The Board for Theological Education Guidelines
Diocesan Press Service. June 1, 1972 [72076]
To the Bishops, and Chairmen of Diocesan Commissions on Ministry.
Greetings!
This letter is In reference to an important matter - the $300,000 Fund for Clergy Continuing Education.
When the House of Bishops met last October we were pleased to learn through Bishop Warnecke, then Chairman of the Board for Theological Education, that the Episcopal Church Foundation was to make available through the Board the sum of $600,000 for Continuing Education. Half of this amount was designated for use by the Bishops, half by the Clergy.
The B.T.E. then requested a committee to advise us how best to make use of that portion of this gracious gift for Clergy Continuing Education. The following persons met three times between December and March:
The Rt. Rev. Bennett J. Sims, now Bishop of Atlanta
Dr. Marylu J. Fowler, Seabury-Western Seminary
The Rev. John C. Harris, Diocesan Office, Washington, D.C.
The Rt. Rev. John McG Krumm, Bishop of Southern Ohio
Mr. Edwin H. Voorhees, Morehead City, North Carolina
The Very Rev. C. Preston Wiles, St. Matthew's Cathedral, Dallas, Texas
The Rt. Rev. Frederick B. Wolf, Bishop of Maine
The Committee was assisted by the Rev. Almus M. Thorp and the Rev. Richard L. Rising of the B.T.E. staff.
At our Board meeting held May 9th in Sewanee we were pleased to receive the Committee's Report. With only a few changes in substance and form, we adopted It as expressive of our common mind.
On the basis of work done to date we now offer you the enclosed materials for your careful consideration. As you read them you will want to keep in mind such factors as these:
(I) The plan is basically decentralized.
(2) Its success, therefore, depends in very large measure upon the skillful pastoral concern and team-work of the Bishop and Commission on Ministry.
(3) It pre-supposes that each Diocese will constantly examine its own financial resources for Clergy Continuing Education.
We know the $300,000 given by the Episcopal Church Foundation will neither go far nor last long, but we do believe it constitutes a very significant step ahead. If it is evident that it makes a demonstrable difference in the life and work of those who receive grants, I have faith that the people of our Church will see to it that the fund grows in amount and usefulness.
What we place before you is by no means perfect but we offer it for your use with thanks to all who have made it a reality. Your suggestions for improvement are always entirely welcome.
I shall hope to write early in the fall that the Committee on Continuing Education for Bishops has reported to us, and that in the light of this report, Bishops may begin with the Commissions on Ministry to frame plans for their own continuing education.
As ever,
Ned Cole
Chairman
P. S. Please note that a copy of this material goes to all active bishops for their information, and that a copy goes to the Chairman of each Diocesan Commission on Ministry.
We ask that the bishop take the initiative and earnestly request the Chairman of his D.C.M. to read the materials carefully, meet with the Commission, complete the requested form and other required Information, and return them when possible to:
BOARD FOR THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
935 East Avenue
Rochester, New York 14607
GRANTS FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR CLERGY
The Conceptual Model and Its Basic Aims
The Board offers the following model for allocating and administering the initial grant of $300,000 for Clergy Continuing Education.
The aims of this model are:
1. To assist Bishops and Diocesan Commissions on Ministry as they guide the clergy in the development of their own continuing education plans.
2. To foster an increasing desire on the part of clergy and Commissions on Ministry to assess the effect of continuing education programs on the participants and their work.
3. To Increase the number of clergy who accept continuing education as a vocational necessity.
4. To assist Bishops and Commissions on Ministry who wish to establish more effective diocesan delivery systems of continuing education.
5. To stimulate motivation for continuing education on the part of clergy and their vestries.
The model has three major components: (I) Eligibility Criteria for the Receiving of Grants; (II) Steps to be Taken for Participation in the Grants Program; (III) Procedural Matters: The B.T.E. Grants Committee.
I. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR THE RECEIVING OF GRANTS
A. The Clergy
1. The client group is Clergy of the Episcopal Church (deacons -- male and female -- and priests) exercising their ministry in one of the categories of work listed below* and whose continuing education is understood as professional development for work within these structures:
a. In some parochial cure within the jurisdiction of this church,
b. As a missionary or staff executive under the ecclesiastical authority of some Diocese or Missionary District,
c. As an officer of some missionary society recognized by the General Convention.
* These categories are adapted from those provided in another context in Title III, Canon II, Sec. 9.
d. As a chaplain in the military service of the United States,
e. As a chaplain In some recognized hospital or other institution,
f. As a chaplain, instructor or administrator in some school, college, university or seminary.
g. In some ecumenical agency in formal association with a Diocese or Missionary District.
