Ministerial formation has long been a topic of interest for British Baptists. How are ministers formed? What should be included in their course of study? Earlier generations of Baptist ministers were trained with a focus primarily on biblical study, which emphasised a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, as well as Latin, in preparation for ministry in a church. Today, while biblical studies continue to be part of a ministerial course, attention is also given to more contemporary practical issues of church organisation, and what is generally called ‘leadership’ in the local church. Moreover, while in the past emphasis was placed on ministerial education within colleges, a more recent trend has been to develop ‘church-based’ courses for ministerial formation, with students engaged in ministry in a particular local church.
The first article of this issue of the Baptist Quarterly calls us to reflect again on ministerial formation as it explores the life and thought of Mervyn Himbury (1922–2008), an educator for many years, in Wales and then Australia. In this article, ‘Techniques or Disciplines?’ Mervyn Himbury the Purpose of Ministerial Education, Frank D. Rees looks at the themes and approaches which Himbury considered to be important to the formation of men and women as Christian ministers.
The second article by Karen Smith, is an addition to the articles published in the October issue of the Baptist Quarterly, which focussed on the life and work of the well-known London pastor, John Clifford. This paper, ‘Building the New City of God’: The Role of Women in John Clifford’s Vision for a Christian Society, draws attention to Clifford’s inclusion of women in leadership roles in the Church, as well as his support for and advocacy of female suffrage in Britain.
Finally, we would like to give advance notice to our readers of a conference that will be held 14th–16th July 2025 on ‘Baptist Expressions of Christian Spirituality’. The conference venue will be Regent’s Park College, Oxford and will be jointly sponsored by the Baptist Historical Society and the Centre for Baptist Studies at Regent’s Park College. During the conference there will be an opportunity for participants to offer short papers. We hope that you will not only come to the conference, but also consider offering a paper on this important, but sometimes overlooked theme. For more information about the conference, please see the Baptist Historical Society website www.baptisthistory.org.uk.