Strange driving home on a day the country is in turmoil following more flooding, to find the roads dry and, mostly, clear between Reading and Leicestershire.
It was a good couple of days in which my worst fears evaporated fairly quickly and. monsoons aside, I had a good time.
One of the things that really struck me is the relationship between narrative (story, especially 'my story' or 'our story') and theology, and the need for some good basic systematic or dogmatic theology alongside the 'practical' or 'contextual' stuff. Our keynote speaker David Lyall was skilled in showing how the two speak to each other in a creative manner and are not, as some seem to think, diametrically opposed.
During one of the early plenary sessions I shared that I was keenly aware of the paucity of my theological undertsanding, not having studied systematics. Outside of the session another person said she was relieved when I'd shared that because she hadn't either, and had thought she was alone (ironically, in my view she is one of the more able theologians on the course). I guess what did amuse me mildy was that my own ignorance was at least conscious - and I was secretly a little smug when I had to explain perichoresis to a systematitian!!
My own view is that all good theology is, ultimately practical, and that all theology, good, bad or indifferent, is contextual. One of the tutors astutely recognised that in sharing our case studies we were far better at description and being nice to each other than we were at identifying and discussing theological issues. I think that this, in a nutshell, is why so many people dismiss practical theology - it can all too easily drift into some kind of mutual navel gazing exercise which is possibly cathartic or even therapeutic but not even vaguely theolgocial - unless one subscribes to the view that everything is theology.
I think I left the event feeling that, actually, I'm a reasonably competent practical theologian, and that one of my strengths is that I know my weaknesses. I could, if I had the time/inclination, pick up either McGrath's or Grenz's summary theologies, which are on my book shelf and I periodically glance through, and really read them, but maybe I have, by other means (an engineering degree and a systematic brain?!) acquired many of the skills if not the detailed knowledge they would give me.
It was good to catch up with people from the two centres, but also quite challenging to see the gulf that is already apparent in both skills and knowledge. There are some really bright (in every sense of the word) people with whom it is a privlege to share; there are also others who it feels are already out of their depth and I feel for them as the theological water gets deeper (rain or no rain).
As we left we were told we were the 'big siblings' who were about to get baby triplets in the autumn (new Manchester intake of up to 15). It will be intriguing to see what the new session brings and how the course develops.