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Appendix 5
Reports from Colleges
MANSFIELD COLLEGE
1.1 With the Ministerial Training Course having weathered some significant changes in staff in previous years, we are pleased to report that in the 2002/03 academic year we have welcomed a period of relative stability. The only newcomer among staff was the Revd Erna Stevenson who has filled the honorary post of Chaplain to Ordinands that had been vacant since the Revd Dr Susan Durber relinquished it the year previously. The Director, the Revd Dr Walter Houston, and the Assistant Director, the Revd Julian Templeton, have established a good working relationship and have overseen, with colleagues at Regent’s Park College, a complete revision of the pastoral studies programme. To date the new programme that began in September has been well received by Mansfield ordinands. It is composed of five strands: worship and preaching, pastoral work, mission and discipleship, spirituality and personal development, and denominational requirements. Each strand and each module has a detailed and specific aim and objectives. Both ordinands and staff have found that in keeping these aims and objectives to the forefront of each module the content, and subsequently the benefit, of individual classes has improved. The advantages to Mansfield ordinands of the combined pastoral studies programme with Regent’s Park College come in the form of larger class sizes, enrichment of United Reformed Church and Congregational Federation ecclesiologies by Baptist perspectives, and access to Regent’s Park College teaching expertise. The specific denominational requirements of the United Reformed Church and Congregational Federation are taught separately
1.2 The stability of staff, the welcome addition of Erna Stevenson as Chaplain to Ordinands, and the good reception of the new pastoral training programme has been mirrored by a more cohesive and mutually supportive ordinand community. This has been particularly in evidence during the Hilary Term when Revd Julian Templeton was Acting Director of Ministerial Training whilst Walter Houston was on sabbatical. The cohesion and mutual supportiveness of the ordinands has been paralleled by an increase in the interaction of ordinands with the majority of students within Mansfield studying non‑theological subjects. This informal mixing of ordinands with informed and intelligent students of varying subjects with varying beliefs results at times in a real testing of the ordinands’ faith and vocation. The ministerial training staff believe that this is an entirely healthy situation and is in line with the vision of former Principal John Marsh when the college began to expand in 1955. We believe this is part of the unique ministerial formation experience that Mansfield offers along with its tutorial method of theological learning and its access to the vast learning resources of the University of Oxford.
1.3 All but one of our ordinands are matriculated to the University and are currently studying for the Bachelor of Theology degree. They are tutored in college by Walter Houston in Old Testament, Ms Lynda Patterson in New Testament whilst the Revd Dr John Muddiman is on sabbatical, and Ms Peggy Morgan in World Religions. Staff at Regent’s Park College tutor ordinands in Pastoral Theology, Christian Doctrine and Ethics. Other subjects are taught to ordinands by tutors from a range of Christian denominations drawn from the wider university. We welcomed Dr Diana Walford as the new Principal of Mansfield College following the retirement of David Marquand. She has already made her mark on her leadership of the college and has shown interest in and commitment to Mansfield’s work of ministerial education and training.
1.4 We farewelled three of our leaving ordinands at the end of the last academic year: Michael Hopkins to Twyford and ‘Commitment for Life’, Angela Steele to Larkhall and Rush Hill, Bath, and Christopher Hucker to a pastorate in the United Church of Christ, USA. Over the summer vacation two of our ordinands participated in the World Church programme, one visiting Ghana and the other Jamaica. The difference in perspective and the broadening of horizons occasioned by these visits greatly enriched the ordinands’ vision of the Church and strengthened their call to ministry. Another of our ordinands will be visiting Korea over the coming summer and we similarly look forward to the enrichment that experience will bring.
1.5 At the beginning of the present academic year we received just one new ordinand, bringing our present total of ordinands to 9, including our exchange student from Bern.This includes the one ‘vacant’ year when there was no intake of ordinands. It is our hope and belief that we will begin to increase our ordinand numbers again as the church recognises the unique environment Mansfield offers for ministerial education and training and entrusts to us candidates who will flourish in such an environment.
