1st Edition
Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry The Search for Integration in Theology
A major and continuing problem for theological education and the practice of Christian ministry is how to best achieve a genuine integration between theory and practice, theology and experience. The key claim of this book is that theological reflection, beginning with experience, is a method of integration and that pastoral supervision is a vehicle for theological reflection. In establishing this claim, John Paver demonstrates that the model and method have potential to be a catalyst for reform within theological colleges and seminaries. Three different theological reflection models are developed and critiqued in this book, and their capacity to be developed in particular contexts is explored. This book does not stop at ministry, cultural and personal integration, but is bold enough to make recommendations for structural integration within the theological institution.
Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry
Biography
John E. Paver is Professor Emeritus at the Uniting Church Theological College, Melbourne, Australia.
’... illuminating and provocative...’ Theological Book Review ’Paver's candid reflections raise questions about the practice of the churches more generally. In a world where many of the old religious landmarks and certainties have either disappeared or else seem to be relevant to fewer and fewer people,is there any possibility of finding a basis for striking up dialogue between religious traditions and people's everyday experience? If Paver's own experience is typical, and it certainly finds echoes with this reviewer's work, neither the churches nor the academy seem greatly concerned to address the question. This makes the book both insightful and uncomfortable.’ Theology
