'the School of Andrew Walker'

Yesterday's conference to celebrate the work of Andrew Walker saw both Pete Ward (colleague and former PhD student) and Martyn Percy acknowledge the role Andrew Walker has played in the development of congregational studies in the UK - Pete argued that he was 'ahead of the game'. Walker's seminal Restoring the Kingdom (a study of the house church movement in the 70s and 80s, and in later editions the 90s) remains an early example of a form of studying concrete ecclesiology. Pete Ward also suggested the 'Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture' (which Walker began in the mid-1990s, not in the theology department, but in the school of education across the river), should be seen as the 'school of Andrew Walker'. It has certainly become the most important centre for doing empirical and theological study of church and ministry, pioneered by Walker and his students. Walker supervised the research of Pete Ward (a version of his PhD appearing has Selling Worship), Duncan MacLaren's study of missiology and secularization, Rob Warner's study on evangelicalism in the 80s and 90s, Kristen Aune's study of gender in New Frontier churches, James Steven's study of charismatic worship in the Church of England, James Heard's account of Alpha and he also got Luke Bretherton to consider doctoral research. In addition it was Walker who saw the development of the wide variety of MA programmes and the DMin that the Centre now offers, targetting in particular ministerial practioners.