Inspiration to blog has been hard find in recent weeks. I'm now in Bath, covering for John Rackley at Manvers Street. This means planning two services every sunday as well as other minister stuff. I'm also this week and next helping with RPC library stock check during half the week back in Oxford. Manvers St is a city centre church and part of my thinking while here is to reflect on how a city centre church exists and survives. So look out for that other the next few weeks. The other thing on my horizon and will be on my mind over the summer is my next steps ... the plan is to hand in MTh dissertation at the end of the September - so that means writing it! I am too late thought to transfer to doctorate programme, so that would have to wait a year ... so do I go onto the settlement list (how Baptist ministers find a church), find a church and wait a few years before doing doctoral work or hope somehow something turns up to help finance a three-year (or part time six-year) doctorate starting September 2010. So lots do and decide. I've not mentioned the children's camping I'm speaking at as well at the end of July.
- Neil's on lessons learnt after ten years in ministry (1, 2)
- Maggi points us to her new book coming out in the autumn
- A collection of essays on the theology of Colin Gunton will be published probably next year, with essays from Alan Spence, Douglas Knight, Steve Holmes, John Colwell and others.
- Regent's Reviews, a book review journal based at Regent's Park College will be relaunching in the autumn online with a special edition looking at recent books written by Baptists - this is to coincide with the autumn series of lectures on Baptist origins marking 400 years of Baptists. I'm helping to joint edit.
The Bath reference caught my attention. My wife was born in Bath when her father, Eric Rust, was pastor of Hay Hill Baptist Church. We have visited Hay Hill in recent years. My mother-in-law used to refer to it as "the fifth-ranked church" ... size? age? prestige? Never knew ... but Manvers Street was likely first!
Posted by: Joseph M. Smith | July 11, 2009 at 12:43 AM
Andy
Work for the funding - get the PhD done, full time and before settlement if at all possible. In some senses that is a more old-fashioned route, but it is vital that some people take it. The immersion in research for 3 years has benefits that 6 years of part time can never give you. Talk to BUGB scholarships and see what they can do for you.
Glad to know you are OK. Book reviews will be with you some time in August
Posted by: Sean | July 11, 2009 at 01:41 AM
Three years part-time. Only way to do a PhD... More seriously, Sean is right to suggest that you will gain things from full-time study that you can never get from pt work; I can still identify the gaps in my education that could/should/perhaps would have been filled if I had the space and leisure to work full time on the doctorate. (Woeful German being the chief one.)
That said, pt work gives you something as well. I hear people sometimes talk as if it's impossible to write anything unless you have one, or preferably more, completely clear weeks; I've done all my research in odd days and hours (for a variety of reasons, I've never even yet had a sabbatical), and the ability to do this makes you a much more productive scholar (& is your only hope of continuing any scholarship in pastorate...)
Do you need to do the DPhil in Oxford? We could (& I would...) take you on for a doctorate starting September, as could many other places I suspect. BUGB ought to be able to work out a scholarship in that time.
Posted by: SteveH | July 11, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Doing a doctorate part-time is definitely possible, as long as you're able to use odd days and hours, as Steve indicates.
And Steve - I find it very difficult to believe that you have any gaps in your education!
Posted by: Terry | July 11, 2009 at 01:58 PM
My own experience is that trying to do a PhD in pastorate is very tough but not impossible.
If it were possible to sort out the funding I would go for the full time PhD option.
Posted by: Neil Brighton | July 13, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Thanks everyone for your comments ... i'll throw them into the melting pot of my thoughts ...
Posted by: andy goodliff | July 13, 2009 at 05:02 PM
Some interesting and helpful comments here. I suspect it depends a lot on where you see your future - if in the academy then I think Sean's route is almost undoubtedly right; if in a local church and with research as a means of staying sane (?) or providing interest then p/t may be a realistic option - but it's flippin' hard work especially if you're in a small church, so be warned!
A word to the wise - choose your establishment and style of doctorate carefully so that you get what you want from it.
Whatever route you choose beware supervisors who flee to the antipodes to escape from you!! (apologies to Revd Prof Escapee)
Posted by: Catriona | July 13, 2009 at 07:54 PM
Hi Andy we've already had a long chat about this at Manchester and all the advice here is very good but in the end it comes down to vocation, what is God calling you to do, where and when. So the bad news is despite all the great advice from the Christian Community it comes down to your discerning what God is saying to you (both). The good news is that that same community will be around to support you whatever is decided.
If it is a PhD route then one last piece of advice, give yourself to a topic/ quiestion about which you are passioante, find a supervisor who is equally passionate but who will give you the space to write what you need to write and become who you need to become at the end of it all.
I hope Bath is going well.
Posted by: Craig Gardiner | July 14, 2009 at 09:00 AM