Forming Ministers or Training Leaders is a unique book because it is based on a significant piece of empirical research. Anthony Clarke explores the way that the practice among theological colleges in the UK has been changing and develops the concept of the "pastoral imagination" to express what a theological college is aiming to do with its students. The book then offers an analysis of the "pastoral imagination" that is in fact at work in a selection of Baptist colleges and other theological institutions in the UK. Alongside this Clarke offers a coherent and robust theological account of the work of a theological college, through engaging with recent trinitarian theology, and argues that this is best understood as a process of formation which embraces other ideas of training and education.

The Church is currently experiencing a transition in the way it understands and practises both mission and ministry. It is to be outward-looking, engaging with the wider community, involving all its members in mission and clergy are to play the role of enablers and equippers of the ministry of the whole church. However, ministerial formation in colleges and courses throughout the country lags behind this emerging consensus. ‘Theological education’ is still largely based on academic models. Reimagining Ministerial Formation offers a new way forward, where ‘ministry’ comes to be about the whole church, and ministerial formation is about collaboration between clergy and laity. It argues strongly for a shift away from ‘front-loaded’ training, to a new focus on formation as a life-long process.

Strategic thinking about ministry and mission has tended to focus on the challenges of communication and presentation. Less attention has been paid to the effects that this thinking has on ministry. There is an unacknowledged dilemma for churches insofar as they are caught between the challenge to re-shape ministry in response to cultural change and the belief that there are certain God-given, immutable foundations for ministerial order that must be retained. Arguing that what is needed is a provisional approach to ministry which recognises that all forms of ministry are, and always have been a response to social and cultural context, this book brings theological and practical insight to bear on the question of ministry’s provisionality. In the end, it asks, is the only way through this dilemma a kind of Ecclesianarchy?

What is the mission of the church? What are the ministries that futher its mission? How should the traditional orders of bishop/overseer, priest/presbyter, and deacon be reconsidered in the light of 21st century challenges and ecumenical unity? These big questions involve a constellation of neuralgic issues both within the Roman Catholic Church and between it and its sister churches, both East and West: women priests, women bishops, married priests, lay ministries, the unaccountability of bishops to their flocks. The rapid decline of priests in the US has led to an enormous number of lay people in leadership positions, but they can't preside at the Eucharist (the heart and soul of Catholic identity and practice), and their roles are nebulous, undefined, and severely constrained. Catholic women are voting with their feet over the church's failure to ordain women. Lay theologians, men and women, now outnumber priest theologians, but have little "standing" in the church outside of academia. Far-reaching agreements on theological issues have been made between Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism and Lutheranism, but the practical consequences (e.g., shared Eucharists) are nil. It is against this background that David Power, the doyen of sacramental theologians in North America, has written a magisterial work on the mission, ministry, and order of the church that is historically comprehensive, theologically progressive, ecumenically and globally focused, and practical in its prescriptions.

Explores a variety of growing churches to identify what is making the difference between them and churches which are static or declining. In addition to numerical growth, it asks how we measure spiritual growth and identifies the signs of spiritual vitality, laying a practical and theological foundation for continued growth into the future.

"The Korean missions movement is perhaps the most significant story of the Church in the world over the past one hundred years. Today Korea can boast of being the leading sender of missionaries per head of population. Yet this movement has not been well integrated into the global mission community and also this community has at times failed to understand and learn from this tremendous work of God. I am excited that God has brought together a unique body of people to wrestle with these issues. This work will help bring about much needed collaboration and develop each other's strengths in an environment of mutual respect." --MALCOLM L. McGREGOR, SIM International Director "Accountability in Missions is a remarkable book, exploring the full range of mission accountability issues--strategic, financial, and relational--from both Korean and North American perspectives. This is global missiology made practical and accessible to all missions practitioners. The many articles that penetrate the mysteries of Korean and North American interaction especially make it a must-read book for all Koreans and North Americans working together." --STEVE STRAUSS, Professor of Mission and Intercultural Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary "This collection of essays provides a biblical and theological basis for accountability and brings voices East and West, demonstrating that accountability--to God and to others--is a universal principle, not linked to one culture or context (i.e., Western). Further, the collection is eminently practical, addressing matters of governance (decision-making), finance, and personal integrity. To all mission leaders I say: read this book! Actually, read it but also find colleagues with whom to discuss and digest these principles and review our mission practices." --GORDON T. SMITH, President, reSource Leadership International