Self Supporting Ministers
Ordained ministry in the Diocese of Portsmouth takes many forms. Some clergy are stipendiary and some are self-supporting; some serve full-time and others part-time. This variety greatly enriches the mission and ministry of the Church across our diocese, and Self-Supporting Ministers (SSMs) play an increasingly important part in it.
What is a Self-Supporting Minister?
SSMs are ordained clergy who hold the Bishop’s Licence but do not receive a stipend. Most are licensed to a parish, while others serve as sector ministers.
SSMs are called by God to ordained ministry in his Church, just as stipendiary clergy are. Their ministry is distinctive in its own right, whatever their personal circumstances. Movement between the two forms of ministry is common: some stipendiary clergy become SSMs when their home life or sense of calling changes, and some SSMs go on to stipendiary ministry.
The challenges
Self-supporting ministry brings particular challenges, including:
- finding the right balance between parish ministry and a secular job or other commitments
- building good relationships with stipendiary colleagues, whose pressures may be different
- working out what it means to be an ordained presence in a secular workplace
Shared commitments
All clergy share the same core disciplines, whatever their circumstances. Under Canon Law, SSMs are required to:
- say Morning and Evening Prayer, in public or in private
- celebrate, or be present at, Holy Communion on all Sundays and other principal Feast Days
SSMs should also have regular Ministry Development Reviews, spiritual direction, and go on retreat regularly.
More details of this ministry can be found in the SSM Handbook, which may be useful for clergy, church officers and PCCs.
There is also a Ministry Agreement Template which can be used to create clear expectations and boundaries for the ministry that SSMs offer to a parish.
As a diocese we celebrate and support all forms of ministry that help us to implement our vision of becoming a rejuvenating community or Jesus-centred, Kingdom-seeking disciples.