontaine, Janet Parsons Mackey