Hi to all,
I'm coming at this from the background of having completed LP Training
doing Faith and Worship, Candidate in the era of Foundation Training first,
and having a spouse who has done LP Training via the current course and is
now in her final year of Pre-Ordination Training via Queens!
My thoughts on the current LP and WL Training Scheme are not particularly
complimentary. There are some fine LPs I have known who simply wouldn't
have got through it. I know we want to have our LPs as Theologically
Literate, but what struck me was that it was operating at too high an
academic level - it's probably First Year Degree level, stuff I was doing
as part of my Foundation Training back in the mid 2000s. Practical skills
are left to the Preaching Mentor - and I think this is something that we
miss out on in some places - good microphone technique, voice projection,
increasingly how to get on with the technology or those running it, even
things like looking at the metre for traditional hymns to make sure there's
variety in there - I benefitted greatly from having a Musician as my
Preaching Supervisor!
What I worry we don't include enough of in the current Preaching course is
Homiletics - the crafting and preparation, and the delivery. One of my
College Tutors spent some time with us on this, especially the idea of the
"Homiletical Plot" which still influences much of my preaching. We could
learn a lot from Storytellers - after all, in many ways is Jesus not the
ultimate teller of stories?
Especially for Worship Leaders, the content is just not what they need. I
get the impression that in many places, Circuits are finding alternative
ways to train them as they've found potential WLs put off when they
discover they've got to do an overly academic course. I still get the
feeling that someone had a lightbulb moment and thought that one course
could provide a path for WLs to become LPs, to become Candidates for
Ministry - but it's too high level for those who just want to be accredited
WLs, too daunting for some who want to become LPs. The balance is wrong.
In some ways I think the same applies with Ministerial Training too. My
course was through Hartley Vic/LKH, focussing on Contextual Theology. In
many ways I think it did a good job, as it encourages you to think
theologically about the people, the area, the issues that affect them; at
the same time, I do feel it was a bit light on what you might call
"Classical Theology" - I couldn't tell you much about the thought of the
major theologians of the 20th Century for example, with the possible
exception of Moltmann. Fiona is getting a bit more of that background
through her course at the moment. I do wonder if especially with the
Pandemic (and the vast majority of students being part time and working
other jobs) the Practical side of Ministry is a problem at the moment;
normally you'd try and cover some of this on placement, but if you're
working that doesn't always fit. For example I worked full time 9 to 5
until spending a year as a Student Presbyter prior to becoming a
Probationer; I could go to things on evenings or weekends, but as a result
I had very little experience of pastoral work, funeral visits, all that
side of the work until I stopped working full time. I benefitted enormously
in having Andrew Pratt as a Tutor - both myself and Fiona have found his
book Net Gains (now revised into Practical Skills for Ministry) a great
help - but unless you can afford to go and study full-time via Queens, the
financial support to say drop hours to part time in a job just isn't there.
I realise this is going further than just Preaching now, but some bits are
still relevant: what is the balance? How much is it reasonable to expect
academically from those who want to be Worship Leaders, from those who are
training as Local Preachers, as Ministers (Presbyters and Deacons!)? What
is the balance between the academic and the practical? And how well are we
teaching both Theology, and Homiletics?
Rob
--
Rev Rob Weir
Stokesley Methodist Circuit
Easby, Great Ayton and Seamer Methodist Churches
