Theological Education:
A National Gathering on Theological Education was held in December 2023 in Melbourne. This followed on from conversations with every theological college and a meeting of the Heads of Colleges. There were a diverse range of participants including key leaders in theological colleges, leaders in the work of ministry formation and lay education, emerging scholars and First Nations theologians.
Over two days, extended consideration was given to the role of our theological education institutions in:
- Cultivating a vibrant theological culture in the Uniting Church.
- Equipping those called to the specified ministries for the diverse ministries to which they are called.
- Enabling discipleship formation of the whole people of God within the Uniting Church.
It was informed by previous work done in this area including the extensive reports of the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Assemblies,39 along with submissions and reflections from colleges and individuals and the theological culture papers.
As with many conversations across the Church, there was a focus on the practices of discipleship and local communities of faith. As Craig Mitchell described it:
“Christian practices are an opportunity for intentional formation and intentional education. Intentional formation means that we do practices together purposefully in order to shape people in the Way of Christ. As leaders we work on how to encourage people to grow as disciples by regularly engaging in faith practices or disciplines.”40
We have observed that many of the most life-giving communities of faith across the Church were those focused on intentional faith formation as a regular part of their communal life. This continued to resonate with the Directions and the close relationship between life-giving communities of faith and the role and place of theological education for the whole people of God.41
In considering the equipping of people for specified ministries we particularly explored formation. The following quotes from the Report of the Task Group to Review Ministerial Education to the Eighth Assembly continued to resonate:
“Formation is the creative interplay between many aspects of a person’s life, but particularly the interaction of experience and knowledge with the development of wisdom and discernment…
Formation for ministry is an interactive process which occurs at all stages in our life. As we all grow and develop in faith and understanding, so we necessarily continue to be formed and re-formed spiritually, vocationally and personally.”
From here we explored the place of theological education for the whole of life and the whole of the Church. Our horizon for formation needed to take in all the specified ministries and the whole of our ministry.
The two days highlighted the relationship between the future life and faith of the Church and the future of theological education. The demands of ministry in a contemporary context require ongoing and rigorous formational approaches for all those in specified ministry. Local communities of learning and discipleship are foundational to a flourishing and life-giving Church. Collaboration was a watchword of the two days. There was ambition for deep, productive collaboration which could enable and support an inspiring vision for the Church.
That vision can be summarised as:
A National Network for Theology, Formation and Leadership: A visible and accessible network of intentional communities engaged in life-long learning to equip people to courageously follow Jesus and participate in God’s mission in contemporary Australia.
A more detailed set of principles is outlined in Chapter Seven Go Forward Together: A Way Forward.To enact the vision outlined it is proposed to establish a National Commission for Theology, Formation and Leadership incorporating some responsibilities currently undertaken by the Standards for Ministry Committee and the Ministerial Education Boards. It would seek to strengthen the productive collaboration across the existing institutions of theological education. It would also be responsible for establishing a national, multi-campus theological college.
At the heart of this vision is a network, a web of intentional communities which are visible and accessible. A national Commission is about establishing a body for leadership and accountability. The idea for a national, multi-campus theological college is part of the vision for a network. It would connect with other institutions, communities of practice and networks within and beyond the life of the Uniting Church as part of the fulfilment of the vision.
Summary of Recommendations
Vision for A Network for a Flourishing Theological Culture: A visible and accessible network of intentional communities engaged in life-long learning to equip people to courageously follow Jesus and participate in God’s mission in contemporary Australia. A Commission for Theology, Formation and Leadership.A national, multi-campus theological college. A national structure to support national responsibilities for theological culture.Theological work on ‘discipleship’, ‘evangelism’, ‘mission’ and ‘diaconal communities’. For more detail see the proposals and rationale in Chapter 7 Going Forward Together: A Way Forward.
Imagine…
Imagine a National Network for Theology, Formation and Leadership that unlocks opportunities for theological education to be more accessible to more parts of the Church than ever before. Imagine opportunities for local communities of faith to be involved in learning opportunities directly relevant to their context, offered in diverse ways across the country. Imagine deep collaboration between our teachers and scholars so that students can have access to diverse expertise. Imagine opportunities for more original research. Imagine agencies working with theological educators to establish and enhance formation programs for leaders within our agencies.42 Imagine the excitement across our theological educators that this longed-for idea may finally become a reality.
Footnotes
- “Call for papers: our theological culture,” Act2 Project, accessed on 15 January 2024, https://act2uca.com/theological-culture. ↩︎
- “Report of the Task Group to Review Ministerial Education,” in Reports and Working Papers of the Eighth Assembly (1997) accessed 15 January 2024, https://illuminate.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/3965. “Task Group on the Teach Ministry and Mission of the Church,” in Reports and Working Papers of the Ninth Assembly (2000), accessed on 15 January 2024, https://illuminate.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/3967. “Report of the Task Group on Theological Education,” in Reports and Working Papers of the Tenth Assembly (2003), accessed on 15 January 2024, https://illuminate.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/19713. ↩︎
- Craig Michell, seminar handout on Forming Disciples in Mission. For more on Mitchell’s work in this area see his website: https://craigmitchell.com.au/research/, accessed 15 January 2024. ↩︎
- For more on the Directions see Chapter 4 Building One Another Up in Love: Life-giving communities of Faith and Discipleship. ↩︎
- UnitingCare Australia Board Submission #2: A Shared Future Together, 17. ↩︎