Continuing Ministerial Development for clergy is an essential part of the growth and development of our God given vocation as ordained clergy. The preface to the national guidelines on CMD states;
The purpose of Continuing Ministerial Development (CMD) is to strengthen and deepen a lifelong learning culture within each diocese. Good practice in both provision and participation are ultimately evidenced in spiritual and numerical growth with the Churchs ministers more fully engaged in Gods mission themselves, in the variety of roles they have been licensed to as public representative ministers, and better able to stimulate and enable the whole Church to respond to its call.
CMD focuses not just on learning and training but takes seriously the flourishing of the whole person in their ministerial context. It cannot seek to meet all the individual needs of everyone but aims to create a normative environment in which developmental learning is recognized as a hallmark of professional good practice as well as a central aspect of discipleship. It is also a means by which we exercise grateful stewardship of the talents which God has entrusted to us, both as individuals and as the Church.
CMD Grants
In the Diocese of Lichfield we aim to give all clergy with Common Tenure (Stipendiary and Self-Supporting but excluding those in their training curacy) or freehold a contribution towards the cost of this continued development. Please download and complete the CMD application form below. You may be able to get further help from the Lichfield Theological College Trust (LTCT) through a personal development grant or a study grant. The Vocations and Training Team also maintains a list of trusts that have helped recent applicants with grants.