Introduction and Basic Guidelines:

Overall Course objective

We come to ministry with our whole lives. There is no ‘time before’ we were ordained or came to faith that has to be set aside, so that we can ‘begin again’. We do not minister from a vacuum. We are not a clean slate. We minister from our wounds and from what we have learned from our past. But ministry is not psychotherapy. It is not a skill in that sense, although certain kinds of skills, when brought to the service of our ministry can be helpful. We are not even our gifts. We are persons with a story, a story that has shaped who we are and the values we believe in. It has probably shaped our idea of God.

 In time, we may discover that it is God who shapes himself to our memories, who remembers with us, who articulates our unspoken cries of anger, outrage and sheer pain. So we need to own from the start that we are persons who have done things, been to places, learned a lot, known joy, but also known suffering. 

All of this we bring to the service of the Church. But, more specifically, and more importantly, we bring the context that has shaped us to the service of those we are called to serve, so that we can meet them in their memories as ‘Christ bearers’ or theotokoi, in the pain they may still be experiencing. We do not presume to give advice, since we are not doctors or psychotherapists, but we do hope to help them meet Christ and to journey more deeply into his life, so experiencing the freedom in him that we have all been promised.

Reminder: Clergy Safeguarding Procedures for the Church of England

If in any doubt about what you should do in relation to an ongoing abuse situation go to the police.