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 –

Room: Weekley 3

Chair: Jim French (Youthworks College)

Kit Barker (SMBC):

Theological Interpretation in Theological Education

David Starling (Morling):

The Scribe, the Steward and the Wise Congregation: three

New Testament images to inform the shaping of

contemporary theological education

eLearning –

Room: Weekley 1

Chair: Nathain Secker (Timothy Partnership)

Ben Chenoweth (MST):

Facilitating Faculty-Student Communication with Moodle

Stephen Bray (Morling):

Teaching online: Beyond answering emails and marking

papers.

3:30pm - 4:00pm Afternoon Tea

4:00pm - 5:30pm Elective Session 2

Stream 1 Stream 2

Student/Spiritual Formation –

Room: Weekley 3

Chair: John Coulson (Brisbane School of Theology)

Diane Hockridge (Ridley):

Re-thinking our Approach to Student Formation in

Australian Theological Education

Ian Hussey (Malyon):

Spiritual Formation in an Australian Baptist Theological

Education: a survey-based case study

Transforming Theological Education –

Room: Weekley 1

Chair: Cathy Harris (Mary Andrews College)

Karina Kreminski (Morling):

Theological Education for Missional Church Leadership

Megan Powell Du Toit (ACT):

Women in Theological Education in the ACT in the 21st

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

Room: Weekley 3

Chair: Tallis Tien (Chinese Theological College Australia)

Wally Wang (BST):

A Chinese Perspective on Theological Education

Andrew Prince (BST):

The Centre for Asian Christianity

eLearning – 8 December 11.30 am-1.00 pm

Room: Weekley 1

Chair: Ian Hussey (Malyon College)

Darrell Jackson (Morling):

‘It’ll be better next time around: an online field visit to a

Buddhist Temple’

Graham Stanton (Ridley):

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;

from a spirituality of retreat to a spirituality of engagement; and from traditional church-

based leadership to apostolic leadership. When these shifts are properly understood they have

significant implications for the kind of theological education needed for developing missional

leaders. This chapter will explore what is uniquely needed for the formation of missional

leaders within the academic environment, using the rationale for and design of the Masters of

Missional Leadership as a case study of such formation. This course, which commenced at

Morling College in 2016, was specifically designed by the authors to provide a learning

experience which would suit practitioners who needed to further their leadership skills within

a missional framework. The chapter will also explore future opportunities for missional

leadership studies, where we will look at what opportunities and challenges exist for further

developments in the field of missional leadership within an academic context.

Megan du Toit (ACT), Kara Martin, Jill Firth (Ridley) & Moira Dale (MST):

Women in Theological Education in the ACT in 21st Century Australia

In the last century or so, the halls of higher education, including theology, have opened to

women. This chapter explores the place of women in the Australian College of Theology

today. Looking at both faculty and students, it asks about their numerical presence, and their

experiences, as teachers, and as learners, within the context of evangelical theology. What

do women take from their involvement in theological colleges? and what do they bring? The

chapter discusses the place of collegiality, and how different forms of mentoring can be used

to strengthen women’s involvement in this field.

Session 3 – Stream 1: Asian Perspectives

Wally Wang (BST): A Chinese Perspective on Theological Education

The research reported in this chapter investigated the interplay between Chinese culture and

theological education through the eyes of six lecturers teaching in the three Chinese programs

within the Australian College of Theology consortium. It looked at how Chinese culture

would influence the teacher-student relationship, classroom delivery method, choices of

lecture materials and assessment instruments. The research found that the Chinese cultural

background of these lecturers was a valuable asset in their teaching, especially in their

choices of lecture materials and assessment instruments. However, their cultural background,

as well as their students’, did affect their interaction with their students as well as the

classroom delivery method.

Andrew Prince (BST): The Centre for Asian Christianity

Many ACT Colleges have established Centres of Excellence. Eighteen months ago Brisbane

School of Theology launched the Centre for Asian Christianity (CAC). This session will

consider some of the differences between CAC and other ACT Centres, including the ideas

behind its inception, foci, path taken to establish the Centre, highlights from the past eighteen

months, lessons learnt along the way, and plans for 2018 and beyond. It is hoped that this

seminar might spark some ideas for those currently involved in ACT Centres, and those

considering starting new Centres.

Plenary Session – Possible Futures

Ian Hussey (Malyon) and Andrew Bain (QTC): Five Years On: The Long-Term

Value of Theological Education

Amongst others, Christian educationalist Perry Shaw advocates that theological training

institutions need to engage with the stakeholders who they serve in order to ensure the

training they offer is relevant. One such stakeholder is the student themselves. Little research

has been done to investigate how well pastors/ministers believe their theological education

has prepared them for their ministry. This research investigated the perceptions of ministry

practitioners of how effectively their theological education has prepared them for their

current vocation. The sample was composed of practitioners from two different religious

traditions (Presbyterians and Baptists) who completed their theological education in the last

three to eight years and are still in vocational ministry. The qualitative method of telephone

interviews was used to collect the data. Findings are discussed and conclusions drawn.

Brian Harris (Vose): The Challenges for Theological Education in Australia

Taking the title of the paper literally, this chapter systematically explores three areas of

challenge facing theological educators in Australia, namely the theological challenge, the

educational challenge and the Australian challenge. It argues that the changed context in

which we theologize necessitates theological educators equipping their students to counter

claims that the Christian faith is intellectually vacuous, morally suspect and experientially

empty, and proposes that theologians need to do theology not only for the church but also for

the marketplace, to help ensure that the Christian faith is not marginalised in society.

In exploring educational challenges, the paper suggests that an area of increasing complexity

is finding ways to form students for Christian ministry in an increasingly on-line environment

where face to face contact is often limited.

Australian challenges discussed include training students for pastoral ministry in an

increasingly post-denominational era, the challenge of adequately funding theological

education and the opportunity provided by the increasing number of new immigrants who are

enrolling in our colleges.

Elective Sessions – eLearning

Session 1

Ben Chenoweth (MST): Facilitating Faculty-Student Communication with

Moodle: a look at some of Moodle's built-in functionality and optional plugins

In this session I will look at some of the ways Moodle can be used to facilitate faculty-student

communication. Functionality that is built into Moodle will be addressed (messaging,

forums, and course participant pages). Of perhaps greater interest to those who have not yet

come across them, two plugins will also be described and (if time) demonstrated: Analytics

Graphs and Configuration Reports.

Stephen Bray (Morling), Teaching Online: beyond answering emails and

marking papers.

You seem to be a reasonably effective classroom lecturer, but you’re thinking that your

online students might be getting a raw deal. This session looks at some strategies and

practices for engagement and interaction, providing your students with a chance to learn and

grow, even without your awesome physical presence.

Session 2

Darrell Jackson (Morling): ‘It’ll be better next time round’: an online field visit

to a Buddhist Temple

This session will introduce some simple tools for increasing the interactivity of online

learning relating to virtual field visits to non-Christian places of worship (linked to the ACT’s

EM421-621D Living Faiths Unit).

Graham Stanton (Ridley): Towards More Effective Field Education

This session will initiate a discussion about improving the efficacy of the ACT’s field

education units. Facing the challenges of teaching Field Ed in the online context has

identified critical elements of Field Education as an opportunity for ACT students to develop

skills for life-long learning. The presentation will share from the experience of teaching Field

Ed at Ridley College and raise discussion points for considering possible reform of the field

education units in the future.

Conference Participants

Name Institution

Bain, Andrew QTC

Barker, Kit SMBC

Bergman, Jon Vose

Brammall, Anthony SMBC

Bray, Stephen Morling

Brooking, Stuart ACT

Cairns, Kristen Morling

Chatfield, Graeme ACT

Chenoweth, Ben MST

Cohen, David Vose

Condren, Janson SMBC

Coulson, John BST

Cross, Graeme Vose

Curley, Mandy YWC

Dalziel, James Guest speaker

Davies, Simon ACT

De Hoog, John RTC

Du Toit, Megan ACT

French, Jim YWC

Fung, Nancy CTCA

Harden-Thew, Kathryn Guest speaker

Harper, Geoff SMBC

Harris, Brian Vose

Harris, Cathy MAC

Hockridge, Di Ridley

Holdaway, Tara ACT

Honor, Kathryn Timothy Partnership

Hussey, Ian Malyon

Hyam, Michael YWC

Jackson, Darrell Morling

Klein, Witali BST

Kreminski, Karina Morling

Law, Dennis CTCA

Leung, Iris CTCA

Lukabyo, Ruth YWC

Maddock, Ian SMBC

McClean, John Christ College

Meres, Kiara YWC

Mills, Margery MAC

Morgan, Di MAC

Murphy, Edwina Morling

O’Neil, Monica Vose

Ochs, Christoph MST

Patston, Kirk SMBC

Pratt, Jonathan Christ College

Prince, Andrew BST

Ray, Karen MAC

Salier, Bill YWC

Secker, Nathain Timothy Partnership

Sessions, Erin Morling

Silberman, Tim SMBC

Sloane, Andrew Morling

Stanley, Trinette YWC

Stanton, Graham Ridley

Starling, David Morling

Stoneman, Jackie MAC

Sutherland, Martin ACT

Tien, Tallis CTCA

To, Dennis CTCA

Treloar, Geoff ACT

Trist, Richard Ridley

Vink, Jonathan SMBC

Vose, Cate Vose

Wang, Wally BST

Williamson, Michael YWC

Yeates, Paul ACT