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Home For churches The Inclusive Methodist Church Training for Justice, Dignity and Solidarity Mandatory EDI Training (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion)

Mandatory EDI Training (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion)

We are all made in God’s image and are all equally precious to God.

We are committed to being a church which witnesses to this inclusive love of God.

Watch a video introduction (with BSL interpretation)

Watch a Welsh language video introduction

The website link for the online learning platform is https://mcb.theologyx.com

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about the EDI Training Course can be accessed here


Mandatory EDI Training

The following groups of people are now required to undertake mandatory EDI training (as agreed by Conference 2021)

  1. All ministers (including Superintendents and District Chairs)
  2. Local Preachers
  3. Connexional Committee members
  4. Connexional Team members
  5. Circuit and District Safeguarding Officers
  6. Circuit stewards and church stewards
  7. Lay Workers:
    a) Lay Pastoral Workers b) Children, Youth and Family Workers c) Pioneers
  8. Worship Leaders

This training is to help us live out our commitment to being a church which is inclusive and justice-seeking. We are now committed to life-long learning about the richness of human diversity and to learning from one another. Thanks for your help in putting this into practice.

Please note that this mandatory training does not supersede the requirement for members of Circuit Invitation Committees to complete Unconscious Bias training.  Details of this can be found here.

A Registration of Mandatory Training Template can be found here.

If you’d like help with keeping a circuit register of who has done the training you will find a template here.

Training Resources can be found here.

Here is a summary of what you need to know.

There will be three aspects to this training (for more details see below):

  1. Unconscious Bias Training

  2. EDI Training Course

  3. Further annual learning to be reviewed at each MDR conversation (for ministers), in annual appraisal (for employees) and annually for all preachers and worship leaders on the Local Preachers and Worship Leaders meeting agenda.

Anyone responsible for leading a group, team or committee, or line managing an employee, is responsible for ensuring that everyone for whom they have responsibility has completed the mandatory training.

Those expected to complete the training are expected to do this by the end of 2023.
Each district will be deciding how best to ‘regulate’ who has done this training in their own context but please be ready to show that you have completed the course. Thank you.

This training can be accessed in a variety of ways.

Click here for a summary of the advantages of each way of accessing the training

There are three aspects to the training:

  1. Unconscious bias training

You may have completed your Unconscious bias training already and you do not need to do it again but you may choose to refresh. There are three main ways for people to complete Unconscious Bias training:

  1. An introduction to Unconscious Bias: for church councils, circuit meetings and other groups. 

    This material is available to download here and is designed for small groups, such as church council meetings, circuit meetings, Local Preacher / Worship Leader meetings, Circuit Invitation Committees etc. The material provides conversation questions for engagement with the video material.

  2. The Learning Network is offering a number of online opportunities to engage with the Introduction to Unconscious Bias material. There are several scheduled and booking is via this Eventbrite link: Unconscious Bias Training Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite

  3. The MCBX Unconscious Bias course launched on 1 October 2022. MCBX is Methodist Church in Britain X: our new online training platform (details below). This is a more in-depth course and can be done additionally to, or instead of, one of the methods above. People can simply log on to this and do it in their own time, by themselves. Alternatively, people could potentially get together in pairs or small groups to do this around a computer.

2. EDI Training Course

The EDI Training Course is now available on MCBX (Methodist Church in Britain X) https://mcb.theologyx.com/courses/. Again, people can simply log on and do this in their own time, or they can get together as a group to complete the training, with one person logging on (details below).

Alternatively, resources to enable groups to complete the training together without having to logon to MCBX are available here.  There are two sets of resources.  One is for a session led by a facilitator, along the lines of in-person safeguarding training sessions.  The other are a set of study notes, suitable for a fellowship group to study in a series of sessions.  Either can be adapted to meet the particular needs of a group, as long as all of the material is covered.  However, groups will still need access to the internet and audio-visual equipment in order to view the online videos that are part of the course.  Also, please consider our environmental commitment and only print paper resources where necessary, considering alternative ways for people to access the content where possible.

For both Unconscious Bias training and the EDI Training Course, training does not need to be led by an accredited facilitator.  Groups can come together in their own context to complete the training.  The Learning Network can provide support on request for anyone wishing to facilitate a session in their local context.

For those who are not able to access the training through these ways, the Learning Network will provide support to ensure that everyone is able to access the training.  Please contact the Learning Network in your region to discuss your access requirements.

3. Further annual learning

Individuals can set their own goals for further learning, which can be done by themselves or collectively with others.  This can involve self-learning, using the Personal Responsibility Commitment, through reading, internet research, attending a course or learning in conversation with others.

The Personal Responsibility Commitment can be accessed here: Personal Responsibility Commitment.

People may want to use the Methodist Church’s EDI toolkit modules, which contains a range of modules designed to support discipleship and the mission of the Methodist Church. Alternatively, a range of materials for learning, that are provided by external organisations, can be found at EDI Learning Resources.

Enrolling and registering for the EDI Training Course

Before you can start the course, you need to register onto our online learning platform MCBX.  Methodist Church in Britain X – our new online learning platform. The website link for that is https://mcb.theologyx.com

If you have taken the online advanced safeguarding course, you will already have registered with Theology X and you can use the same login details to sign in to MCBX.

If you are new to MCBX you will need to register. Go to the website and on the top right-hand corner click register and you’ll be asked to create an account. Fill in your full name, you’ll need to create a username and this can’t have gaps but you can use underscore and numbers if you like, fill in your email and create a password. You then receive an email asking you to verify that it’s you so click that.

You will see your username on the top right-hand corner and next to that a drop down arrow with dashboard on it. Go to dashboard and there you will find the EDI Training Course.

For any additional queries, please contact your district EDI Officer or, if they are unable to help with this, please contact equality&diversity@methodistchurch.org.uk

Many thanks, and every blessing, as we learn together,

Bevan Powell