Being an LLM Portfolio

And so I felt energised and, determined not to loose my enthusiasm, I started work on my second portfolio. This one could have been produced first since I had received back the marked assignments first, but I was so disappointed with the marks I had received that I had put the whole competency to the back of my mind. It was only when I started thinking about my ministry with my vicar that I realised marked assignments are just that, they are theory; and the competency is about practice and calling. So I set about looking at what was needed to produce the portfolio and was pleasantly surprised to realise it was less onerous than I had imagined.

note - read all this is context - I have not yet received my mark so it might need some additional work!

The course for this competency Ministry in the Church – Being a Licensed Lay Minister was a one day event. It was divided into two elements; the theology of ministry and especially lay ministry; and support and supervision for ministry. We were expected to then write two assignments, one on each segment of the course.

for the theology of ministry I wrote a presentation for a church group on "what is a reader/llm today" which included the presentation itself, speakers notes and a paper with backup information and referencing. the writing of this presentation brought to me a real understanding of what it means to be a lay minister and what the rules and regulations are; it also developed my ability to be able to explain it to others - also helpful.

the support and supervision assignment I chose was an essay on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the field of support and supervision which I minister; both in terms of that I receive and that I provide to others. Having read the advised documents I felt that they were too narrow and overly prescribed; I therefore brought in my experience of counselling supervision and also the way that volunteers are supervised. I was pleased with the essay but it apparently was not what was expected, hence my disappointment with my grading. I have thought about the issue much in the weeks since and decided that to provide strength to my portfolio I would include a document of reflection on my essay, its mark and the advised texts for inclusion. I am sure this is a challenge to the system, but it is thorough and true and surely that is what matters.

Other information I have provided are documents on my ministry, my role within the ministerial team and my experience of supervision and review sessions. And finally there are the introduction, conclusion and another annotated bibliogrpahy.

as I said, my mentor is currently marking this portfolio so I wait to hear if there is anything I need to add or change; but I think it provides what is needed. and then it will go to moderation in november along with the preaching one.