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COMMITTEE FOR THE MINISTRY
Rev Dr Viv Grice, Interim Chair

Voting members of the Committee:

  • Ted Bell
  • Jenny Casey
  • Min Ha Choo
  • Viv Grice                                   (Interim Chair)
  • Chris McGowan
  • Keith Mitchell
  • Louise Ramsay
  • Lyn Scott                                  (Retired from the Committee )

Ex-Officio Non-Voting Members: 

  • Grae McWhirter
  • Stephen Bartlett

As with many aspects of our personal lives, and other activities of the Association, 2021, the Committee for the Ministry faced a number of hurdles to its operations in 2021, largely due to the continuing restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The major difficulty has been conducting of confidential panel interviews with applicants for pastoral accreditation and recognition.  As a result, the backlog in interviewing applicants for accreditation and recognition continues to be substantial.  Currently, there are

However, in December the annual interviews of 29 accepted candidates were conducted, entirely online.

Changes in membership John Lustre concluded his time with the Committee as he takes some time out of ministry.  After many years of service, Lyn Scott retired from the Committee.  Lyn concluded as Secretary for the Committee in February 2021 but continued to serve on the Committee until finally finishing in      Lyn’s wisdom, experience and diligence will be sorely missed.  As a result of these movements, the Committee has continued to seek new members, especially with a view of better representing the cultural diversity within our Association.

Meetings:   As in 2021, most functions of the Committee were conducted remotely via end-to-end encrypted Zoom technology.  Only one meeting was completely cancelled, in August, as the Sydney lockdown entered a very serious phase.

 

Important Reviews of Processes and Procedures
Throughout 2021, following the ongoing review of accreditation procedures, new draft documentation was progressively presented to and approved by the Committee, with the final form to be approved by Assembly Council and presented to Assembly in May.  This will streamline and make more flexible various aspects of accreditation processes and requirements, along with introducing some changes to how the Committee goes about its business in relation to the full-time workers in the Association who carry out so much of the accreditation procedures.

 

Continuing Ministry Development 
It is regrettable to have to report that a number of our accredited and recognised pastors consistently fail to complete the CMD requirements, some for a number of years, required by the Assembly decisions many years ago.

 

Thanks and Acknowledgements
The Committee for the Ministry is a very hard-working committee, composed almost totally of volunteers, as are many of the working bodies of our Association.  It is supplemented by additional volunteers who serve alongside its members on the interview panels for ministry applicants. The Committee met eleven times in 2021, both for formal business sessions and such interviews of candidates as could be conducted, involving volunteers in long hours on those days, but additional tasks in between meetings.

In particular, the Committee publicly acknowledges the work alongside of the Committee of the following employees of the Association:

  • Jonathon Bradford who oversees the Ministry Standards Unit.  He has an onerous workload, carrying out a vital role in an era of increasing necessity to address issues of compliance, a role that makes an indispensable contribution to the work of the Committee in maintaining high ethical, moral and professional standards for pastors in our movement.
  • Jenny Casey, who carries the vital role of Co-ordinator of Pastoral Accreditation and Recognition.
  • Fiona who provides day-to-day administrative support for Rev. Casey and the Committee.
  • Krystyna Kidson, the Resident Psychologist for Pastoral Accreditation & Recognition
  • Grae McWhirter