SEARCH Journal

Seeking the Big Picture

David Hewlett on the theological college leaders’ consultation. How many Principals does it take to change a light bulb? In May 2011 we could have answered that question as more than thirty Principals and Deans of Anglican Theological Colleges, Seminaries or Institutions met together in Canterbury. We met under the auspices of the TEAC Steering Group (Theological Education in the Anglican Communion) guided and inspired by its secretary Clare Amos. A communiqué issued after the consultation began in this way: The first ever international consultation for Anglican Communion theological college Principals and Deans, gathering together representatives from 27countries, has been held in Canterbury. We celebrate and affirm the vital significance of theological education for the life and health of the Church and the whole people of God. We believe that good theological education has transforming power, and can promote a global understanding of Anglican identity. Our consultation has contributed to the unity of the Anglican Communion, as well as enabling various models of ecumenical engagement to be explored.

* Full article available in printed copies.

David Hewlett

Principal of the Queens Foundation, an ecumenical theological college in Birmingham, and was lecturer in systematic theology in the C of I Theological College in Dublin in the mid to late 1980s.