A pilot training programme in 2021 is being expanded into a national training programme, Training for Transition, launching in autumn 2026.
Training for Transition will offer about 28-hours of flexible part-time training, including of webinars on the theory of IM or ‘Core Skills’; with a 3-day programme (online and in-person) of practical skills and tools or ‘Process skills’. Training will be fully subsidised for the first 12-months. IM Participants will be connected for collaborative learning.
The programme will consist of:
1. Welcome to Interim Ministry – for anyone interested in IM to come and find out more, meet other IMs and find out more about the training programme. 2 hours.
2. Managing Change and Transition in Church – essential ‘core skills’ online webinar giving an overview of IM, including its history, purpose and processes, with input from the Interim Ministry Network USA. 3 hours.
3. Handling Anxious Systems – essential ‘core skills’ online webinar, lead by Bridge Bulders Ministries, offering a basic understanding of Family Systems theory and the impact of anxiety on churches. It will help participants to understand their own leadership responses and how to help maintain a ‘non-anxious presence’ in IM. 3 hours
4. Process Skills for Interim Ministry – a 3-day programme of practical skills, processes and tools which support change and transition, taught alongside a process of biblical and spiritual reflection, prayer and small group collaborative learning. 3 days residential or online.*
* May be delivered in partnership with dioceses.
This sessions will be repeated quarterly.
Accreditation into the College of IM Practitioners will require participation in all modules and submission of a reflection on IM practice. (Further details to be advised)
Further webinars in development include:
5. Conflict, Trauma and Grief Recovery in Interim Ministry (summer 2027) – a core skills online webinar to support those IMs working in settings where recovery from conflict, crisis or trauma are key features of their post. 3 hours
6. Community Engagement and Participation (summer 2027) – an online webinar to introduce some models, processes and skills for building participation by congregations and engaging in wider community discussion. 3 hours.
The first skills training webinar, Managing Change and Transition in Church, will be in November 2026.
We are exploring in-person training in February 2027. Register your interest at interim.ministry@durham.ac.uk
If you are a diocese or organisation with particular IM training needs please get in touch.
Evaluation of the pilot training in 2021 can be downloaded here.
