Establishing the Institute
Over the years many factors had contributed to a sense amongst the House of Bishops that there was a need for some far reaching changes to the way in which the Church of Ireland was training people for service in the ordained ministry. Over the last few decades there had been huge changes in society with the clear result that there had been a very significant shift in the role of the rector. Feedback from all parts of the church, from those undergoing training, from those doing curacy, from parishes, from training rectors and indeed from the Theological College itself were all recognizing the need for substantive change to take place.
The House of Bishops therefore commissioned a Review (Inspection) of the Church of Ireland Theological College. This report was presented in its first draft to the House of Bishops in the summer of 2005. The Review team included:-
The Ven Bob Langley - Archdeacon of Lindisfarne
The Rev. Canon Alan Abernethy - then Priest of Bangor, Co. Down, now Bishop of Connor
Professor Per Hansson - Professor of Education, Uppsala University
Professor Alan Hibbert - Professor of Mathematics, Queen’s University Belfast
Professor AIne Hyland - Head of Department of Education and Vice President, University College, Cork
The report both confirmed and filled out in a number of areas what had been sensed as areas of change that needed to take place. The report also asked some far reaching questions of the Bishops in terms of their understanding of the mission to which the Church of God is called and in the light of that the main characteristics of ordained and other public ministries for which the training institution seeks to prepare its candidates.
As the Bishops reflected on all of this and produced some very clear answers to the questions raised by the report it was clear that making the changes envisaged was going to be a very large change management project and consequently a project co-ordinator was engaged in Spring of 2006, Mr. Andrew McNeile from Dublin Diocese. The Bishops had a broad sense of the changes they wished to see but breaking this down into manageable elements clearly necessitated a comprehensive plan. Consequently a small group was formed from the House of Bishops and included the Bishops of Clogher, Kilmore and Meath and was supplemented by the then Director of Ordinands, Canon Alan Abernethy and Professor Aine Hyland. This group spent the summer and autumn of 2006 producing a clear and comprehensive project plan. The plan was unanimously approved at a House of Bishops meeting in November 2006. Discussions then took place with the appropriate authorities at the University of Dublin, Trinity College – the Church of Ireland’s long standing University partner, who indicated their willingness to embrace and assist the proposed changes.
Consequently the next step was for major communication and consultation with the church at large regarding the principles and aims of the planned changes. Two major consultation sessions were held in April 2007 in Dublin and Belfast, attended by about 450 people many of them clergy. There were some very useful suggestions and points raised, which were subsequently incorporated where possible, but overall the feedback was strongly positive and encouraged the team to continue to press ahead. A presentation was therefore given to General Synod at its session in May 2007 and there was a positive response and assent to the principles and aims of the plan.
The first step in this process was to recruit a Director for the new Institute. Advertisements were placed during the summer, interviews during the autumn and it was announced on the 3rd December 2007 that the Rev. Dr. Maurice Elliott, Rector of Shankill Parish would be the new Director of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.
Throughout this time discussions were also proceeding in parallel with our educational partner Trinity College, Dublin. Much of the basis for the new curriculum was then laid in the period between September 2007 and June 2008 as well as a complete review of the way in which the relationship and management of the courses was handled. The new curriculum was approved in principle by the Executive of the Aspirant School of Religions, Theology and Ecumenics in December 2007 and went to the Graduate Studies Committee in June 2008. This was approved for onwards submission to the University Council which approved the course at its meeting on the 8th October 2008. The full details of the new curriculum can be seen here. At the same time ongoing discussions had been taking place regarding the agreement as to how the course was to be overseen and managed and how the two institutions were to relate together. This resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding that was passed by the House of Bishops at its June 2008 meeting and by the Board of Trinity College Dublin at its meeting on the 24th September 2008.
New Governance arrangements had also been indicated as part of the project plan. These arrangements were discussed during the summer of 2008 and approved by the House of Bishops and the Representative Church Body during the summer and autumn of 2008. The full details of these Governance arrangements can be seen here. The details of recent appointments to the Governing Council and its current membership can be seen here.
The first intake of students began the engagement with the new process by undertaking the Foundation Course, which is a course that is intended to prepare people effectively to undertake the Masters in Theology. Full details of the Foundation Course can be found here. Some 40 students begun this course who are hoping to continue on to do the Masters in Theology from September 2008. Brief video interviews with some of those currently on the course can be seen here.
December 2008