Ministerial Development Review (MDR) for Bishops

This section comprises a set of common questions which are to be answered by every minister across the Church in Wales, under the following headings:

• Prayer life
• Engagement with Scripture, study, and learning
• Welfare and well-being
• Safeguarding
• Vocation in the Church

There are further questions which are relevant to the bishop’s individual vision, strategy, and context under the following heading:

• Ministry in the Church

A summary of the conversation held at the Review Meeting around each set of questions should be agreed between the bishop and the reviewer and recorded in section 2.

A record of any goals and objectives agreed for the future should be noted in section 3.

Both reviewer and minister should sign and date the form, preferably before the Review Meeting ends. This may be done electronically.

A copy of this Review Form is to be given to the bishop being reviewed at the time of the meeting or, failing that, no less than 1 week later. This should be in electronic format (via email).

A copy of Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the review form will be placed on the bishop’s personal file which is held at the Archbishop’s Registry in Callaghan Square. Section 1 is not normally retained without the express permission of the reviewee.

It is the responsibility of the bishop to initiate their MDR. Having been through the process of choosing a suitable reviewer, the bishop and the reviewer will agree a date for the review. If the review cannot be in person, then the review will take place online.

Six weeks before the review meeting is due to take place, the bishop will choose three individuals who have direct knowledge of their ministry. After agreement with the reviewer about those chosen, the bishop should complete the form in appendix 2, detailing the reasons for choosing both their reviewer and those providing 360 feedback. This form should be emailed to both the reviewer and the director of ministry development.

The reviewer will then email those chosen to give 360 feedback and ask them to complete the 360 form (see appendix 3) and return it to them no less than 10 days before the review meeting. Once they are all returned, the completed

forms will be collated by the reviewer and forwarded to the bishop, to reflect upon as part of their preparation for the meeting.

A month before the review meeting, the bishop should reflect upon the questions in Section 1 of the MDR form (see appendix 4) and write notes where space has been left to do so.

The review form, with answers to Section 1 completed, should be emailed to the reviewer no less than 10 days before the date of the meeting, to allow the reviewer adequate time for preparation. Along with the completed review form, the bishop should provide a one- or two-page document outlining the diocesan vision.

A brief summary of the review meeting is written in Section 2, with both the bishop and reviewer having agreed what should be recorded. This summary need not cover every topic that has been discussed, but should be an accurate reflection of the conversation.

It is anticipated that the review meeting should last approximately 2 hours.

Any specific goals or objectives which are agreed should be noted in Section 3, and both the bishop and reviewer should sign and date Section 4 of the review form (and complete any disagreements, if there are any) before the meeting is brought to an end. The reviewer should provide to the bishop a copy of the completed review form at the time of the meeting or, failing that, no less than one week later. This should be in electronic format (via email).

A copy of Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the review form will be placed on the bishop’s personal file which is held at the Archbishop’s Registry in Callaghan Square. Section 1 is not normally retained without the express permission of the reviewee.