182 British Journal of Theological Education 13.

2 (2003)

WINGATE, Andrew, Does Theological Education Make a Difference? Global Lessons in

Mission and Ministry from India and Britain (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1999).
116 pp. + ix. Pbk. ISBN: 2-8254-1320-8. £4.95.

Does theological education make a difference? Ask yourself the question before read-
ing this book, and ask it of the students you have taught. Your own and their lives
will partly answer the question. Wingate speaks out of an immense wisdom and
equally varied practice. He asks this question in a structured and multi cultural man-
ner. Out of his experience as a member of the faculty of Tamilnadu Theological Semi-
nary, Madurai, South India, and later, within the ecumenical West Midlands
Ministerial Training Course in Birmingham, Wingate focuses his study. He conducted
interviews with students while they undertook their theological studies in both these
institutions and followed through to see how this education ‘made a difference’ in the
ministries they then practised. Wingate is realistic, critical and sympathetic with his
students and the outcome of his study is thoughtful and balanced.
While there are some similarities between Birmingham and Madurai, their differ-
ences tend to stand out. The delivery of ‘theology’ and what it was assumed to be
were also different in each institution, but not without significant points of contact.
Both institutions reflect varying successes and failures, the latter being defined as
those students to whom studying made no difference (roughly around 25 per cent).
Roughly another 25 per cent show how that difference worked out. