Working on a new edition of my book on theological education I found a letter from Steven Mackie, a major contributor to global thinking on theological education towards the end of the 20th century.
Steven was my teacher, mentor and friend. I'd sent him a copy of the book and he was kind enough to offer me his comments. He related his own study of theological education worldwide to what I'd done within the confines of the Uniting Church, he also made comparisons between his own denomination, the Church of Scotland, and mine. There's a fascinating comment on an educational experiment that Lesslie Newbigin initiated in South India with emerging leaders that Steven connects to other innovations around the world. (I remembered Steven giving me Newbigin's phone number, in 1984 or thereabouts, so that I could check a minor detail in my PhD thesis that Steven was supervising. I was tongue tied when Bishop Newbigin answered the phone...)
Steven might overestimate the openness of the Uniting Church to missional change, but it was encouraging nonetheless. He died a few weeks ago. I miss him. I've put a link to his "review" below.
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