2. Such Clergy must have had at least three years' experience beyond the date of ordination to the Diaconate.
3. They must receive more than one half of their earned income from one of the categories listed in I-A-I above.
B. Guidelines for Diocesan Commissions on Ministry (D.C.M.)
A D.C.M. Is eligible to approve applications for grant money when that body has furnished the B.T.E. with the written guidelines and criteria It has developed for the approval of individual proposals from their Clergy. Such guidelines and criteria must fulfill the following conditions:
1. They must be congruent with those herein established and stated by the B.T.E.
2. They must contain a specific statement about the relationship between already existing diocesan and local funds for continuing education and the approved proposal submitted for a B.T.E. grant.
3. They must include stated evaluative procedures by which the effect of each person's program of continuing education will be determined.
Each D.C.M. representing Clergy who receive grants will be expected to report at the end of each calendar year to the B.T.E. on: (a) Its own general procedures and (b) the effects of Individual grants on the receiving Clergy and their constituencies.
It is earnestly requested that all other D.C.1.'s will report to the B.T.E. on their continuing education activities and procedures at the end of each calendar year.
C. Individual Grant Proposals from Clergy making appeal through a D.C.M.
Every proposal must be developed in such a way as to show that the following steps have been taken:
1. Applicants have engaged In reflection on their personal and career needs with one or more persons.
2. Applicants' educational alms and goals have been developed In consultation with family, colleagues, staff and others significantly involved in their professional life.
3. Applicants' plans have been prepared In consultation with the leadership of their organizations (especially lay leadership) and in the light of the needs of those organizations.
4. Applicants' Bishops and/or diocesan staff have been involved in the preparation of plans.
5. Applicants have specified the means of evaluating the effect of their proposed plans upon their personal and professional work, families and constituencies.
II. STEPS TO BE TAKEN FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE GRANTS PROGRAM.
A. The D.C.M. must develop a statement of its own procedures and criteria for diocesan approval of grant applications, Including the three conditions specified in I, B above. A copy of the statement should be sent as soon as possible to the B.T.E. Use forms enclosed.
B. The Grants Committee of the B.T.E., in approving the statement, will then notify the D.C.M. of Its eligibility to submit approved applications for funding. If, in the Judgment of the committee, the statement is unclear or the procedures and criteria Inadequate, it will notify the D.C.M. without delay with suggestions about appropriate changes; revised statements will be acted upon immediately after being received.
C. After a D.C.M. has been notified in writing of its eligibility, applications which it has approved should be sent to the B.T.E. anytime after October 1, 1972. Forms will be provided by this office. Funding will be on a first-come, first-served basis. It Is anticipated that the first grants will be awarded in the month of November, 1972.
D. In order to insure that available funds be distributed on a wide basis, during the first year of operation of the program no diocese may receive grants for more than 10% of its eligible clergy and for a total of more than $10,000. These ceilings will be reviewed in the light of the experience of the first year and may be modified later by the B.T.E., on recommendation of the Grants Committee.
E. As noted in I, B above, Commissions on Ministry in those dioceses in which grants have been made must submit at the end of each calendar year an evaluative report on both the individual grants and on the D.C.M.'s own procedures.
III. PROCEDURAL MATTERS: THE B.T.E. GRANTS COMMITTEE
The Administration of the grants program will be the task of a Grants Committee of five appointed by the Chairman of the B.T.E. Two of the five are to be members of the Board.
The work of the Grants Committee is seen to be as follows:
A. To assure itself that the procedures and criteria submitted by D.C.M.'s are congruent with the established B.T.E. guidelines.
B. To determine, as individual grant appeals are received, that they are congruent with both B.T.E. and diocesan guidelines.
C. To authorize the payment of grant funds when askings are approved.
D. Periodically to examine the goals and procedures of the grant program especially in the light of evaluative data received from the dioceses and from grant recipients, and to recommend to the B.T.E. any procedural and/or program modifications the Grants Committee deems important.
During the first year, the Grants Committee will accumulate the necessary experience and data for developing an effective job description for a National Coordinator, who, experience may demonstrate, should become available early in 1974. Such a Committee's experience will be helpful in setting the priorities for a stronger and expanded approach to the continuing education and development of the clergy of our Church.
Please address your communications to:
BOARD FOR THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
935 EAST AVENUE
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK 14607
PHONE: 716-244-0077