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PROCEDURE FOR THE ACCEPTANCE / TRANSFER OF ORDINANDS FROM OTHER CHURCHES
Normally Certificates of Eligibility to enter the list of ministers of the United Reformed Church are issued to those who are already ordained and in good standing in their own denomination.
If an application for eligibility for ministry in the United Reformed Church is made by a person in ministerial training within another church the procedure shall be:
1. After the initial enquiry, if the applicant applies for recognition as a URC ordinand, the Secretary for Ministries shall,
i) confirm that the applicant's own Church is a member of: Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Council for World Mission or the World Alliance of Reformed Churches,
ii) check with that Church that the applicant is an ordinand in good standing,
iii) check with the applicant's Church on its assessment process,
iv) confirm that the course of study being undertaken is equivalent to that required of Ministers of Word and Sacraments in the URC,
v) request details of the studies undertaken thus far,
vi) check what more would have been required of the applicant before they would have been considered ready to introduce to a church,
vii) check that the applicant's country of origin does not preclude training in this country in order to begin a remunerated occupation.
2. On receipt of this information, in particular that they are recognised ordinands, the two year rule before candidating will be waived and the applicant will be sent the standard set of application forms.
3. The Accreditation Sub-Committee will decide on the assessment procedure needed for the applicant. This style of this may vary dependent on the assessment procedure already undertaken by the applicant (in some churches the in-depth vocational interview takes place nearer the end rather than the beginning of training).
4. If the applicant is not already in this country or not close enough to travel here for assessment then the Secretary for Ministries will request the help of the applicant's present church in this stage.
(NB Whatever the style of assessment , it is important to ensure that the process has been as thorough as that undertaken by those candidating in the normal way.)
5. The Training Committee will identify the further training that is necessary. This will include advice on the programme of introduction/induction into the URC.
6. Following receipt of an assessment report the Accreditation Sub-Committee will decide whether to accept the applicant as an ordinand and s/he will be advised of further training requirements. If this procedure is followed there may be financial assistance available during training which would not be possible otherwise.
7. When training is completed the ordinand's name will be given to the Moderators. Ordinands who have come through this route have no greater guarantee of receiving a call than those coming through the usual candidating procedure.
June 2006 |