1.6 We are pleased to report that the two United Reformed Church Ministers and one other studying part‑time for the Master of Theology in Applied Theology will be joined next year by some new applicants to the course. We welcome applications to this course from United Reformed Church Ministers and others who have good degrees in theology.
1.7 Please pray for the ministerial training course, its staff and its ordinands, for the consolidation of its ministerial training, the enrichment of its worship and spiritual life, the strengthening of its community, and the appreciation of its distinctive contribution to equip those called by God to the Ministry of Word and Sacraments in the United Reformed Church.
NORTHERN COLLEGE (UNITED REFORMED AND CONGREGATIONAL)
2.1 At the start of the 2002‑3 session student numbers were similar to the preceding year when we experienced a significant decrease. Given the large numbers who will leave at the end of this and next year’s session the College faces the prospect of a drastic reduction in its student community due to the small number of candidates now coming forward to prepare for ministries within the United Reformed Church. In the process of three years the College has moved from a position of strength to one fearful of the future. And we are not alone.
2.2 The present financial situation caused us to drop our plans to increase college staffing with the appointment of a Tutor in Old Testament studies. We are grateful to those who have helped on a short‑term basis with teaching in this field, not least Roger Tomes, a former member of the college staff. In the long term, our biblical studies provision will now be enhanced by the Partnership appointment of an Old Testament Fellow.
2.3 While we have encountered the usual frustrations in the Partnership for Theological Education, most noticeably due to the refusal of planning permission for the favoured site of the proposed Learning Resources Centre, a number of noteworthy developments have occurred:
2.3.1 We continue to serve the needs of the churches by offering them expertise in lay education and the in‑service preparation of their ministers. Further diversification by the Partnership involves the start of a new part‑time MA course for teachers in Autumn 2003
2.3.2 In the light of recent racial hostilities in some Lancashire multi‑ethnic towns, the Partnership held a very successful course in Oldham exploring the theme of Christianity and Islam.
2.3.3 Following the success of Encircling Prayer we are compiling a second volume of worship resources written by Partnership staff and students.
2.4 All last year’s leavers received calls to churches. The following settlements have taken place:
Graham Adams (SM Lees Street Congregational, Openshaw (half‑time with post graduate research)
Dill Brace (SM) Ely Pastorate: Grand Avenue/Saintwell/Ely Methodist, South Wales District, URC
Jane Campbell (NSM) Lincoln District, URC
Helga Cornell (SM) Sefton Road URC, Morecambe, Lancaster District, URC
Meryl Court (NSM) Trinity and Bricket Wood, St Albans District, URC.
Nick Mark (SM) Felixstowe and Saxmundham, in the Ipswich and Colchester District, URC.
Cat Morrison (SM) Dudley and Langley Green in the Worcester and Hereford District, URC
Heather Pollard (SM) Aireworth Group (URC/Baptist), Bradford District, URC
John Saunders (CRCW) Penhill, Swindon NE District, SW Synod URC
Lena Talbot (NSM) Revidge Fold, NE Lancaster District, URC
Mike Thomason (SM) Bolton West Pastorate URC, NW Manchester District, URC
Lesley Whiting (CRCW) South Leeds Group, Leeds District, URC
We bade them farewell at our ecumenical Valedictory Service when the guest preacher was the Revd Roberta Rominger, Moderator of the United Reformed Church Thames North synod.
2.5 We continue to feel very much part of the world church. Several students have spent time abroad, mostly in Third World countries. Some churches and District Councils have been hearing about their adventures and what they have learned. Most visits were from one month to three months in length: Kate Gartside visited a L’Arche community in India; David Howarth visited Moravian Settlements in Cape Town, South Africa; Ruth Dillon, Chris Tolley and Robert Weston visited Jamaica; Martin Knight visited Zimbabwe, and Kate Gray spent the year in Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa. If you would like to read about their visits, a report is available from the college, or they might be willing to come to speak at church events. We also benefit considerably from the presence of the Revd. Li Hau Tiong from the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. Hau Tiong is with us for two years completing doctoral studies.
