Occasional Worship Leaders (OWLs)

Occasional Worship Leaders

A new initiative to help equip and enable lay people for leading worship. This is for people who may lead liturgical or informal worship in church once a month, or less frequently.

Occasional Worship Leaders are recruited and authorised by, and accountable to, the incumbent and PCC of the parish in which they will lead worship. Training for this ministry is resourced centrally by the Diocese, through a four-week Leading Public Worship course, run several times a year.

Discernment and Recruitment

Incumbents and PCCs will run a Safer Recruitment process, including:

• Providing a role description*

• Asking the candidate to complete an application form*

• Taking up references*

• Completion of a Confidential Declaration form*

• Making a formal, documented decision at a PCC meeting

*Templates of these documents can be requested from ministry@chester.anglican.org

Those undertaking this ministry should also complete:

• The Basic and Foundation safeguarding training modules

• A DBS check (not enhanced) administered by the parish

They should also undergo a simple but formal interview with the incumbent or PCC representative, to include the following areas of discussion:

• The candidate’s suitability for this ministry

• The values, motives, behaviours and attitudes behind their application

• Their attitude towards best practice with regard to safeguarding, and an exploration of their understanding of this in relation to this ministry

• Their willingness to minister under authority, and to engage in the relevant processes outlined in this document

The above recruitment process may run alongside the candidate’s attendance at the Leading Public Worship course, but will need to be completed before they are authorised to lead worship on a regular basis.

Training

Training for OWL ministry is via the four-week Leading Public Worship course. This course will cover the following topics, with ‘homework’ set between sessions.

Local Authorisation

Incumbents should also complete a Ministry Agreement with the OWL. This will cover:

• Confirmation and dates of completion of safeguarding training

• Confirmation and date of DBS check

• Date of Ministry Agreement and date of review (annual)

• Which services the OWL will lead, and with what regularity?

• Expectations and arrangements for ongoing training and resourcing

• Arrangements for feedback and supervision of practice

• Any requirements for vesture, etc (It should be clear that if wearing robes, the OWL is not robed in such a way as to appear either a Reader or ordained minister. It may be appropriate for them to wear a cassock or cassock alb only).

Those who satisfactorily complete the training will receive a certificate of completion from the diocesan Ministry Team. Once they have completed training, the safer recruitment process, and the necessary safeguarding training and DBS checks, they will be able to minister as an OWL. Anyone moving to a new parish would need to go through a process of discernment and authorisation with the new PCC and incumbent – with no obligation on the new church to use that person in leading public worship.

Please note that while the diocesan Ministry Team can provide templates for the above documents, the responsibility for running an appropriate Safer Recruitment process lies with the incumbent and PCC, and any documents will be held locally by the parish.