Codes of Procedures - for selection, reports and confidentiality
MINISTRY DIVISION CODE OF PROCEDURE
REPORTS ON SPONSORED CANDIDATES AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR FIRST APPOINTMENTS (updated June 2009)
This Code of Procedure is published by the Ministry Division on the authority of the House of Bishops. It sets out the procedures which should be observed by the Bishops and their officers, by the Principals of Colleges, Courses and OLM schemes, by incumbents, and by the candidates themselves.
After full consultation, the Code was first agreed between the Committee of ACCM Bishops, the Principals and Staffs of Theological Colleges and Courses and the Association of Ordinands and Candidates for Ministry (AOCM) and published in January 1991. It was fully revised in February 2002 following the approval of the paper on reporting produced by a working party jointly set up by the principals and staffs, the Association of Ordinands and Candidates for Ministry and the Bishops’ Committee for Ministry. This code should be read in conjunction with the general advice in that report, Preparing for Ordained Ministry. Good Practice in assessment and on reporting on candidates within initial training, Ministry Division, 2002. However, the practical procedures in this Code supersede those set out in that report.
SOME ISSUES AT THE POINT OF SELECTION
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
1. All candidates should be asked to fill in the Statement of Financial Position (Appendix A) by their dioceses before they are sponsored for a Bishops’ Advisory Panel. The DDO should begin working with candidates on issues of debt as early as possible but certainly once the decision has been made to sponsor the candidate for a selection conference. Candidates who have stipendiary ministry as their focus of ministry should be asked by their dioceses to fill in the Statement of Financial Position for a second time in conjunction with the interim report.
HEALTH
2. Dioceses and candidates should inform training institutions about any significant health issues that have come to light during the selection process. Candidates and Principals should keep dioceses informed about any significant health issues occurring during training. Following the declarations made by candidates on health prior to a Bishops’ Advisory Panel, candidates will be asked to make a further declaration about their health in conjunction with the interim report. The Ministry Division’s Senior Medical Advisor will follow this up, as necessary, and will advise the candidate’s diocese.
CHILD PROTECTION
3. Candidates should be asked by their dioceses to gain clearance under the procedures to be operated by the Criminal Records Bureau
(i) before being sponsored for a Bishops’ Advisory Panel;
(ii) prior to ordination.
Any issues that arise should be handled by the candidate’s diocese.
REPORTS ON SPONSORED CANDIDATES
4. Principals should arrange for a written and dated report
to be made on each sponsored candidate before the end of both the penultimate and final year of training. In addition, an internal report should be written on candidates who have three years in training at the end of the first year. This report should set goals for the remainder of the period in training. If requested by the sponsoring Bishop, in respect of a particular candidate, a report should be provided at the end of the first year of a three year course.
5. Candidates should have the opportunity to read and discuss with a staff member each report when complete, to sign that they have read it, and to add their own comments. The Principal should always be one of the signatories of the report. The candidate’s declaration at the end of the report should read T have read and discussed the above report with a member of staff.’
6. The interim report should be sent to the sponsoring Bishops by 20th June in the candidate’s penultimate year in training. Reports on candidates who meet all three of the following conditions, a) they will exercise a self supporting ministry, b) whose title has been arranged by 20th June, and c) whose ordination is to be at Michaelmas or at a later ordination date, may be sent to the sponsoring Bishop by 20th September.
7. Interim reports should be accompanied by the attached Personal Profile (Appendix B), which is to be completed by the candidates themselves, and will be available for sponsoring Bishops, Diocesan Directors of Ordinands, and potential training incumbents.
8. Final reports should be sent to the ordaining Bishop by 31st May. Reports for candidates who are to be ordained at Michaelmas or at a later ordination date should be sent at least four weeks before the date of the ordination.
