Forming Ministers or Training Leaders? An Exploration of Practice and the Pastoral Imagination Item Type Thesis or dissertation Authors Clarke, Anthony J. Citation Clarke, A. J. (2017). Forming Ministers or Training Leaders? An Exploration of Practice and the Pastoral Imagination. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Chester, United Kingdom. Publisher University of Chester Download date 27/09/2021 04:32:39 Item License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10034/620387 Forming Ministers or Training Leaders? An Exploration of Practice and the Pastoral Imagination Contents Abstract .................................................................................................... 5 Summary of Portfolio ............................................................................... 7 1. Introduction: Practice and the Pastoral Imagination ............................. 9 The Practice of Ministry .......................................................................... 10 The Practice of Preparation for Ministry ................................................ 12 The Pastoral Imagination ......................................................................... 13 The Context of the Research ................................................................... 17 A Methodology ........................................................................................ 22 The Thesis ................................................................................................ 30 2. The Practice of Ministry .......................................................................... 32 A Dialectical Model .................................................................................. 33 A Leadership Challenge ........................................................................... 38 Internal Baptist Reflections ............................................................ 39 External Ecclesial Pressures ........................................................... 43 Wider Cultural Developments ........................................................ 45 A Sacramental Turn ................................................................................. 47 Ministers or Leaders? .............................................................................. 49 3. The Practice of Preparation .................................................................... 52 Diverse Terminology ................................................................................ 53 An Agreed Language? The Emergence of the Formation Paradigm ....... 56 A Shared Practice: Developments in the British Baptist Colleges ........... 66 University Validated Courses ......................................................... 67 Practical Theology Methodologies ................................................. 70 Practice-based Patterns ................................................................. 73 Professional Ministry ............................................................ 75 Ecumenical Partnerships ...................................................... 77 Missional Concerns ............................................................... 79 Formation or Training? .................................................................. 81 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 83 4. Exploring Practice and the Pastoral Imagination: Approaching the Empirical Research ........................................................................ 85 Research Methods ......................................................................... 87 Discerning the Espoused Voice ...................................................... 91 Discerning the Operant Voice ........................................................ 95 The Explicit Curriculum ......................................................... 96 The Implicit Curriculum ........................................................ 98 Discerning the Representative Voice ............................................. 99 Conclusion .................................................................................... 100 5. Discerning a Pastoral Imagination: Some Findings Among Baptist Colleges ..................................... 101 Espoused Theologies .................................................................... 101 Northern Baptist Learning Community .............................. 101 Spurgeon’s College ............................................................. 105 Bristol Baptist College ......................................................... 108 South Wales Baptist College ............................................... 111 Some Reflections .......................................................................... 113 The Practice of Preparation ................................................ 113 The Pastoral Imagination .................................................... 116 The Context ......................................................................... 118 Operant Theologies ...................................................................... 119 The Explicit Curriculum ....................................................... 119 The Implicit Curriculum ...................................................... 123 Conclusion .................................................................................... 125 2 6. Discerning a Pastoral Imagination: Some Findings Among non-Baptist Institutions ........................ 127 Espoused Theologies ................................................................... 127 Institution A ........................................................................ 127 Institution B ........................................................................ 130 Institution C ........................................................................ 132 Institution D ........................................................................ 135 Institution E ........................................................................ 138 Some Reflections ......................................................................... 141 The Practice of Preparation ............................................... 141 The Pastoral Imagination ................................................... 143 The Context ........................................................................ 144 Operant Theologies ..................................................................... 146 The Explicit Curriculum ...................................................... 146 The Implicit Curriculum ...................................................... 149 Conclusion.................................................................................... 150 7. Practice and the Pastoral Imagination: Towards a Theology of Formation for Baptists.......................... 152 Formation as Participation: A Theological Emphasis .................. 153 Formation as Discipleship: An Ecclesial Emphasis ....................... 159 Formation as Covenant: A Biblical Emphasis ............................... 163 Formation as Hospitality: A Missional Emphasis ......................... 168 Formation as Integration: A Pedagogical Emphasis .................... 171 Formation as Growth in Virtue: A Personal Emphasis ................ 175 Conclusion.................................................................................... 179 8. Practice and the Pastoral Imagination at Regent’s Park College ............................................................. 180 The Practice of Preparation ........................................................ 181 A Pastoral Imagination................................................................. 187 Reflective and Reflexive ..................................................... 187 3 Collaborative ................................................................................ 189 Hospitable .................................................................................... 191 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 192 9. Conclusion .................................................................................... 193 Documents from the Empirical Research Appendix 1: Sample Letter about Empirical Research .......... 198 Appendix 2: Core Questions in Empirical Interviews ............ 201 Bibliography .......................................................................................... 203 Documents from the Wider Portfolio on CD Appendix 3: DMin Essay on Christian Leadership Appendix 4: DMin Literature Review for Thesis Appendix 5: DMin Thesis Proposal 4 Forming Ministers or Training Leaders? An Exploration of Practice and the Pastoral Imagination by Anthony J. Clarke Abstract This thesis is a piece of practitioner research located in the context of the author’s practice as Tutor in Pastoral Studies at Regent’s Park College. It is written from the context of change, both from denominational reviews, university restructuring and government funding and from wider changes in theological education and arises from a sense of dissatisfaction that recent debates have tended to separate out a discussion about the preparation for ministry from an understanding of ministry itself. The thesis is set in a framework of two concepts: practice and the pastoral imagination. The first draws on the work of MacIntyre, Dykstra, Bourdieu and Graham and describes an on-going habitus that is structured, cooperative and creative;