2.6 The staff continue to pursue research interests in their respective fields. David Peel’s Reforming Theology: Explorations in the Theological Traditions of the United Reformed Church started as his sabbatical project in 1998. During his sabbatical this session he has completed an extensive survey of the theology of Lesslie Newbigin, as well as written an extended essay on ‘Ministry for Mission’. Jan Berry is pursuing research for a PhD at Glasgow University into women’s liturgies and rituals of transition. Lesley Husselbee is completing an MPhil in theological education. John Parry, meanwhile, has conducted research on Jihad, mission education in CWM related theological colleges and Sikhism in the Diaspora. He is also an External Examiner at the University of Edinburgh and Birmingham. Meanwhile, the staff also continue to make their contribution to the wider church. Lesley Husselbee has worked with Lay Preachers and contributed to a CME reading party. Jan Berry shared leading worship at CWM’s ‘Window on the World’ last summer, contributed material for the new United Reformed Church Service Book and to ‘Roots’ and is a theological consultant for TLS. John Parry is a member of the United Reformed Church Training Committee and is about to become Convenor of the Interfaith Committee and Chaplain of FURY. David Peel has recently finished a term on the Doctrine and Worship Committee.
2.7 Lesley Husselbee has worked enthusiastically on the CRCW programme which has now received validation by the England Standards Board (for Standards in Community and Development Work Training). We now intend to develop third level community work modules so that many of our future CRCWs will leave college with degrees (the community work requirement for Scotland if not England) like most of their stipendiary ministry colleagues.
2.8 Under the supervision of the Mona Powell Fellowship bursaries were awarded to Graham Adams (Congregational Federation) and Doug Gay (United Reformed Church) to help fund their PhD work.
2.9 The Friends of Northern College have held successful reunions of former students of the Yorkshire, Paton and Lancashire colleges, and they will host the usual gathering at this year’s Assembly in Portsmouth.
THE QUEEN’S FOUNDATION FOR ECUMENICAL THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
3.1 The Queen’s Foundation, comprising the Queen’s College, The West Midlands Ministerial Training Course and the Research Centre, continues to operate a unified centre for theological learning education and ministerial training. As a Foundation we are dedicated to excellence in theological education and formation for ministry in partnership with our sponsoring churches – the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church. We believe that our ecumenical and theological diversity, together with our setting within the multi ethnic and multi faith city of Birmingham, provides a rich and challenging resource for students to explore the distinctiveness of their own tradition and identity, as well as fostering lively dialogue and deep respect for the traditions of others.
3.2 We are delighted that the Reverend Elizabeth Welch has taken over as President of Governors. Elizabeth’s regular informal visits to the Foundation to talk with Staff and students have been much appreciated and provide an important link between the Governing body and the ongoing life of the Foundation.
3.3 Students ‑ This year we have approximately 165 students studying at the Foundation. There are 63 students at the Queen’s College with 43 full‑time students, 61 students on the WMMTC, and 41 studying with the Research Centre. Of these, 14 are affiliated with the United Reformed Church, with 7 specifically training for ordained ministry, 6 as clergy doing in‑service studies and 1 lay student.
3.4 As in previous years our Foundation life has been enriched by student exchange visits and by the presence of a number of research students from overseas. Stephen Samuel from Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary was with us in the first term and Matshedesho Molale a Methodist minister from South Africa is with us for the whole year. Catherine Beasley and Rita King from the College and Janet Waterfield from the WMMTC went to South Africa in the summer to do placements there. Last term Chandrika Perera lived at TTS and Karen Jobson at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey attending the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies. We also welcomed Maggie and Theo Singaram and David and Sherin Joy and their family, to live in the community, Charles and David both working with the Research Centre.
3.5 Staff ‑ We are looking forward to welcoming David Hewlett as principal of the Foundation at the end of April. David comes to us from the South West Ministerial Training Course. He has a particular concern that we develop the Foundation as a centre of excellence and a resource for the whole church in Black and Asian theology. He is committed also to an honest embracing of the reality of difference within the Foundation, so that we do not merely learn to live with it, nor seek to conform the other to ourselves, but, to use David’s own words, ‘that we welcome the space opened up between the other and self in which the spirit of God is at work to lead both to new places’.
