Locally Commissioned Ministry

Local leaders, local teams

The bishops of the Diocese of Oxford are committed to supporting local leaders grow local teams of ministers, through releasing said leaders to identify and nurture those in their congregations called to different ministries. However, the multitude of training needed can become burdensome, so we've collated courses and resources for training church members for various ministries.

No two ministries or ministers are the same. The idea of commending courses is that church leaders and lay people ministering with them can choose together which training courses match their ministry and learning needs. So, someone on the pastoral team who works with socially isolated people, finds people want to talk about faith, and who is not really secure in their own knowledge of the Bible, but feels they need to know more to help people find answers to faith questions, might choose Pastoral Care, the Sanctuary Course, and the Story of Scripture. That is just an example. We hope that the courses mentioned on these pages and all those on the Learning Hub will help you find your own training pathway.

Click on a tab below for commended courses of training in the relevant areas of ministry. If you want to talk to a member of the lay training team about creating a learning pathway, please contact Andy Angel. Click on the course title to find out more and access the resources. This is a growing library of courses, so keep checking back.