Well, it's official. My application to do an MPhil with the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield has been accepted by their validating university, Birmingham, beginning October 1st. The old (and I mean 'old') academic chops are going to have to get not only restored but multiplied. To say I'm a bit daunted by this undertaking would be putting it mildly, but it seems to be 'right' to give it a good go. Maybe a Peter getting out of the boat situation.
I ended my 2007 sabbatical feeling I was entering a year of transition. I'd begun some study on "Mission With" as a theological back-fill on my involvement with Carisma and PeaceWeek which had opened up a number of other avenues of thought which needed more exploration. And I still had my 'itch'. The Urban Presence Trustees recommended I try to keep the study going a day a week. In December I gave a presentation on "Mission With" to the annual Urban Theology Collective, one of the members of which heads up the Post-Graduate bit of UTU. Afterwards he suggested I had the beginnings of a good MPhil. There followed several months of weighing up pros and cons, praying and taking advice, which was mostly "go for it". So I did. Recently I realised that October 1 is ONE YEAR EXACTLY from when my sabbatical finished. Spooky.
So, as best as I can work out, I think God is in this. Oo-er. The title of the research proposal is: "“Mission With” in Inner-city Manchester: Presence, Partnership and Power in Local Church Community Engagement" The sub-title is a quote from Steve Chalke: "True incarnation is when I go out and get involved in a local project where I don't run the show and I don't pull all the strings." No doubt I'll comment on progress here from time to time. Meantime, those of you who do, please pray for me!
P.S. The title of this blog sounds better said in a Belfast accent as it is a play on a local colloquialism. (This piece of information should, academically speaking, have a footnote leading to at least one verifiable source, referenced in a Bibliography, to demonstrate its accuracy... or you can take my word for it.)
I ended my 2007 sabbatical feeling I was entering a year of transition. I'd begun some study on "Mission With" as a theological back-fill on my involvement with Carisma and PeaceWeek which had opened up a number of other avenues of thought which needed more exploration. And I still had my 'itch'. The Urban Presence Trustees recommended I try to keep the study going a day a week. In December I gave a presentation on "Mission With" to the annual Urban Theology Collective, one of the members of which heads up the Post-Graduate bit of UTU. Afterwards he suggested I had the beginnings of a good MPhil. There followed several months of weighing up pros and cons, praying and taking advice, which was mostly "go for it". So I did. Recently I realised that October 1 is ONE YEAR EXACTLY from when my sabbatical finished. Spooky.
P.S. The title of this blog sounds better said in a Belfast accent as it is a play on a local colloquialism. (This piece of information should, academically speaking, have a footnote leading to at least one verifiable source, referenced in a Bibliography, to demonstrate its accuracy... or you can take my word for it.)
