Agenda Volume 3 - Methodist Conference

57. The Fruitful Field Project
will help individuals to explore and
develop their practical skills as
a preacher or Worship Leader. A
Pathway Mentor will help individuals
to plan their learning and choose the
most appropriate modes of study,
while holding the ’big picture‘ of the
learner’s progress and guiding them
in the production of their portfolio.
A Pathway Mentor may also act as
module tutor for some modules in a
variety of contexts. Across Circuits,
Districts and regions, volunteer tutors
will support the delivery of modules,
relying heavily on the Network’s
published materials or adapting them
significantly to meet local contexts
and needs, or, in most cases,
necessarily opting for a combination
of both processes. Some modules
may also be ’self-led‘ in small groups
using the Network’s materials.
142 There is an important role here
for the Discipleship and Ministries
Learning Network. As well as having
a significant role in the design and
development of new materials, and
in delivering modules across Districts
and regions, the Network’s expert
staff will have a crucial coordinating
role across Circuits and Districts.
In part this will be organisational,
working with District Local Preachers’
Secretaries to coordinate the
availability of opportunities and
resources, and being an accessible
point of contact for mentors, tutors
and Circuit officers. In part it will
be an encouraging and enabling
role, actively supporting the
development of new provision and
contextually-appropriate opportunities
for formation and development
across the region, and supporting
individuals and groups to access
the best of available opportunities
and resources. In part it will also
be inspirational, working alongside
District Local Preachers’ Secretaries
to advocate the importance of
initial formation and training as
well as continuing development,
the importance of engagement
with contemporary and missional
areas, and the importance of the
contribution which a range of wellsupported
ministries can make to
the growth of a mission-focused
Circuit. A flexible, modular pattern
of initial formation and training for
those on note or on trial or preparing
to be Worship Leaders, alongside
a renewed emphasis on continuing
development, is necessarily a
complex redevelopment, and the
resulting system risks being knotty
and fragmented. There is therefore
a key role for the Network’s expert
staff in holding the ’big picture‘ within
the region, and in being the ’face‘
of a new and accessible framework,
guiding learners and those who
give so much of their own time to
support the learning and growth of
others. There is a clear link here to
the regional post proposed below, in
paragraph 164.1 – a connexionally
funded post within each region with
a clear mandate to support, enable
and develop the ministries of Local
Preachers and Worship Leaders.
143 What might the redevelopment
700 Conference Agenda 2012