Nurturing Growth, Inservice 2009, Monday afternoon
Session 2 - Formation
Rev Carolyn Thornley (Dean of Candidates) introduced the group to:
Aspects of Formation:
(as experienced atUnited Theological College)
- Personal
- Vocational
- Spiritual
- Practical
- Theological
- Ecclesial
- Missional
Practical Aspects of the Above:
At UTC this is seen as seven important aspects;
Personal
To be more aware of self, context and some strategies for dealing with some personal characteristics that might sometimes be in the way of Christian ministry and sometimes enhance awareness of others as a Christian minister as you are reminded of your own human frailty and fragility before God.
Vocational
To be invited, encouraged and even forced to consider the nature of your call and how that is expressed in and through the Body of Christ.
Spiritual
To develop Christian spiritual disciplines that will add to your spiritual journey.
Practical
Particular skills and tasks related to ministry; decision making processes in the UCA, preaching, leading worship, pastoral listening, theological reflection. Engaging in different contexts.
To learn how to adopt, adapt and become adept..
Theological
To be in touch with the resources of Christian faith and demonstrate that you can use those resources to reflect on God’s call upon God’s people at this particular time and in a particular context.
To keep clarifying your understanding of the Christian faith.
Ecclesial
What it means to be part of the Body of Christ.
To understand the particular ethos of the UCA as a Christian denomination.
Missional
The Church exists for God’s mission in the world. What is the mission of God for the church? How does the Church participate in that mission. What roles do individual Christian ministers have?
There are other models such as the Transforming Pastoral Practices Urban Ministerial Formation Programme which emphasise an action-reflection methodology through Verbatims, Critical Incidents, Case Studies, Reports and Reflection Papers, Structural Analysis, etc.
