Accreditation
What it means to be a center accredited by The MINISTRY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL – www.ministrydevelopment.org
Midwest Ministry Development and Southwest Ministry Development are accredited by the Ministry Development Council, a national organization that assures the following:
COMMITMENT TO A MISSION
The mission of MDC accredited centers is to strengthen the leadership of the church and almost all of their work is with church professionals or those seeking to enter ministry. To keep that mission in focus and central, each center’s board of directors include leaders in the church.
SPECIALLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL
Center counselors are professionally qualified at Masters and Doctoral levels plus certification and/or licensing. Additionally, counselors have extensive leadership experience in the church, often in ordained ministry.
PROCEDURES OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY
MDC accredited centers are expected to demonstrate high standards: adherence to a written code of ethics, confidentiality policies, standardized instruments, counseling procedures to meet the needs of their constituents and utilize a developmental model of candidate assessment. MDC centers are committed to culturally informed and sensitive approaches assessment.
WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES OFFERED
MDC accredited centers offer a variety of services: counseling with clergy and their families, assessing candidates for ministry and candidates for specific positions within the church, coaching, pre-retirement planning, consultation with church personnel officers, crisis intervention, conflict management, staff team-building, professional boundaries concerns, clergy self-care and clergy family self-care.
CLOSE WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH CHURCH BODIES
MDC accredited centers exist to be a resource to the larger church. These centers maintain ongoing contact with the church bodies they serve to assure their services meet the church’s needs. Such contact includes review and feedback of written reports from the centers to assure clarity and usefulness to committees and church leaders and regular conversation about the needs and concerns.
ADVANTAGES OF BEING PART OF A NETWORK
MDC accredited centers share experience (including “best practices”) and offer mutual support. MDC sponsors continuing education events to strengthen church leadership. MDC centers share research with one another that enhances the general field of knowledge regarding issues of church leadership.
Centers also cooperate with one another informally such as sharing of counselors with particular skills, e.g., language facility. Thus, contact with one MDC center links the seeker to all centers in the network.