Flourishing at Newman

I’m currently reading Mrs Moneypenny’s Careers Advice forAmbitious Women by Heather McGregor. It’s a book which is stimulating and helping me think through some important decisions as we prepare to move on in the summer as Karl starts his probationer minister appointment.

Reading chapter one she talks of the importance of qualifications and thinking about where you study. She also says that you should share what has been good about your awarding institution. Thinking about this in light of my own experience I want to explore why I disagree with her regarding the most prestigious is going to be the best.

I’ve recently gone down study wise and done a PG Cert in Chaplaincy and Young People Studies at Newman University. I did this course because I wanted to do a vocational course which gave me some kind of formal accreditation and training as a chaplain.

Now, Newman has an excellent reputation for teaching training and so on but it is fair to say Durham where I did my M Litt has a better overall reputation. However, I have flourished at Newman in a way I didn’t at Durham. Yes, I gained a qualification from both but the confidence and so on she talks about being more important than the qualification itself was definitely developed at Newman in a way it hadn’t been up north.

The reasons for this may be to do with the differences in my personal situation now compared to then but I think it is also that they are very different institutions with different focuses. Durham is a knowledge centered university whilst Newman takes a more holistic view to learning and development. 

The course at Newman allowed me to take my thinking out of the traditional box through a focus on reflective practice. I was able to weave together chaplaincy studies and contextual theology in an imaginative way focused on my own experience. The course involved studying a module on Spirituality and Faith Development in Young People, another on Chaplaincy and doing a placement module (in my case in the chaplaincy where I work). 

The nature of the course is such that you are encouraged to look at what you are doing in light of your own faith tradition. Thus, in studying this I have also had the chance to wrestle with my own faith identity and have gained a much deeper understanding of what it means to me to be a Methodist and think about how this relates to both my view of chaplaincy and my practice. I have found this incredibly useful.

Both are academic but Newman has a more vocational focus than Durham, I think. Now at this point I want to point out the tutors at both were excellent and the standard of teaching at both was extremely high. My supervisors at Durham were absolutely brilliant as were my lectures at Newman. Yet, it was the wider institutional environment which differed for me. Newman provides a more welcoming environment than "the department" in Durham.

The point I am seeking to get across is that the institution which may enable the person to flourish most may not always be the one which has the best reputation overall. The choice of institution has to be right for the person involved. My husband turned down Cambridge University for his undergraduate after getting a place because upon visiting he knew it was not the right place for him to study.

Making this sort of decision can obviously not be taken lightly but I want to encourage you if you make the right decisions it can help you in the long run. 

Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron Reviewed and a Journey Begun

Chasing Francis: A Pilgrims Tale by Ian Morgan Cron is an interesting book which is put forward as a novel, but has a study guide at the back (which is significantly different to thoughts for a book group). The reviewer will reach different conclusions depending on how they view this book. If you see it primarily as a novel you will think it is mediocre and not detailed enough to be a decent novel. However, if you regard it as a Christian teaching book it scores extremely highly.

It focuses around an evangelical pastor who experiences a crisis of faith and ends up in Italy learning about St. Francis of Assisi and exploring how his teaching may be lived out today.

I personally found it an interesting and challenging book. It was interesting in how it put forward some ideas regarding what faith in a late/ post-modern world might look like and because of how it used narrative to explore these ideas. It was challenging because however comfortable one might be with the theological ideas underpinning what was being said it was clear that few of us, apart from a few exceptional individuals, are living this stuff out.

I was challenged about how out of line my life is with the faith I profess as a result of reading this book and I am sure that is where the study guide comes in useful. There is also a useful bibliography at the end of the book making clear that any pretence this is a novel in the normal sense should be abandoned.

Am I glad I have read it and would I recommend it? Yes, certainly especially to those who are weary with faith or wondering what on earth God is calling them into as Christians in 2016. I’d also recommend it to those who might want to be exploring Christian spirituality who have a cynicism about the church. It shows that there is another way possible and in small pockets people are seeking that vision and living it out.

I intend to go through the study material and will share my thoughts on that on here in due course. What I am interested in thinking about though is if anybody else would be interested in reading the book and joining in a discussion on it with me? I'll leave that question hanging a few days and if anybody is up for it can you let me know what date you think you'd be able to read the book by so we can set a date for the first study section discussion.