Mutual Ministry Reviews

In the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas, a regular Mutual Ministry Review is an expected part of every rector/vicar/priest-in-charge’s Letter of Agreement and can be conducted in any number of ways. The easiest fashion is through the Canon to the Ordinary, who uses a specific method described below. If a vestry and its clergy leader would like to pursue other avenues of reviewing their mutual ministry, the Canon to the Ordinary can direct you to other possible facilitators.

What is a Mutual Ministry Review?

A Mutual Ministry Review is an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the shared ministry of ordained and lay people in this time and place. By our baptism, each of us is called to what St. Paul calls “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5.18) and we celebrate our shared ministry in the Baptismal Covenant and in our Catechism:

• Q. Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
• A. The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members. (BCP 855)

As we share this mission and ministry, it is good, from time to time, to reflect on how we serve together and to
consider how we might serve into the future. Therefore, we base the Mutual Ministry Review process on two tenets of our faith:

1. We are each created in the image of God and gifted with unique, valuable gifts for work of the Gospel.
2. Despite our best intentions, we sometimes fall short of this high calling, and we stand in need of grace
   and forgiveness from God and each other.

As such, a Mutual Ministry Review is a chance to fully live into St. Paul’s exhortation in his oldest letter: “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5.11)

The Mutual Ministry Review Process

The Canon to the Ordinary and Rector/Vicar/Priest-in-Charge establish a timeline for the process that includes the following steps:

1. Time for vestry and clergy leaders to respond to a self-assessment and survey about the working relationship of the clergy and vestry.
2. Time for the Canon to the Ordinary to process the data and bring questions to clergy and lay leadership.
3. An at-least two-hour in-person vestry meeting to discuss the findings of the assessment in the context of prayerful reflection. Conversation focusing on the future of the collaborative relationship including goal setting.

Purpose

• Reflect on the shared ministry of Rector/Vicar/Priest-in-Charge and Vestry
• Discover and note affirmations and perceived needs for improvement
• Identify and discuss instances of agreement and disconnect in Vestry values and norms, implicit and explicit

Outcomes

• Strengthened Rector/Vicar/Priest-in-Charge & Vestry collaborative relationship
• Goal-setting for improved collaboration

Examples

Vestry Self-Assessment Survey