Having successfully completed IME Phase 1 at a theological training institution, whether residentially or locally, you are in a position to be ordained deacon and to continue your ministerial formation in the context of a parish as an Assistant Curate. This part of your training is known as IME Phase 2.
The curacy process
Great care is taken to match potential curates and Training Incumbents to ensure the best possible start to public ministry. Towards the penultimate year of IME Phase 1, ordinands are asked to complete a Personal Profile and CV, which are forwarded to the Bishop along with their training institution’s annual report. These are used by the Bishop and the Diocesan Director of Ordinands (DDO) to match the ordinand with a potential parish and training incumbent. The DDO sends the Profile and the CV in the first instance to the prospective training incumbent and the parish profile is then sent to the potential curate.
After the DDO has put the prospective Training Incumbent and curate in touch with one another, a time is arranged for an unhurried, structured interview between the ordinand and prospective Incumbent. Additionally, the ordinand will visit the parish for a whole Sunday and perhaps stay for a night either side of this.
If both the ordinand and Incumbent are happy to go ahead with the curacy, a formal Learning Agreement is completed and signed, which will form the basis of their work together.
Please note that incumbent-focus ministry is nationally deployable. As Southwark Diocese is blessed with a large number of ordinands, we are unable unfortunately to guarantee curacies in the Diocese for all our ordinands offering for stipendiary ministry. Candidates offering for stipendiary ministry would therefore need to be prepared for the possibility of moving after training to a different part of the country for a curacy post, if there is not a suitable post within the Diocese.
A curacy for those recommended for incumbent-status ministry and working full time (whether stipendiary or non-stipendiary) is normally 36 months and may not be less than 30 months. For those training part-time, the curacy will normally last 48 months.
If you have queries, please contact the Director of Vocations and DDO, the Revd Canon Jeremy Clark-King (contact details below)
