Boards of Ordained Ministry

Our GBHEM Training Resource Page contains PowerPoint presentations, training models and outlines, and accompanying content pieces which have been used at training events with candidacy registrars, candidacy mentors, district committees, and boards of ordained ministry. All these resources can be downloaded.Go to the Training Resources page.

Executive Summary of Research Findings 
Clergy effectiveness is an important topic receiving a great deal of attention in virtually all Christian denominations. This report summarizes the results of over a decade of clergy effectiveness research commissioned by and in collaboration with Advisory Committee on Psychological Assessment to the General Board of Higher Education & Ministry (GBHEM) in The United Methodist Church. Download PDF

Initial Research Report 
The first stages of this research is an analysis of the "job"/ministry performed by local church pastors to determine the major tasks that make up the job of a UMC pastor and what knowledge, skill, abilities, and personal characteristics (KSAPs) contribute to effective performance of those tasks. The goal was to identify a set of competencies that describe an effective pastor. This is a preliminary report based on a small sample that has not yet been validated with a large scale sample. A large scale study is underway. Download PDF

Second Research Report 
The December 2010 report summarizes the results of the current study and survey that identifies knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics as critical to the effectiveness of clergy serving in local congregations. Download PDF

The Board of Ordained Ministry Handbook, updated at the beginning of each quadrennium, is a reference library for the work of boards of ordained ministry (BOMs). Each chapter looks at a specific segment of the board’s work and contains information that may be used in planning the board’s work and for the orientation of board members. More

The Behavioral Health Guidelines describe parameters of healthy functioning in individuals and evidence of critical behaviors that may require further exploration. They are to be used by boards of ordained ministry to assist in establishing their own guidelines and standards in selecting and evaluating candidates and clergy. Download PDF

Are community, covenant and hospitality woven into your interview process? Use this PowerPoint resource to orient BOM and district committee interview sessions, and to move toward more effective interviews with candidates, probationary members, those seeking full membership, and those transferring into the denomination. Download file

This resource notebook is for annual conference leaders in charge of the mentoring ministry. Its focus is on clergy mentors who relate to local pastors in the Course of Study and to probationary members moving toward deacon’s and elder’s orders, or full membership and recognition of orders. Download PDF