Ministry Accompaniment

Anyone in church leadership (lay or ordained) in Oxford diocese can ask to work with a Ministry Accompanier. Ministry Accompaniment is also available for those in sector ministry within the diocese.

A Ministry Accompanier focuses on you in your role as minister in the context of your benefice/parish/team etc. They can offer an impartial perspective from outside that context. Ministry Accompaniment is not therapy nor counselling and it has a different focus from Spiritual Direction.

Ministry Accompaniment is forward-focused 1-to-1 support from an independent, skilled practitioner who has personal experience of ministry or who understands the Church of England parish context. A Ministry Accompanier is there to work with your ‘stuff’ in a safe, confidential^* environment. Their aim, through attentive listening and challenging questions, is to enable you find greater clarity, identify possible ways forward and to move on.  They may use a number of different skills or approaches, as appropriate, to support your thinking, eg coaching, consultancy or mentoring, but they won’t tell you what to do.

^{* If your conversations involve illegal activity or situations which present a safeguarding risk to you or those you work with and/or minister among, the Ministry Accompanier has a responsibility to report the conversation to the appropriate authorities.}

For full details download the Ministry Accompaniers leaflet.

Some of the network members are freelance and charge a fee, others make no charge. The rate of charge is very reasonable (£40 per hour) and you could use your annual CMD grant of £250 to fund this cost.

First of all, please contact the CMD Adviser or your Parish Development Adviser. They will discuss with you what it is you are looking for from the relationship, e.g. a specific focus or need, and will seek to put you in contact with a number of people who might be appropriate, and with whom you can explore the potential for a working relationship.

Jane Myers

Jane is a qualified Performance Coach, Facilitator and Trainer, with a background in psychology, and over 25 years’ experience in the field. Jane has a niche in understanding how individuals process information and ultimately how to maximise this for personal development and learning. Jane has worked with individuals and teams in the Oxford Diocese for over 10 years. Jane creates thinking space for the client, an essential part of any coaching conversation, using a range of tools and methods to reflect the needs of the individual. Jane is a dyslexia specialist, understanding and offering support to a range of neurodiverse conditions. Jane has coached individuals and teams in a range of organisations, including local government, the education sector and corporate clients.

Revd Canon Mike Smith

Mike is Rector of the parish of Caversham Thameside and Mapledurham, and Area Dean of Reading. Since ordination in 1995 he has served in parochial positions in Manchester, Salford and Caversham, and has parish experience in inner city, urban deprivation, suburban and rural ministry. All this parochial ministry has been in collaborative settings, where ministry is shared with clergy and lay colleagues. Mike has experience on a diocesan senior staff which provided him with insight overseeing and supporting clergy, particularly through transitions and change. Mike is particularly interested is helping clergy and parishes discern God's preferred and promised future. He uses his coaching qualification to help individuals and parishes identify their own challenges and the obstacles they need to overcome to achieve them.

Revd Guy Elsmore

Guy is retired, having served as Archdeacon of Buckingham for nine years. Previously he was a Vicar and Area Dean, in the Diocese of Liverpool, where he also served on the chaplaincy team at Liverpool Women's Hospital. Guy enjoys working with ministers to help them to analyse and respond to the challenges and opportunities before them. He is experienced at working alongside clergy facing seasons of stress, change or conflict.

Revd Gill Lovell

Gill is a priest with 12 years parish ministry experience and 9 years experience as a diocesan consultant working with individuals, teams and benefices in a variety of contexts. Until August 2025, she has been Continuing Ministerial Development (CMD) Adviser for the diocese and co-ordinator the Ministry Accompaniment Network. Gill is a professionally accredited coach (ICF ACC), specialising in personal and professional development, wellbeing and resilience.

Revd Charles Chadwick

Charles was ordained in this diocese in 1988 was trained as a work consultant in the 1990s. He spent more than 25 years as a parish priest serving in a range of settings and, prior to retirement, was the Parish Development Adviser for the Dorchester Archdeaconry for 10 years. He is particularly interested in enabling people to undergo transitions well, and to explore their roles and how they inhabit them. He also has much experience of the many aspects of rural ministry and would be pleased to accompany those serving in rural contexts.

Derek Lancaster

Derek is a Licensed Lay Minister and an experienced coach with a background in project management, change management and strategic development. He coached individuals and groups for over fifteen years in senior management and consultancy roles in the civil service, local government and the BBC. He retired from paid work in 2022, and is working part-time in parish ministry. He is interested in exploring the joys and challenges of parishes, vision and strategy development, and practical techniques such as project management all in the context of the people and relationships involved. He welcomes the opportunity to provide a safe space to explore even when things are tough, to help clients gain new perspectives, and to simply wonder about possibilities.

