The diocesan Mission and Ministry Team helps to equip and enable people to follow God’s call in their lives and better serve their communities. The team offers learning and training opportunities for people throughout the Diocese, wherever they are in their discipleship journey.
Director of Mission and Ministry, Roger Latham said: “Our team leads on the diocesan underpinning priority of equipping ministers for mission and we see both mission and ministry in very broad terms. We aim to offer something to resource everyone to serve God more effectively in their place.”
Read more about Roger’s appointment in this article.
Doug Chaplin – Discipleship and Lay Training Officer
Doug has worked in the diocese since 1993, having been a parish priest before moving to work in the diocesan office. He organises learning programmes for especially for lay people; both skills-based courses and information/ bible learning which aims to enrich and support what can be offered in parishes. Doug is responsible for the training programmes for both ALMs and LLMs (Readers) and also responds to requests from parishes, for example leading intercessions, or training for pastoral visitors.
Doug said: “I really enjoy seeing people get excited as they respond to new perspectives on faith and the bible and then using that knowledge to get more involved in their church and community.”
John Fitzmaurice - Director of Ordinands and Vocation
John has been our diocesan Director of Ordinands (DDO) since 2015. He currently works 25 hours a week looking after those who feel they have a calling to ordained ministry as they go through the discernment process and their formal training (until they are ordained Deacon), as well as having a role in helping people explore their vocation more generally. John works alongside a team of voluntary Assistant DDOs and the team is often the first point of call for people who have a feeling that God is calling them to something more and they have confirmed this calling with their incumbent.
John said: “I love the people God is calling to ministry. It is a real sign of hope in the Church that God still calls fabulous people to serve Him.”
Janet Fox – Clergy Development Officer
Janet started as our half-time Clergy Development Officer in January. Her role involves connecting with clergy at different points on their journeys – from their first post of primary responsibility right the way through to retirement. Janet’s background is in healthcare and as a qualified coach and mediator with leadership development experience, she has a real insight into the pastoral care of those who care for others and can offer support at different points of need. Janet helps organise mentoring for new incumbents and individual coaching for clergy as well as signposting training offered across the West Midlands Region. Her role will also involve the development of a range of opportunities to further support clergy in their ministry.
Janet said: “I’ve been having lots of conversations to work out how we can best support clergy in their work. It is brilliant to hear people’s stories and translate those into something which will best help us grow the Kingdom of God.”
Robert Barlow – IME2 Officer
Robert started at the beginning of February and is working a day and a half each week as IME2 Officer, supporting our curates from their ordination as Deacon and for the next three years. Robert is a former parish priest and Rural Officer in the Diocese who continues to volunteer as part of the ministry team in the parishes of Teme Valley South alongside this part-time diocesan role. He will offer a range of training opportunities to curates to supplement their training in the parish, ensuring that they receive a broader training experience than any one training incumbent can provide and that their curacy sets them up well for life as a fully fledged vicar! Robert will also be supporting training incumbents, ensuring that their relationship with their curate is working well and is a positive and life-giving experience.
Robert said: “I will be meeting with and getting to know all our curates and training incumbents and I am looking forward to seeing people flourish. I feel like my background enables me to offer my experience in both rural and urban ministry to the younger generation and help them to find innovative ways of expressing the gospel in their individual contexts.”
The team is supported by Ruth Shearn, who works 21 hours a week in term time as Training and Events Co-ordinator. Ruth organises the booking system, books venues, handles communication with participants and ensures training courses and other events run smoothly and well.
There are also a number of volunteers who offer their time to run the training sessions organised by the Mission and Ministry Team and work alongside the team in other roles for example the co-Wardens of Readers and co-Deans of Self-Supporting Ministers.
Roger said: “We are a team who find joy and passion in watching others grow and flourish and become the people God has called them to be. We are here to help all our churches to become healthier and more sustainable and really want to work in a collaborative way with as many people as possible. The Auxiliary Pathway has been a great example of that – it involves people finding a new call on their lives and all of our team has helped to bring that to fruition. The programme has also brought a huge amount of joy to our parishes. Please get in touch with us if there are areas that you feel we can support you whenever you are on your Christian journey – we will be delighted to hear from you!”
