After pastoral candidates are commissioned by The United Methodist Church, their next step in the ordination process is a Residency in Ordained Ministry.
RIOM Vision
Integrating call story, theological training, and practices so that RIOM participants will be equipped and empowered for lifelong fruitful ministry.
RIOM Framework
Call Story – includes the experiences of being nurtured within and beyond the community of faith leading up to a call into ministry and clarity of call lived authentically in the practice of ministry.
Theological Training – includes formal coursework and work experience within the church, in the community on behalf of the church, and in some cases outside the scope of an official church setting.
Practices – includes spiritual practices – ancient, traditional, and new – that generate faithful living.Key Relationships
- RIOM Class – individuals commissioned as provisional elders and deacons at annual conference in a given conference cycle. This group comes together several times a year for large group learning.
- RIOM Covenant Group – RIOM Class members are partnered into small groups (RIOM Covenant Group) for meetings, accountability and support during the RIOM journey.
- RIOM Leader – each RIOM Covenant Group is led by an ordained elder or deacon within the conference who has been trained in peer learning and group facilitation.
- RIOM Coach – each RIOM Class participant is assigned an individual Passion in Partnership RIOM Coach to journey with them as a confidential thinking partner. This is facilitated through bi-weekly phone calls (December and summer months-monthly phone calls). This relationship extends to one year beyond the RIOM class participant being ordained.
Monthly RIOM Covenant Group Session Themes
- Call and Covenant
- Disciplined Life
- Serving in Context
- Fruitful Discipleship
- Proclamation and Worship
- Theology
Monthly RIOM Covenant Group Timing and Scope (August-May) – some sessions are planned based on RIOM Class learning opportunities. RIOM Covenant Groups set their own monthly meeting schedule during the launch session each fall. Sessions include:
- Theological reflection grounded in scripture, tradition, reason, and experience
- Leadership Development built around appreciative practices
- Spiritual Disciplines to sustain call and create ministry resilience
- Readings from books and blogs, videos, and case studies
- Assigned work to be turned in to RIOM Leader ahead of time
- Discussion preparation written work that does not need to be turned in ahead of time