Reimagining Ministerial Formation

David Heywood is Deputy Director of Mission for the Diocese of Oxford. Previously he was Director of Pastoral Studies at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He is the author of Reimagining Ministry and Kingdom Learning

“This is a magnificent book which is a timely, imaginative, grounded and prophetic contribution to re-imagining ministerial formation. It is timely because it speaks directly into a church which is committed to placing discipleship at the heart of its life and especially at the heart of its ministerial formation. It is imaginative in painting a picture of what good lifelong formation might look like and the kinds of structures which might enable it. It is grounded through the rich experience of the author who has devoted a lifetime to this kingdom learning from within the context of his ministry in parish, Diocesan and ministerial formation contexts. It is prophetic in drawing in much overlooked capacities such as emotional intelligence into the centre of the formational process and giving real substance to what that might look like in a formational curriculum. This is the distillation of a lifetime’s work and passionate commitment which longs for a church to be shaped by the mission of God and where local church communities enable the people of God to be kingdom disciples.”