Australian college of theology Annual professional development conference ‘Theological Education: Foundations, Practices, and Future Options’ Hosted for the Australian College of Theology by Sydney Missionary and Bible College Thursday 07 – Friday 08 December, 2017 Introduction. The organizing panel is glad to welcome you to the 2017 ACT Professional Development Conference. This is the third such conference. The panel is hopeful that this year’s conference will extend the trajectory of improvement in format and delivery, and in perceived usefulness, established by the two previous conferences. The theme was suggested by the title of the book that will be launched in the opening session of the conference. The appearance of such a book edited by two ACT faculty members and dominated by contributions from within the ACT community presented a unique opportunity which the organizing panel could not forgo. It shows that the learning and teaching culture in the ACT has reached a point at which a production of this nature and quality is possible. This is a development for a conference to celebrate and utilize as a platform on which to build. This is the aim of the conference. The ACT welcomes our two guest presenters, Kathryn Harden-Thew and James Dalziel. Neither is uninvolved in the operations of the ACT – Kathryn as a Director and James as a member of the Academic Board – but both also bring substantial expertise from, and experience of, the higher education sector at large. We thank them for their willingness to bring together their understanding of advanced higher education practice with the pedagogical needs of the ACT. The highlight of the two previous professional development conferences has been the fellowship and collegiality experienced by participants. The great hope of the organizing panel is that this year’s conference will be at least as good in this respect as last year and the year before. We commend the conference program to you. Cathy Harris (Chair) John Coulson – BST Jim French – YWC Geoff Harper – SMBC Iris Leung – CTCA Geoff Treloar – ACT PROGRAM Thursday 7 December 10:00am - 10:30am Registration/Morning Tea 10:30am - 11:30pm Welcome – SMBC Acting Principal, ACT Dean (Weekley 1) Launch of Theological Education: Foundations, Practices and Future Options 11:30am - 1:00pm Guest speaker: Kathryn Harden-Thew, ‘The reflective practitioner’ (Weekley 1) 1:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch 2:00pm - 3:30pm Elective Session 1 Stream 1 Stream 2 Theological Perspectives on Theological Education – eLearning – Room: Weekley 3 Room: Weekley 1 Chair: Jim French (Youthworks College) Chair: Nathain Secker (Timothy Partnership) Kit Barker (SMBC): Ben Chenoweth (MST): Theological Interpretation in Theological Education Facilitating Faculty-Student Communication with Moodle David Starling (Morling): Stephen Bray (Morling): The Scribe, the Steward and the Wise Congregation: three Teaching online: Beyond answering emails and marking New Testament images to inform the shaping of papers. contemporary theological education 3:30pm - 4:00pm Afternoon Tea 4:00pm - 5:30pm Elective Session 2 Stream 1 Stream 2 Student/Spiritual Formation – Transforming Theological Education – Room: Weekley 3 Room: Weekley 1 Chair: John Coulson (Brisbane School of Theology) Chair: Cathy Harris (Mary Andrews College) Diane Hockridge (Ridley): Karina Kreminski (Morling): Re-thinking our Approach to Student Formation in Theological Education for Missional Church Leadership Australian Theological Education Ian Hussey (Malyon): Megan Powell Du Toit (ACT): Spiritual Formation in an Australian Baptist Theological Women in Theological Education in the ACT in the 21st Education: a survey-based case study Century 5.30pm - 6.00pm Pre-dinner drinks 6:00pm - 8.00pm Dinner Friday 8 December 9:00am - 9:30am Worship (Weekley 1) 9.30am – 11 am Guest Speaker – James Dalziel, ‘Is theological education built on a house of sand? Reflections on the importance of practices for learning’ (Weekley 1) 11:00am - 11:30am Morning Tea 11:30am - 1:00pm Elective Session 3 Stream 1 Stream 2 Asian Perspectives – 8 December 11.30 am-1.00 pm eLearning – 8 December 11.30 am-1.00 pm Room: Weekley 3 Room: Weekley 1 Chair: Tallis Tien (Chinese Theological College Australia) Chair: Ian Hussey (Malyon College) Wally Wang (BST): Darrell Jackson (Morling): A Chinese Perspective on Theological Education ‘It’ll be better next time around: an online field visit to a Buddhist Temple’ Andrew Prince (BST): Graham Stanton (Ridley): The Centre for Asian Christianity Towards more effective field education 1:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch 2:00pm - 3:30pm Plenary Session (Weekley 1) Chair: The Dean (ACT) Andrew Bain (QTC) and Ian Hussey (Malyon): Five Years On: the Long-term Value of Theological Education Brian