Before going to your interviews arranged by the Synod, you have to supply a reflective account of Church Meetings attended. You will also attend the Synod and be asked to write a reflective account of that meeting as part of the whole candidating process. The following guidelines are intended to help you to do this. Around 300-500 words is a reasonable length for such an account.

1. A reflective account is not simply a description of everything that occurred at a Church meeting or Such an account might be described as narrative. It is not reflective.

2. It will need to identify what seemed to you to be the most important These are likely to include the major agenda items; but they may also include, for example, the worship with which the meeting probably started and ended, the nature and size of the attendance, and the fellowship structure within which the meeting took place. A reflective account should not attempt to cover every aspect of the meeting.

3. In preparing your reflective account, you may like to consider the following questions:

• Did members of the Church Meeting /Synod seem to be seeking the will of God, or simply trying to persuade others of the rightness of their own point of view? Did they listen to those whose opinion was different?
• Was the meeting significantly different from comparable meetings of other bodies you’ve been to? If so, how?
• Did the meeting reflect an inward-looking, defensive Church, preferring to concentrate on business matters; or a Church anxious to relate its faith to contemporary society?
• Did those attending the meeting seem happy and comfortable to be there? Or did some seem to be isolated or anxious? What about you?
• Was there a reasonable balance amongst those attending, in terms of age, gender and ethnicity? If not, why not?

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Eligibility

Financial support towards Education for Ministry (phases 2 and 3) is available for:

• Ministers of Word and Sacraments and Church Related Community Workers (CRCWs) on the United Reformed Church payroll, referred to from this point forward as ministers.
• United Reformed Church ministers working in ecumenical posts and paid ecumenically, where the comparable Education for Ministry grant is not available.
• United Reformed Church ministers in non-stipendiary service in appointments recognised by the synod.
• Retired ministers in active ministry recognised by the synod.

It is recognised that there will be people who are not included in the above list.Ìý Such people will receive grants at the discretion of the designated synod officer responsible for Education for Ministry (phases 2 and 3), in consultation with the Secretary for Education and Learning.

Ministers from other denominations who are in recognised ministry with a Local Ecumenical Partnership which contains United Reformed Church members are eligible to apply for grants at 50% of the level set for United Reformed Church ministers, provided that they have exhausted similar allowances available to them through their own denomination.

What can grants be used for?

• The purpose of EM2/EM3 is to develop ministry through work-related practical training, educational, spiritual, and professional development, and on very rare argued occasions, specialist equipment. Grants can only be given for these purposes.
• Every request will be subject to an ‘application to ministry’ test. Applicants must show that the learning for which they are seeking funding has a direct bearing on the ministry which they are currently exercising or which they are preparing to exercise in future.
• Grants are unlikely to be authorised for attendance at church assemblies, general church conferences, network meetings or meetings of organisations unless there is a training element or unless it is a one-off to test if such an event would support future ministry. If the latter is the case, future attendance would be funded by either the place of ministry or the minister.

How to apply

1. Applications should be made well before the beginning of the course or event. Retrospective applications will not necessarily be met.
2. Applications should be made on the attached form and sent to the designated synod officer responsible for EM2/EM3.

Other sources of support

Other sources of support may be available and these should be explored as well as applying forÌýEM2/EM3 support. ÌýDetails of such sources are available from the designated synod officerÌýresponsible for EM2/EM3.

ÌýHow are grants paid?

Grants authorised by the designated synod officer responsible for EM2/EM3 are paid by the synod in two different ways. Either a) directly upon presentation of invoices, for example a bill from a training institution or from a travel agent, or b) by reimbursement to the minister upon presentation of proof of payment relating to expenditure made. Sometimes you may not be able to get evidence, such as a receipt or invoice, for cash expenses, especially where the amounts are small.Ìý If this happens, make a brief note as soon as you can of the amount you spent, when you spent it and what it was for.Ìý The Revenue have agreed that receipts for expenditure will not be necessary for train travel of under £20 on any one journey or out of pocket expenses such as car parking or subsistence of under £10.

The Assembly element may then be claimed back by the synod from the Education and Learning office at Church House.

Reports and Records

Following your course, we ask you to return the R1 report form to the synod officer responsible for EM2/EM3.Ìý If this form is not returned, you may not be eligible for a grant in the following year.

