Registration Development Agreement

Ministry roles can be amongst the most critical and demanding leadership roles on the planet. Serving a community of faith well requires considerable theological, sociological, organisational, technical and relational expertise. The Baptist Union of New Zealand acknowledge more ‘learning’ than the minimum requirements of Baptist Registration are desirable to support and sustain robust leadership and excellence in ministry and Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning fully support this.

Under this category of your Registration Development Agreement there is a requirement to undertake a specific number of Approved learning hours – a minimum of 2 hours of which must be from the ‘Priority Learning’ options.

Approved Learning is learning that will sustain, support and develop your role in ministry. This learning needs to be planned in conjunction with the person nominated to conduct the annual review of your Registration Development Agreement in October of each year and in the form of Learning Outcomes..  Example learning outcomes can be found here .

It is important that your selected activities for your personal growth and learning relate specifically to the learning outcomes that have been set in conjunction with your annual reviewer.  These can include retreats, conferences, Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning webinars or courses, NZQA study, self-directed learning (e.g., books, articles, videos, workshops), Sabbaticals, and other learning (e.g., leadership courses). Please note that:

• Retreats are to represent no more than 1/3^rd of the total learning requirement.
• For self-directed learning, while we acknowledge that everyone reads at different paces, and books vary in length, as a general guide we expect that each book you read will contribute a maximum of 6 hours towards your Personal Growth and Learning. e.g., 2 books will contribute a maximum of 12 hours.

Some great learning outcomes examples that we’ve seen and have been approved,  include : 

“To be able to improve the ways that our young people engage with the bible and are discipled”
“To grow in my knowledge of wellbeing and achieve greater work/life balance”
“To understand more about healthy leadership within the church context with a view to growing my leadership skills within the team”
“To investigate strategies for developing a culture of discipleship in our church that covers the needs of ‘pre-conversion’ , brand new and long term christians”
“To enhance work-life balance by implementing some better rhythms and practices around self-care in ministry”

Each one of these had some very specific activities planned that were outlined in the RDA and contributed to the minimum hours required for each individual. 

Priority learning options will be formed each year through the Leadership Coordination office of the Baptist Support Centre and the number available and content will differ each year depending on what is determined to be ‘priority’ . The 2 hours of learning will generally consist of in-house webinar/s which will be visible to you for selection, on your registration application form so it’s easy to see what’s required (see below for upcoming priority learning options).

The ‘Personal Growth and Learning’ hours required are dependent on the hours you are working in your role. The learning hours have been structured to represent less than a weeks’ worth of learning equivalent to the hours worked.

To help you determine what’s required for your situation, the following will assist. You are encouraged to share this with your nominated reviewer :

Priority Learning Option 2025

For 2025, one priority learning is being offered.

“Leadership Development Culture within the Local Church“

This Priority Learning is self-guided – access the video and discussion guide here.

This engagement aligns to the value of associating together as a collective of faith communities seeking to bring gospel renewal to people and places.

The Baptist Whānau Engagement requirements are dependent on the hours you are working and the category of registration you are applying under. To help you determine what’s required for your situation, the following may assist.

Scroll down to find the category you are going to apply under to see the requirements for you under this element of your Registration Development Agreement :

For those registrants for whom geographical and/or financial constraints mean that attendance at a Baptist whānau event is not practicable every year, an alternative can be negotiated with their Regional Leader and endorsing leadership.

External Supervision provides a forum where you are able to critically engage with your work, reflect on your actions, review your decisions, and learn. It is an interactive dialogue between you and your supervisor. Through supervision, you should feel empowered to develop your vocational strengths and competencies and be supported in your personal and professional growth and development. It will also provide you with accountability in professional standards (e.g., ethics and safety) and is a practice that the Baptist Union of New Zealand are very committed to. All Baptist Registrants are required to have external supervision support provided by a supervisor from the Approved Supervisor Directory –  with the exception of those applying under the Baptist Entity category. 

External Supervision Support Requirements  :

If you are working 120 or more hours per month you are required to have at least bi-monthly supervision (i.e. minimum six times per year).

If you are working 40-119 per month you are required to meet with a supervisor a minimum of three times per year.

If you are registering under the Baptist Entity category, you are not required to have supervision. This will need to be noted in your registration application, simply using ‘not required’

Please note that from November 2024 all External Supervision Support is to be provided by a supervisor from the Approved Supervisor Directory

Our approved supervisors have applied and been approved as Baptist Union of New Zealand Approved Supervisors by the Supervisor Approval Panel following their application and training and/or attendance at orientation.  They have also agreed to the 4 aims of Baptist Supervision :

To support practitioner professional development
Supporting and encouraging you, as registrant, in your development of insight, knowledge, and skills beneficial to your vocational context.
Reflecting on learning and learning experiences, by you as a registrant, as well as identified learning outcomes related to your Registration Development Agreement.

To support practitioner wellbeing
Ensuring that supervision covers your wholistic well-being; mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, relational.
Ensuring that there is reflection on your ministry/life balance, stress levels, ‘sabbath’, recreation, replenishing activities, holidays/leave.

To support practitioner safe and ethical practice
Supporting and encouraging awareness of  ‘best practice’ for wellbeing and safeguarding of others, your organisation, and your wider community related to your ministry and influence.
Supporting and encouraging healthy boundaries related to your personal and vocational context; relational, sexual, ethical, moral, and legal boundaries.

To support practitioner reflective learning
Supporting you to reflect “on practice” in the context of supervision to benefit your ministry “in practice”. 

In exceptional circumstances and prior to 31st October a Baptist Registrant can apply to the approval panel, for an exception to the BUNZ policy regarding selecting a supervisor from the Approved Supervisor Directory.  This must be undertaken in writing, using the Non-approved Supervisor exception’ request form which will be provided on request from lifelonglearning@carey.ac.nz. This must be completed prior to applying for Baptist Registration. 

The Annual review is now an integral part of the Registration Development Agreement (RDA). This is to be conducted by your nominated reviewer and is a 2 part process :

(1) considering progress against your current RDA (i.e. what has worked well, what has been less effective and what needs to happen)… and

(2) identifying goals and activities to be undertaken for Personal Growth and Learning, Baptist Whānau Engagement and External Supervision Support , for the upcoming registration period. (what is the plan ahead?)

More information on the Annual Review of the Registration Development Agreement can be found here

When applying for Baptist Registration, you will be required to confirm that your annual review has taken place and the Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning will contact a random selection of reviewers each year for feedback.