Enabling Leaders

The expression “you have to see it, to be it” is as true for disabled and neurodivergent people as it is for other minority groups, in roles and places of influence in the Church of England.  Over recent years, there has been various kinds of work done to seek to address this lack of representation for women and people of Global Majority Heritage.  Courses such as Leading Women and the Wilfred Wood Programme have invested in leadership training leading to a pipeline of people ready to take their place within the visible structures of the C of E.  

A church for everyone

With a successful bid for full funding for a bespoke, leadership training programme for disabled and neurodivergent people, the Enabling Leaders Course begins this Autumn 2023!  Those involved are excited to be working with various partners to offer a 12 month course (2 residentials, some online elements and a “big venue” experience day) for a pilot cohort from nominations made by Dioceses across the country.  

There are various unique elements which make it stand out in ambition and scope.  This first fully C of E funded (including Personal Assistants where needed) course of its kind will train lay and ordained people together in the same cohort and each sending Diocese will appoint a key staff member to be a “Participant Champion” to learn from and alongside their Participant about the barriers which prevent working to full potential.  Together they will work to address these as well as ensure there are opportunities to develop and review how they are using their learning in their ministry contexts. 

 Working with this first small “pilot” cohort will be a steep learning curve for those helping to shape what is offered to future cohorts too. What makes this ambitious and difficult work most exciting though is that it will invest in the formation of people who until now have been kept on the margins of church life, where their gifts have been overlooked. Who knows what God will do when they are given the space to flourish!