‘Any student, anywhere, anytime’ is the unofficial slogan of the theological education by distance ‘movement’. Flexibility, quality and the potential for local adaptation by locals have seen exciting growth in the provision of theological education throughout the world, made possible largely in the 21st century by widespread internet access. (The previous technology of photocopier and mail service has been, and is still, effective in many parts of the world.)
But with all the advantages and flexibility of a part-time and self-directed distance education movement, a significant challenge has arisen. That is, as the potential for the ‘individualization’ of theological education increases, so does the danger of theological education becoming ‘qualification’-focused, rather than an exercise in increasing personal maturity and ministry service.
As Paul writes to the Colossian church, he thanks God for them and prays for them in these words:
[F]rom the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Col 1:9-10)
Paul is clearly in favour of people coming to know God better, and I’m guessing that includes theological education! However, knowledge is not the end purpose: he wants us to know God so that our walk will be changed into a pleasing, fruitful walk.
Because of our theology of fellowship and relationships, and because we follow a God who commands us to continue to meet together, we (correctly) place a very high value on corporate gatherings where we can gather for the purpose of teaching, encouraging, rebuking, and so on. For many of us, not surprisingly, our experience of growth in knowledge and maturity through the ministry of small groups matches this theology—and formal theological education is no exception.
Many theological training institutions require students to attend full-time and, if possible, residential courses as this provides the best community and fellowship setting where knowledge and fruitful walking can be encouraged to flourish.
However, in many places around the world, full-time residential courses are not possible, and distance education is an excellent alternative. Excellent as it is, providing theological education by distance provides a great number of challenges for those who want to encourage both growth in knowledge and fruitful walking as the ‘community of learners’ can be spread all over a region, or even all over the world. Because of this, fellowship, and learning and encouraging in fellowship, may not happen, and studies can quickly become a pathway to a qualification or certificate, rather than to growth in maturity and ministry service.
Providers of distance theological education are trying several techniques to address this issue—for example, by providing regular ‘intensives’ for students, requiring attendance at a regular regional group, providing online chat and ‘community’ facilities for students, and allocating students into permanent groups with full-time tutors. Some of these provisions have had several decades of testing through various TEE (Theological Education by Extension) programmes, while others are emerging as new technologies develop.
For those of us involved in distance theological education, these issues of fellowship and growth will continue to grow because—and praise be to God for this!—all over the world students are taking up the opportunities presented through distance theological education.
Peter,
1. I’ve just finished writing a commentary on Colossians and I am amazed by the way that Paul really emphasizes the catholicity of the church as part of his plea for the Colossians to adhere to the gospel rather than to the philosophical mysticism of the teachers. He really urges them to see themselves as part of a wider pan-Roman empire movement.
2. My own institution is Highland Theological College and we are part of the UHI Millennium Institute (soon to be Uni of the Highlands and Islands) which specializes in distance learning much like USQ in Toowoomba. In the lectures that I give I can have 5-10 students attending in class, 2-3 students plugged in live by Video Conference from another UHI campus, and 10-15 students doing the course via distance learning with a learning pack and dedicated web resource.
G’day Michael,
It sounds like your program is exactly the sort of thing I’m thinking about. A mix of local, ‘live’ and ‘classical correspondence’ students must introduce all sorts of interesting questions. I’m wondering what you do to encourage fellowship between your distance students – particularly fellowship for the sake of their growth.
Pete
Institutionalized education is not what Paul had in mind when he told other to “increase in the knowledge of God”. We can clearly see how Paul went about “strengthening” and “establishing” the churches he started. He visted, he taught, he encouraged in ministry those who had come to know Christ in that local community. The Church! There is the answer. Paul established churches, taught leaders, and intern those leaders taught others with a constant eye on moving the Gospel out to the “ends of the earth”. You can rid yourself of this individualized learning by encorporating theological education into the local church. Just as God, through Paul, intended.
And it’s not just the individualization that leads to problems. What about the fact that seminary after seminary turns out “pastors” who have never ministered in the local church, and have never been recognized by thier church leaders as leadership material. Fulltime pastoral ministry is not the individuals choice alone. It is a leading of the spririt and a confirmation by other godly leaders in the local church.
And lastly, where are our Pastor/Elders that should be leading these young men through thier education and spiritual growth in preparation for leadership in the local church? We have seminaries because the local church failed at training it’s young men to lead.
I would encourage you to dig into the scriptures and find out how to raise up men for leadership.
Hi Michael,
Its interesting that as I’ve been doing some research on this topic, one of the big questions that keeps coming up is how can distance theological education be used as a resource in the local church – in both a ‘lay’ capacity and for ordained or ‘professional’ ministers. Many of my colleagues here use distance education materials for groups within their churches – and it works really well. A question is – should institutions that provide distance material specifically ‘target’ local church groups, or is that just one helpful and appropriate context to use the material?
Pete