South Central Regional Training Partnership Hub
Supporting pioneers across the south of England
The pioneer landscape has changed swiftly over the past 15 years since the first ordained pioneer ministers were accepted for training in the Church of England. Now there are pioneers of many denominations, lay and ordained, unpaid and paid, full-time, occasional and part-time, in mission in a huge variety of contexts and developing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit an exciting range of ways into the kingdom of God, some of them in most surprising places.
This work has been supported, informed and amplified over the past five years through the South Central Regional Training Partnership (SCRTP) Pioneer Hub. The Hub has been enabled through the role of the SCRTP Pioneer Hub Facilitator.
Currently this post is held by Tina Hodgett.
Through the Hub there are opportunities for pioneers to
- learn from each other
- be inspired and encouraged
- ask challenging questions
- engage in prophetic dialogue
- be equipped to advocate for pioneering within a mixed ecology of church
- respond to the changing landscape in an emergent way
- innovate and put down paving stones towards the future church
CMS hosts the South Central Regional Training Partnership (SCRTP) Pioneer Hub. The SCRTP is a partnership between six dioceses (Bath & Wells, Guildford, Oxford, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Winchester), the South and the Islands Methodist region, and the URC Wessex Synod. It was formed to enable closer working in the area of ministerial training and liaises as appropriate with theological colleges in the south central (Ripon College Cuddesdon, Sarum College and Wycliffe Hall). Since 2011 the SCRTP in collaboration with CMS has enabled a support role for pioneer ministry which has contributed significantly in the growth of pioneer ministry in the region.
The main areas of work the hub engages in are:
- networking and supporting pioneers: there is a very active Facebook group which facilitates information sharing and discussion. The hub also helps facilitate the development of supportive networks in different parts of the region and around specific areas of ministry.
- learning and training: the hub distributes a termly email with a summary of training courses, conferences and other gatherings for pioneers in the region. It also facilitates training opportunities in certain specific areas e.g. pioneer curates, pioneer training ministers.
- engagement and advocacy: the hub aims to gather and communicate good practice and key learnings from the ministry of pioneers across the region. This involves articles on the CMS Pioneer blog and other channels. It also organises strategic gatherings of pioneers and other strategic leaders to promote greater understanding and to create space for the further development of this ministry.
- innovation: the hub creates space for innovation. Over the past three years it has financially invested in the development of the Pioneer Spectrum website and toolkit at pioneerspectrum.com which is also hosted on the CMS website.
Contact Tina Hodgett
Tina.Hodgett@churchmissionsociety.org
07759 909106
@rumpusrev
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