Mick Kain

Fiona Elder

Fiona is a qualified coach, coach supervisor and mediator who has worked for over 20 years with organisations in the UK and Europe to build Leadership Capability and strengthen team working. She specialises in facilitating change and engagement by working with leaders to build robust, stakeholder networks through effective and sometimes difficult conversations. ( i.e. getting the people who need to do “stuff “ to work together! )She has worked in Christian Youth Work for over 25 years and worships in St Mary’s and All Saints Beaconsfield, a large, established congregation. Previously she has worshipped for many years in a church plant and so has experienced the tensions, challenges and opportunities in a wide variety of Christian families. Fiona is also an experienced Relationship Counsellor and has worked with couples who experience challenge and pressure from the impact of the roles one or both hold.

Revd Nigel Hardcastle

Nigel retired in the summer of 2012 after 40 years in the Anglican ministry. He served in 5 different parishes, all in towns or cities. They range from Urban Priority Areas, through ethnically and socially mixed areas to leafy suburbs. He is now based in Tilehurst near the western edge of Reading. Nigel has been a Diocesan Work Consultant (and then Ministry Accompanier) since 1997. He was also an associate trainer for the Regional Training Partnership Transitions in Ministry consultations. Continuing training included an 8-day course at the Grubb Institute. Any work starts with a conversation to clarify what the person wants to work on and how the relationship will work. The aim is to give space for honest reflection and to enable the minister to work out what will work for them with their own beliefs and abilities. Nigel is interested in a wide range of areas that affect parish life- from routine reviews of ministry, parish strategy and tactics, to more specific work on problems and opportunities such as difficult relationships, looking for new understanding and ways forward, cultural change, work with other cultures, etc. Simply talking over recent events and future plans can be a useful regular undertaking to give “outside insight”. Sometimes as a result the client comes to new insights and ways forward can be identified, though this cannot be guaranteed. Regular consultancy has been his norm but short term “speed consultancy” would be interesting. He is probably not the person to talk to about paperwork and administrative systems!

Rhodri Bowen

Rhodri is the Parish Development Adviser for the Berkshire Archdeaconry. Previously, Rhodri was headteacher at Aldermaston CE School and a children's and youth worker for parishes in Oxford (St Andrew's) and Newbury (Shaw). Rhodri is a member of St Nicolas Church, Newbury, where he particularly enjoys contributing to the music (playing guitar, drums, mandolin and singing) and occasionally dressing up as a Bible character. He is married with two grown-up children and a dog.

Asa Humphreys

Asa is the Parish Development Adviser for the Buckingham Archdeaconry.

 

 

Anne Perry

Anne comes from a background in education, most recently as an Assistant Headteacher and Special Educational Needs Coordinator, where she specialised in enabling the staff and the school environment to adapt and better meet the needs of neurodiverse students. Anne is now the Parish Development Adviser for the Dorchester Archdeaconry and having been an active part of a small rural church for the last 15 years, has a particular interest in the challenges and opportunities that rural ministry presents.

"fitting in another meeting on top of everything else felt like yet another distraction from 'getting on with the ministry' ... after a couple of meetings the penny started to drop and something changed as I realised the real power and value of coaching ... carefully chosen, well timed and penetrating questions are perfect for providing the very means and space I need to self-reflect and so continue to grow as a minister ... rather than disempowering me with advice that I most likely quickly forget, ministry coaching on a live issue in my ministry empowers me to do the hard work of processing the people and situations affecting me and affected by me for myself and then take ownership over to do next." (AD, Team Vicar)

“thank you for the time and space you allowed me to explore my ‘stuff’ … You helped me to see something in a new way, which, I’m sure, will have a huge impact on my life and ministry. To have someone listen, not give me answers, but ask insightfully good questions, reminds me again of the potential coaching has to help people to move forward in ministry. I felt much ‘lighter’ leaving the coaching session than when I came in, as if a weight had been lifted from me. Having a plan to move forward has given me hope and momentum. I just love this approach to helping as it respects me, is non-judgemental, challenging, supportive and future orientated." (CG, Incumbent)

Ministry Accompaniment "provided a safe space for me to be able to reflect on those areas in which I felt I needed help to make health-giving changes. The work-life balance is one that I have struggles with my entire life and particularly in my current role ... I can honestly say that through [Ministry Accompaniment] I have felt strengthened to make positive changes that have enabled be to flourish more fully. I am going forward with hope and energy." (AP, School chaplain)

"I've been very blessed and enriched to have worked with ministry accompaniers and work consultants in every major role as a vicar and theological educator, missioner and bishop. I have learned a huge amount through being simply listened to and asked thoughtful questions as a regular part of ministry. I warmly commend the practice of ministry accompaniment to all clergy in the Diocese of Oxford." (Bishop Stephen)