For Your Own Good

Abstract

"Minister of Battersea Chapel, South London, was a guinea pig for the Proposed Appraisal Scheme for Baptist Ministers. Here are his findings. A fleeting conversation with Malcolm Goodspeed, Head of the BUGB Ministry Department, in the middle of a crowded exhibition hall at the 1998 Baptist Assembly revealed that he was developing an appraisal scheme for Baptist Ministers. Malcolm needed guine.a pigs. I was preparing to depart for the USA to spend three months on sabbatical study leave at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, New England. The main purpose of my sabbatical was to enhance my understanding and competence in the fields of homiletics and pastoral theology. I also intended to reflect upon my experience of ministry as pastor at Battersea Chapel, South West London. The Ministry Department's embryonic scheme of appraisal offered me a tool with which to reflect on past ministry in my particular church and social context. A further conversation over the telephone with Malcolm clarified the nature and intention of the appraisal scheme. I received the first draft version of For Your Own Good: A proposed Appraisal Scheme for Baptist Ministers, packed the papers in my bag, and made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean to New England in September 1998"