Welcome from the director of NTMTC

Here at NTMTC we take the classic disciplines of theology seriously. During their time with us, our students engage with biblical studies and Church history, doctrine and ethics, liturgics and apologetics. They are encouraged to relate their theological understanding to other disciplines – to philosophy and sociology, to literature and the arts. They also develop their thinking about Christianity and other faiths. But that only partly describes what we do.

Our chief calling here at NTMTC is to honour God in the training of men and women for Christian leadership – to exercise ordained and lay ministry in the Church and in the wider world. Preparing for these tasks means discovering afresh what it is to have the mind of Christ; to have Christ and his pattern of life and witness formed in us as we share together in worship and prayer, in study and reflection, in service and mission, and in the unfolding grace of God.

NTMTC may officially be described as a ‘part-time’ course, but this doesn’t mean that students’ formation for ministry in the years they spend with us is part-time. Rather, they distinctively make this journey of discovery without leaving ordinary life behind. Here we do our theology in the midst of daily life, while continuing to give full attention to the circumstances in which God has already called us to serve him. Our students continue with daily work and family responsibilities, and with life in their home parishes and congregations, as they prepare for a new role in the Church.

The on-going dialogue between demanding jobs and domestic responsibilities on one side, and a growing engagement with Christian faith, mission and ministry on the other, enable our students to develop a vital capacity for theological understanding and realism in spiritual leadership. This contextualised way of doing theology equips them uniquely for Christian witness in the world of today and tomorrow.

We are delighted that we are now sharing this pattern of ministerial formation with St Paul's Theological Centre, Kensington. As partners in the exciting new venture that is St Mellitus College, we benefit greatly from their vision for mixed mode training and pioneer ministry, just as we trust that they are enriched by our long-established commitment to contextual theology, and to a model of Christian ministry, leadership and mission forged at the dynamic interface of ‘the church’ and ‘the world’.

Make no mistake: preparing for ministry at NTMTC is hard work. Being part of this community makes real demands. We seek to challenge and stimulate, not simply to reinforce cherished convictions, and we do so with folk who are juggling all the other realities of twenty-first century life at the same time. But that's where reality kicks in. And it's made immensely worthwhile by the fact that we do it all as a worshipping, praying, mutually supportive community which cherishes its roots while focusing on the challenges of contemporary culture.

With the Apostle Paul, we intend that from firm foundations we may ‘be strong to grasp what are the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge...’

That's what the St Mellitus vision means by ‘generous orthodoxy’, and we learn its true meaning in fellowship with one another, even as we learn it from teachers and books.

The Revd Dr David Hilborn