3.6 As a Foundation we have been delighted to welcome Stephen and Judith Burns into the community. Coming from the North East, Stephen has taken up the post of Tutor in Liturgy for the Foundation. He brings a wealth of interest and expertise with him, and we are already beginning to benefit from his presence. We are also pleased to be able to announce the appointment of Tony McClelland as the next Senior Methodist Tutor. Tony is a Methodist minister of some experience both in circuit and theological education, at present serving on the staff of the Northern Ordination Course. Again, Tony will bring much to our common life as he also provides the link between Queen’s and the Methodist connexion.
3.7......... Research ‑ The Research Centre currently has 35 students, registered with the University in association with the Foundation, studying for postgraduate degrees. Staff research also continues in the course of the busy life of the Foundation. Anthony Reddie, our Research Fellow, launched his new book ‘Nobodies to Somebodies: A Practical Theology for Education and Liberation’ on 3rd March, with a discussion, hosted by the Research Centre. Several other staff are due to publish books over the coming months.
3.8 The MA/PDATS programme continues to grow and this year has seen the introduction of two new areas for study, Christian Education and Mission. We continue to welcome ministers of all denominations coming to take opportunities provided in the Foundation for supervision, not to mention the excellent library facilities.
3.9 Worship and Spirituality ‑ Visiting president and preachers at Foundation services, in their sharing of our journey, enhance our spirituality and deepen and challenge our faith. Worship, together as a Foundation, and separately as College and Course communities, lies at the heart of our life. During this term we have welcomed The Revd Ian White, president of the Methodist Conference and The Revd John Waller, General Moderator of the United Reformed Church to Chapel. Both of them willingly spent time with students of their respective denomination and faced challenging questions from them. Their visits brought us encouragement and lots of food for thought.
3.10 Recent guests to the College Community Meeting have included The Revd Dr Rob Frost, speaking on ‘New Age Spirituality’ and Mrs Margaret Sentamu who guided our thoughts on ‘Self‑Awareness and Spirituality.’
3.11 Patterns of community life in College and Course are changing rapidly and we are aware of the constant need to evaluate our corporate spiritual life. Worship in an ecumenical community is inevitably a source of some tension and debate, but at the same time deeply enriching.
3.12 Buildings and Facilities ‑ We have an ongoing programme to upgrade our facilities. Over the summer some important work was done on our main teaching room – the Wakefield Room and we plan to develop the Handsworth Room over the summer to accommodate a growing number of students. With the help of The Friends of Queens we were able to buy a new set of (more comfortable) chairs for the Chapel. We hope to upgrade our IT facilities soon. We continue to give attention to issues of Health and Safety.
3.13 Conclusion ‑ We continue to value our ongoing links with the United Reformed Church. We are always delighted to receive visits from members of our partner churches.
SCOTTISH UNITED REFORMED AND CONGREGATIONAL COLLEGE
4.1 The College Community ‑ We welcomed as ordinands in training this year, Mrs Deborah Anderson and Dr Irene John; both are women with excellent academic backgrounds – Deborah in mediæval Hebrew exegesis and Irene in Christianity and non‑Western indigenous religions. We are looking forward to them being joined in September of this year by Mr Angus Paddison who is currently completing a PhD in New Testament and Mr Craig Jesson, who graduated recently in Human Resource Management. Early this year, we anticipate that Pastor Jack Muir will take up further training as a number of his colleagues in the former Scottish Congregational Church pastorate have done.
4.2 The popularity and quality of Scottish universities as research institutions brings us indirectly a real bonus. Over the last three years, we have had with us Ms Sarah Hall, a United Reformed Church ordinand undertaking a PhD at Edinburgh University around issues in Bible study work. As she completes her doctorate and returns to Mansfield and London to undertake her internship, we wish her well and express our appreciation of her contribution to the life of the College and of the United Reformed Church synod. We have been glad to learn that Ms Suzanne McDonald, an ordinand at Westminster College, will be coming to Scotland to take a PhD at St Andrews University and we look forward to having and being a link for her.
4.3 The Revd George Sykes, college tutor, is retiring from pastoral charge at Newburgh United Reformed Church, but we are glad that his retirement does not extend to his college work.
