[Church of England] The delivery of new training programmes for senior leaders in the Church of England is already bearing fruit, according to the senior bishop overseeing the programme. 

Writing in the first of a series of blogs reflecting on Leadership and Development training, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ely, who chairs the Development and Appointments Group of the House of Bishops, said that feedback from those having attended the courses "has been extremely positive and we feel blessed for the fruits it is already bearing".

The first leadership programme for cathedral deans and leaders of greater churches held in March at Judge Business School in Cambridge, included remarks by one participant who observed that it had been "by a country mile, the most impressive course I have under taken in over 30 years of ordained ministry". Another said, "Overall this has been an outstanding week, both in content and shape. Of course, there has been much value in conversations, etc., but the stand-out feature has been the sessions, with speakers of very high quality, genuinely addressing core issues for this very specific audience".  

As a result of the positive feedback, a repeat of the programme next year has been requested for those unable to attend in March, whilst seminars on some of the key themes will be run in due course for members of the cathedral teams.

The new modular development programmes for bishops have also attracted encouraging feedback, Bishop Stephen said, with 18 bishops gathering at Leicester's Cathedral Centre earlier this year for the first module with one bishop commenting that the first module was "probably the best piece of in-service training I've had since I was a Team Vicar in the 1980s".

The first meeting of the new Learning Community in July, to help prepare those who might take on wider responsibilities in the future, has also received generous feedback with one participant reflecting on how the training would have an immediate impact on their parish ministry: "The models and insights offered were very helpful, but grounded in practice and in the reality of church, and the balance of presentation, reflection and group work was just right in my view… I haven't been so enthused and inspired for a long time".

Read the full text of Bishop Stephen's blog at http://cofecomms.tumblr.com/post/125847173475/first-fruits.