Fresh Start Program
A Resource for Clergy and Congregations in Transition
The Overview
FRESH START is a program for clergy in new parishes and for their congregations.
FRESH START seeks to strengthen the relationships between clergy and congregational lay leaders during critical periods of change in leadership.
FRESH START is a diocesan-led program designed:
- to assist with the transition issues inherent in any new ministry by providing opportunities for clergy & lay leaders to learn together and discuss issues of transition outside the parish,
- to sharpen the skills of lay leaders & clergy for congregational development and proactive communication to address critical issues before they become problems,
- to strengthen the relationships and trust between clergy, lay leaders, and the bishop/diocese to help a worshipping community broaden its ministry and mission, and
- to honour the ministry of all people in the life of the congregation.
FRESH START includes 28 curriculum modules, each designed to be adaptable to the particular regional setting.
- Getting to Know You
- Exit and Entrance Issues
- Role Clarity
- History Taking and Understanding
- Managing Change
- Models of Leadership and Authority
- Goal Setting for the Future
- Importance of Family and Friends
- Understanding Stress and Burnout
The diocese will provide trained volunteer facilitators who use these educational modules as a launching pad for conversation. The modules include a biblical/theological base, a teaching component and ample opportunity for discussion and sharing ideas.
‘The product is the relationship.’
The Participants
Who should be involved?
- Congregational decision-makers
- Committee chairs
- Group leaders
- Interested parishioners who are impacted by a clergy transition
Your new priest will be involved in a simultaneous FRESH START program involving other clergy in transition in the diocese.
FRESH START creates a healthy space to examine ministry and builds a strong sense of collegiality across the diocese.
How does it work in our Diocese?
Clergy attend monthly sessions for a period of two years and participate in some of the congregational program.
Congregational leaders attend 6 all-day sessions over a period of two years. Parishes are encouraged to send as many parish leaders as possible.
The time of ‘moving from the safe space of what we know’ to a ‘new place that we not sure about’ is a familiar theme in scripture often referred to as ‘being in the wilderness’. These wilderness experiences are often when we find God most present and are thus ripe for reflection and exploration.
FRESH START is a program of the Episcopal Church, USA, and an initiative of the Provincial Synod of Ontario, Canada. In the Diocese of Nova Scotia & PEI, Fresh Start is supported by:
