The valuing and devaluing of theological education

Among the myriad challenges facing the Church of England is the state of theological education.  Part time and mixed mode study dominates the theological educational landscape. Residential theological education is deemed too expensive.  In many places, two or three year theological degrees with optional original languages are seen as sufficient for pastoral ministry.  The few remaining evangelical theological colleges provide the most robust forms of training, with Oak Hill College the most outstanding among them. Nevertheless, even some evangelicals themselves seem confused about the importance of theological training, with theological college seen as primarily an opportunity to do university ministry, or with short and narrow in-house church courses mistakenly seen as a sufficient alternative to longer in-depth theological training.  Whatever the motivating factor – perhaps the decrease of funding, desperation for numeral growth, or well-intended activism – the devaluation of theological education does not bode well for the national church of our motherland.
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