9. Reports should indicate clearly the candidate’s suitability for and progress towards ordination. They should cover all those aspects of the candidate’s life-style and performance which might be significant for future ministry. Reports should comment on family and domestic issues which may affect the exercise of ordained ministry. Attention should be paid to “the quality of such as are to be ordained deacons or priests” as set out in Canon C4 of the Canons of the Church of England, the Ordinal of the Book of Common Prayer and in the Alternative Service Book; together with Criteria for Selection and the Learning Outcomes (Shaping the Future, CHP 2006, pp. 68-72).
10. All reports will be confidential to the named parties below and will not be available to others without the candidate’s knowledge and consent.
11. Interim reports on candidates will be made up of two parts.
PART A, THE GENERAL REPORT, WILL BE AVAILABLE TO:
i) the Bishop with continuing pastoral responsibility for the individual, and to his DDO;
ii) the incumbent of an OLM candidates in training, on account of his or her role in the candidate’s training;
iii) a prospective training incumbent when, after initial visits and meetings, he or she is minded to offer the title post to the candidate. This copy should be requested from the bishop’s office.
PART B, THE RECOMMENDATION TO THE BISHOP, WILL BE CONFIDENTIAL TO THE CANDIDATE’S BISHOP AND DDO.
Each part (A and B) should state clearly to whom a confidential report is being made (’Confidential to the Bishop and….’).
12. Final reports on candidates will be made up of two parts. i) Part A, the general report, will be confidential to the Bishop, DDO, the officer responsible for IME 4-7 and training incumbent.
ii) Part B, The recommendation to the Bishop, will be confidential to the Bishop and DDO. Each part (A and B) should state clearly to whom a confidential report is being made (’Confidential to the Bishop and….’).
13. The general report should use the format provided below, and should contain the training institution’s view of the candidate and should give an account of the training undertaken, what the candidate has gained from training, reflection on the personal and ministerial formation of the candidate, and where appropriate, comment on future goals in training or future training needs.
14. The recommendation to the Bishop should give advice to the Bishop on the advisability of ordination. In this section, the training institution may raise personal or sensitive issues about the candidate in confidence to the Bishop and DDO.
15. If the candidate wishes to add a paragraph to the report (see 2 above), it may be appended to either or both sections of the report.
A COMMON FORMAT FOR REPORTS
16. The following format is based on the Learning Outcomes approved by the House of Bishops. Training institutions should use the following headings, rubrics and standard questions.
A. HEADINGS TO BE USED:
1. Personality, character and relationships
2. Faith, vocation and spirituality
3. Quality of mind and theological learning
4. Ministry within the Church of England, mission and evangelism, leadership and collaboration
5. Further training needs (for the next phase of development, IME 4-7 or CME as appropriate)
B. QUESTIONS:
In the light of the proposed exercise of ordained ministry, from your knowledge has the candidate’s health given any concern?
Are there any issues that need to be addressed before the candidate can be recommended for ordination?
Is there anything else about the candidate and his/her circumstance that the bishop needs to know?
C. REMINDER TO DDOS
On receipt of the interim report, please ask the candidates proceeding to a stipendiary post to fill in the Statement of Financial Position again and to follow up any financial issues with them
CANDIDATE’S CONFIDENTIAL FILE
17. When a diocese is considering offering a title to a candidate from another diocese, it may request the sponsoring papers, report from the Bishops’ Advisory Panel and any relevant medical information from the sponsoring diocese and, depending on the timing of the transfer, the interim and final reports from the training institution. The Ministry Division may also be consulted. When a candidate is appointed to a title outside his or her sponsoring diocese, the candidate’s confidential file will be sent by the sponsoring Bishop to the ordaining Bishop.
18. In addition to the written reporting procedure set out in this Code, there may be need for other types of communication (for example, telephone conversations) between a principal and a bishop. Where matters of substance are dealt with, a note will be made by the principal and bishop giving the reasons for any decisions made. The content of the note will be conveyed to the candidate as soon as is practicable, unless exceptional pastoral circumstances dictate otherwise, in which case a note will be made of the reason for the delay.
19. All documents should be clearly dated. Confidential material should only be retained by Bishops, their officers, training institutions and training incumbents for as long as is necessary, subject to the current Data Protection legislation.