Knowledge, Skills, and Ministry - The Marks

One ongoing initiative the Living Waters Association promotes is around the The Marks of Faithful and Effective Authorized Ministers of the United Church of Christ. "The Marks" is the wider church's ongoing commitment to empower authorized ministers to think about their ministry in light of these areas:

Spiritual foundation and practice
Nurturing UCC identity
Building leadership skills
Engaging scared stories and traditions
Caring for all creation
Articulating/expressing theology
Working for justice and mercy
Strengthening -inter and -intra personal assets

"The Marks" was affirmed by General Synod's pronouncement in 2005, as the church strives to show diverse paths to authorized ministry. Nearly twenty years later, the church uses conversation and assessments based on "The Marks" as a way to set goals and assess growth in ministry. "The Marks" is now incorporated into the 2018 update of the UCC Manual on Ministry.

This tool has been described as a kaleidoscope of eight categories, that also describe the depth of understanding, knowledge and integration of each "Mark" into a leader's ministry.

See a detailed description of each mark from the Manual on Ministry here: https://www.ucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Marks-of-Faithful-and-Effective-Ministers.pdf