Effectiveness in ministry is a key overall theme of the Making Connections project. The Transitions into Ministry Task Force seeks to enhance effectiveness in the early years of ministry by focusing on leadership development opportunities that occur as one transitions into ministry.
The task force will take as its starting point the Lewis Center for Church Leadership's past work on the early years of ministry and the probationary process. This previous work includes:
- Survey research on the effectiveness os the probationary process conducted with everyone ordained in the United Methodist Church since 1999
- Clergy mentor training in the Baltimore-Washington and Virginia Conferences
- Consultation with the Virginia and Central Pennsylvania Conferences
- Survey data on competencies most present and missing in early years of ministry
- Work with Lewis Fellows, young clergy in leadership development cohort groups
The goal of the Transitions into Ministry component of Making Connections is to move this work forward -- deepening the quality of what is done, expanding the reach within the region, and using the regional pilot projects to develop resources the denomination could use to help conferences in their probationary programs.