4.4 Continuing Ministerial Education ‑ Our core mission is to provide training for ministry, but we are more than conscious that such training can never be confined to that small (but significant) part which occurs prior to taking up service. We are committed to lifelong learning as an ideal and as a practice and would wish to play a full part in responding to needs for continuing ministerial education and other such needs.
4.5 We believe that we have particular strengths around such areas as
4.5.1 Management and organisational development
4.5.2 Adult learning
4.5.3 Community development
4.5.6 Equality and inclusiveness issues
4.5.7 Oral approaches, e.g. storytelling
4.5.8 National identities and culture
4.5.9 Spirituality.
4.6 If the Church is to be a learning community, then its theological colleges and other learning resources ought to be at the heart of its life. We look forward to playing our part in that.
4.7 Scottish Churches’ Open College ‑ The impending closure of Scottish Churches’ Open College is a matter for much sadness and regret. This was a brave and creative approach to doing theological education, particularly for lay people, both within the churches and beyond. Its courses brought together students and others from a number of denominations to learn together and to take back that cross‑fertilisation into their churches.
4.8 The dissolution was precipitated by a significant and progressive reduction in grant from the Board of Parish Education of the Church of Scotland, the main funder who was also at the core of the SCOC organisational structure. It is necessary to recognise both the shared vision that brought SCOC into being and the particular contribution of the Church of Scotland financially, organisationally and in terms of enrolling students. Equally, one must be conscious of the immense pressures that there are at present on budgets in all church denominations. An ecumenical endeavour, which is so heavily dependent upon a sole funder, has inevitably an inherent and fundamental weakness. The realities of church life in Scotland however make this a recurrent feature of many such projects.
4.9 One has to be concerned therefore not only at the loss of a significant development in liberal lay theological education in Scotland but also for the loss of a place of ecumenical partnership. It may be therefore that there are significant lessons to be learned, not only about how we do education collaboratively, but also about how we work ecumenically on other fronts.
4.10 This College was not formally a partner in SCOC, though General Assembly will be aware that its synod of Scotland was a member. We were associated with its life in a number of ways, however. In particular, we had recognised SCOC as a resource for ministerial training, especially where a distance learning route was required. We had hoped that some of the modules might also have been attractive in the context of continuing ministerial education. We are actively exploring issues with a number of potential partners.
4.11 Other Partnerships ‑ We have had valuable discussions with our colleagues in Northern College around a number of common issues and with a view to improved collaboration. As these continue, it is significant that 2003 will bring us a “shared” ordinand, undertaking part of his programme in Scotland and part in Manchester. Both institutions have experience in the field of community work and are exploring potential collaboration.
4.12 We are glad also to have had conversation with the United Reformed Church’s Windermere Centre, again to explore shared interests and that this has resulted in our contributing two extended workshops to their programme.
4.13 It is clear that, while institutions may be separate legal and organisational entities, collaborative partnerships have to be forged and fostered.
4.14 The College retreat ‑ This year’s retreat for the college community was on the theme of Music and silence.
4.15 The College annual service ‑ We are delighted that the preacher this year is the Revd John Waller, Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church. One student, the Revd Susan Kirkbride (transferring from non‑stipendiary to stipendiary ministry) has completed her course (including the degree of Master of Theology) and will receive the college certificate.
4.16 Theological staff of United Reformed Church recognised colleges ‑ The College is hosting this year’s annual gathering of theological staff with Dr Andrew Ross, formerly of Edinburgh University and Lisa Curtice, Director of Scottish Consortium on Learning Disabilities as the key speakers.
WESTMINSTER COLLEGE 5.1 The Cambridge Theological Federation ‑ On Tuesday 8 October, in the University Church of Great St Mary’s, the Cambridge Theological Federation celebrated its commitment to ecumenical education. A new governing structure, with a single Council, is responsible for the Federation. Westminster College is now an access point to one of the largest theological faculties in England, with 300 full and part‑time students and 30 staff. It provides a range of courses, validated by Cambridge University, Anglia Polytechnic University, and the University of Wales at Bangor. Students from the United Reformed Church can also enter the Federation through the East Anglia Ministerial Training Scheme. All students have access to the libraries and teaching resources of all the partner institutions. The Federation have asked Westminster’s John Proctor to carry out a thorough review of our curriculum and its objectives, with a view to keeping it addressed towards the changing needs of churches and students. We need to prepare people for the Church which is coming into being rather than train them to do what has always been done.