Grants

You may claim the full cost of courses, including travel and books up to £700 (£350 if you are in the Education for Ministry phase 2 period) in each calendar year.Ìý If your course continues over more than one calendar year, or the course fee is higher than the annual claim allowance, you may be able to be registered within the Rollover Funding Scheme, which can allow you to borrow ahead or save up to three years EM2/3 funding.Ìý Your synod EM2/3 officer will work with you to plan your funding and make your registration with the scheme.

Download the application form

• Authorisation for support of Education for Ministry Phases 2 and 3 (Word | 59kb)

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Presidency at the sacraments is a training course for authorised elders and lay preachers. The course is provided through the synods who will make arrangements for the material to be delivered locally, or in ways appropriate to local situations.

Please contact your synod office or synod Training and Development OfficerÌýfor more details.

Learning outcomes

After participating in the training course, those authorised will feel more confident to preside at both Communion and baptisms, and will feel confident that they share best practice with others so authorised throughout the United Reformed Church.

Learning outputs

Authorised elders will understand:

• The nature of authorisation within Church order
• The nature of sacrament
• Sacraments and the Bible
• The purpose of the sacraments
• The theology of the sacraments
• Symbolism of the sacraments
• Liturgies for sacraments
• Practicalities of presidency

Course outline

The course follows a blended learning format and is designed to be flexible in its use. Face-to-face sessions (which might be a series of evenings or a single day session if that is more appropriate) are supplemented by the reading material that is available on this site. The course trainers are encouraged to cover all the elements of the training, while being flexible in how the face-to-face sessions are arranged.

The material below will be used as preparation for and during the face-to-face sessions.

They include the URC’s:

• theological and historical understanding of the Sacraments (PDF | 487kb)
• guidance concerning Baptism and the Basis of Union (PDF | 488kb)
• material about children and communion (PDF | 920kb)
• a practical checklist for presidingÌý(PDF | 183kb).

Pre-course questions to consider

Before you begin your face-to-face training sessions to expand your practice of sacraments, it will be helpful to review your experiences so far.You may like to simply ask these questions of yourself and think of your answers, or you may like to write down your answers.

Communion

• When did I feel most alive when I participated in a Communion service? What single thing stood out for me?
• Are there words said or heard in a Communion service which remain in my heart or head? What are they? Why have they been important?

And, if you have already presided at Communion:

• Which experience of presiding at Communion stays happily in my memory and why?

Baptism

• What does my baptism mean to me?
• What service of baptism which I have witnessed stays in my mind as a deeply moving event? What happened? Why was it important?

And, if you have already presided at baptism:

• Which experience of carrying out a baptism stays happily in my memory and why?

Session materialÌý

Face-to-face sessions will expand on the material available online, will draw in participant experience, and will introduce new material on the nature of authorisation, for both Communion and baptism. Sessions can be held either on one day, or spaced out as desired by the group and by the trainer.

After face-to-face reflection

Participants may like to keep a journal as they start thinking about and training to preside at Communion and baptisms. After the course has ended these journal entries could be used to reflect on presidency and it may be appropriate for a learning group to discuss these entries and reflections together.

If you need futher information about celebrating the Sacraments, please contact your Training or Development Officer.

Further resources

• Worship from the United Reformed Church (URC Service Book 2003)
• Baptism in the United Reformed Church (PDF | 690kb)Ìý – The Manual, The Basis of Union Clause 14 (and schedule A)

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Education for Ministry Phase 2 (EM2) is the post ordination or commissioning period lasting until all requirements have been met, normally three years.

In practical terms, the EM2 phase normally begins at ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament or commissioning to Church Related Community Work and ends with a certificate of completion of EM2, issued by the Synod in which training has been completed.

More fundamentally, the EM2 period is focussed on moving from content focussed learning to context focussed learning where responsibility for learning moves away from the Resource Centre for Learning towards the minister or CRCW. EM2 is about context and development, putting theology and faith in real places with the minister holding real responsibility.

EM2 GuidelinesÌýexplain more about the EM transitions, the people responsible for EM2 and the processes supporting the EM2 period of learning. The Assembly portion of the EM2 programme was redesigned at the end of 2020 to more effectively meet the needs of the varied shapes of ministry into which ministers are ordained or commissioned –ÌýEM2 Assembly Programme.

Information and guidance to download

• EM2 Guidelines 2024 (Word | 2mb)
• EM2 Assembly Programme 2024 (Word | 2mb)
• EM2 Assembly Programme info for churches (Word | 2mb)
• EM2 Ministry Mentor role descriptor (Word | 2mb)

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