Academic Theology and Ministerial Formation

Abstract

There have been numerous moves to integrate theological training for ministry with universities, and the Hind report, recently endorsed by General Synod, supports this trend.¹ This essay is written with a sense that the integration is not necessarily as inevitably positive a move as some would advocate. I shall present, first, a strong case against the move, before setting out a possible basis for integration that could lead the institutions of ministerial formation and academic learning to a challenging and creative interaction. Or such is my somewhat tentative hope.