Ministerial Development Review Hub

Ministerial Development Review (MDR) is part of the support and accountability tools for ministers in the Methodist Church in Great Britain. 

MDR is rooted in the covenant relationship between the Conference and its ordained ministers and provides opportunities for structured reflection on ministry within a minister’s context. It applies to all ordained ministers (deacons and presbyters) in Circuit or District appointments, and to all District Chairs.  It also applies to every minister who has entered into an agreement with a circuit to undertake pastoral responsibility in one or more local church.

To find out more about MDR, please visit the MDR homepage on the Methodist Church website. 

Understanding MDR

1. What is MDR?

This video introduces MDR, explaining:

  1. Why it exists

  2. The relationship of MDR to Reflective Supervision

  3. Explaining how MDR listens to the context of ministry, rather than what the Supervisee brings to Supervision

  4. Whom MDR applies to, and

  5. Who is involved

  6. How we might choose topics

3. People & Skills

There are 3 key people in the MDR process:

  1. The Minister
    This is the person whose MDR it is.

  2. The Ordained Contributor
    Usually the Minister-in-Oversight, the Ordained Contributor’s job is to have an understanding of the ministry context of the minister

  3. The Lay Contributor
    Chosen by the Minister whose MDR it is, the Lay Contributor is responsible for convening the meetings throughout the process

Both contributors should be able to:

  • Show empathy and tact

  • Build rapport

  • Probe and listen carefully

  • Give and receive feedback well

  • Engage in constructive dialogue

  • Summarise and analyse potentially complex hopes, goals and needs

  • Practise discretion and observe confidentiality

  • Work collaboratively

2. Explaining the Process

4. The Process

Words in the ordination service remind us that:

“…ministry will make great demands upon you and upon those close to you; yet in all this, the Holy Spirit will sustain you by his grace.”

Our hope is that MDR might make space for us to hear the voice of God’s spirit, and take action.

The MDR process is outlined in broad strokes below. You’ll find a full explanation of the MDR process in Ministerial Development Review: A Simple Guide, which you can download on this page of the Methodist Church’s website.

  • The Report from the Supervisor
    A report is made from the Supervisor to the Minister, the Minister in Oversight and the Lay Contributor. This form is confidential to this group, and contains an overview of all the areas which have been covered in Supervision sessions.

  • The Initial Meeting
    Convened by the Lay Contributor, the group gather to review the form, and consider any other reflective work completed by the minister. The meeting also looks at :

    • The ministerial covenant

    • The competencies for ministry and

    • Any relevant learning from the JDS strategy

    And uses all of the above to agree:

    • A focus for MDR

    • The type of feedback required (written, verbal, from whom, and how it will be obtained)

    • How this information will be collated and distilled for use in MDR

    • Appropriate dates and clarification of roles

    • The relationship of MDR to Reflective Supervision

  • Gathering Feedback
    Undertaken by the Lay Contributor, feedback is gathered and distilled. We recommend the AID Model of feedback. AID stands for:

    • Action
      What you observed

    • Impact
      The impact it had on me

    • Desired Outcome
      What does the person offering feedback want to be different?

  • The MDR Meeting
    Held in a non-public, neutral space, and embedded in theological reflection and prayer, the minister is invited to offer their reflections on the area chosen, alongside curated feedback from others

  • Wrapping up
    Once the final meeting is finished, two forms are completed: one for the minister’s Reflective Supervisor, and another for the minister themselves, which they can then use for conversations with the Learning Network or other organisations about training.

Downloads & Forms

Making the work the right size

So how do we make the best of our MDR meetings? This short video from Jon White, our Aligned Learning Network Officer, shows you how. In it, Jon draws from thinking by Claire Pedrick, found in her book Simplifying Coaching
(OUP, 2020).

Download the MDR Guide
Download the MDR forms

Additional
Resources

For MDR to be a fruitful experience it needs to be:

  • Enfolded in an ethos of prayer and trust

  • Planted on a firm foundation of local and contextual feedback

  • Interwoven with the supervision process

  • Mindful of the Ministerial Covenant

  • A place where ministry in all its complexity can be both celebrated and renewed

This video breaks down the process of MDR, including:

  1. The timing of the different phases of the MDR process

  2. Defining the topic for MDR

  3. The forms that feed into the MDR process, and the forms that come out of the MDR process and where they go