5.2 Our existing courses demand personal and pastoral development as well as extending thinking skills. Where a course does not supply an applied element, relating theological thinking to the work of the local church, we require it as an addition. Over and above all this every student going forward for ordination to stipendiary ministry in the United Reformed Church must satisfactorily complete a year of pastoral placement, with weekly reflection in college on their experience. The Federation is a place where people meet to learn. They come from all over the world, with different backgrounds and a wide age range. What brings them in the first place may be a need for specific study, such as the course in Jewish‑Christian relations, or detailed work on New Testament theology. Some are ordained, some seeking ordination, some with different vocations, all are on the journey of faith. All of these people could , and do, study alone at home in the various places where they live. There is added value in coming together to learn alongside and from each other. We meet not to be conformed but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2). Those experienced in education will know that we learn most when our assumptions are challenged by new friends and new contexts. This is costly in both personal and financial terms but essential in preparing people for the challenges of ministry today.
5.3 The wider Church ‑ Within Westminster itself we have been glad to provide hospitality for Continuing Ministerial Education. Minister come to us for a short period to draw on the teaching and library resources of the college and our community has benefited from their experience. We also have at least one minister on sabbatical each term, often with their spouse. In the past year this has brought personal experience of ministry in the United States and New Zealand to enrich our community. Add to this the ministers from Ghana and Hungary who came on church scholarships and the richness of our fellowship becomes evident. Our own students take advantage of the programmes and scholarships on offer to see the Church at work elsewhere in the world. In the last year visits have been made to the United States and Fiji.
5.4 The Buildings ‑ The college building is not only the place where United Reformed Church students meet but also a focal point for the Federation classes and meetings. We are as likely to have a class of students, the majority of whom come from Ridley, as we are to find our students setting off there for a class. All this puts pressure on our staff and buildings. Security is a constant anxiety. Like a local congregation we can find our agenda dominated by institutional considerations – who left the door unlocked, was this room booked, who is going to clean up this mess, why is the water coming through the roof again? These questions can soon distort the agenda, so that solving institutional problems becomes more significant than the purposes for which the institution exists. The college is an enormous assert to the whole Church, well beyond the United Reformed Church. Like all assets it needs to be maintained, but it also needs to be made to work. We would like to find new ways of making it work for the United Reformed Church as a centre of theological education. For some years we have been extending our work beyond the walls of the college and bringing new groups of people and new functions to Cambridge. We are considering how we might further improve our conference provision.
5.5 Both as a space and because of its contents the Library is one of the chief glories of Westminster. Not all of that glory has been properly publicised. Although the majority of the collection is listed in the on‑line catalogue there are still rare books in the college and United Reformed Church History Society collection which do not appear there. In the past year we have made great strides in cataloguing but there is still a long way to go. This is slow and detailed work. The advantage it brings lies not only in making ourselves known as a place of excellence but also enabling us to eliminate duplicates. This relieves the pressure to find space for new books and resources. Some duplicate historic material on English Presbyterianism has been accepted by New College, Edinburgh, to extend their collections. Westminster is not a wealthy institution but, as I have said before, it is a rich one.
5.6 Celebration ‑ At our Commemoration of Benefactors in 2002 our preacher was Norman Shanks of the Iona Community and the lecture, part of the series of Reid Lectures, was given by Professor Miroslav Volf from Yale Divinity School. We gave thanks also for the gifts of our leavers, who were: Jayne Bazeley (Roding District: Newham Group) Connie Bonner (Annan), Andy Coyne (Sunderland), Tim Jackson (Vicars Cross, Farndon and Caldy Valley, Chester), Lynn Fowkes (Brentwood and Ingatestone), Janet Llewellyn, Deborah McVey, Lis Mullen (Windermere), Paula Parish West (Erewah Valley) and Heather Whyte (Rodborough and Painswick).
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