Harris (Vose Seminary): The Challenges for Theological Education in Australia Q&A and close 3:30pm- 4.00pm Afternoon Tea 3.45pm-4.00pm Departure for airport Elective Sessions – Chapter Synopses Stream 1 – Session 1: Perspectives on Theological Education Kit Barker (SMBC): Theological Interpretation in Theological Education When asked to write on the topic of Old Testament perspectives on theological education, it was possible to understand the brief in two ways: 1) What (if anything) does the Old Testament say about theological education? or 2) How should theological education be undertaken in the field of Old Testament studies? My primary interest lies with the latter question, though, of course, the two are fundamentally related. Rather than examine how various texts in the Old Testament might inform our pedagogy, I offer my reflections on how an evangelical understanding of what we are teaching should shape how we teach it. Put simply, ontology should inform praxis, but I am not convinced that, within evangelicalism, such consistency is always maintained. I believe that recent discussions of theological interpretation provide a helpful platform upon which we can evaluate the relationship between our ontology and praxis. David Starling (Morling): The Scribe, the Steward and the Wise Congregation: Three New Testament Images to Inform the Shaping of Contemporary Theological Education This chapter focusses on three New Testament images—Matthew’s image of “the scribe … trained for the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 13:52), the image in Tit. 1:7 of the overseer as “God’s steward”, and the image in Col. 3:16 of the Christian congregation as a community of mutual, wise instruction—exploring each within its original context, then discussing the implications of the three for our contemporary task of shaping the curriculum, aims and strategies of theological education. Session 2 – Stream 1: Student/Spiritual Formation Di Hockridge (Ridley): Rethinking our approach to student formation in Australian theological education Spiritual formation of students remains an important element and consistent goal of theological education programs in Australia. However, the changing Australian higher education context, along with changes in student demographics, modes of study, and uses of educational technology present new challenges for theological education institutions that seek to effectively address student formation. This chapter outlines some of the challenges of addressing spiritual formation in the current Australian theological education context and suggests some ways in which theological colleges might respond. Spiritual formation of students will be well-served where colleges: a. Develop a clear institutional approach and commitment to formation and clarity about their formational intentions; b. Grapple with the challenge of addressing formation in a formal educational context and develop educationally sound solutions which employ relevant learning and teaching approaches and methods of assessment; c. Consider how spiritual formation might be addressed in the variety of learning environments and modes of study chosen by students; d. Recognise the limits and boundaries of these learning environments and of formal theological education itself, and partner with appropriate others in the goal of ongoing spiritual formation of theological students. Ian Hussey (Malyon): The Contributors to Spiritual Formation in Theological Education: What the Students Say. This chapter reports on research into the contribution of various aspects of a student’s experience of theological education to their spiritual formation in a Baptist theological college in Queensland, Australia. Students were invited to participate in a survey and focus groups to identify and explore which aspects of their theological college experience were contributing most to their spiritual formation. This article reports on these findings and discusses the implications for theological education at the College. It also integrates the findings with current theories about spiritual formation in theological education to develop an enhanced model of spiritual formation. The findings and the conclusions regarding spiritual formation are suggestive for other theological training institutions. Session 2 – Stream 2: Transforming Theological Education Karina Kreminski and Michael Frost (Morling): Theological Educational for Missional Church Leadership Those scholars who have promoted a missional paradigm for the church have argued that such a paradigm requires a new kind of leader. This chapter will explore the distinguishing contours of a distinctly missional approach to leadership, including the need for such shifts as moving from an internal to an external focus; from program delivery to people development;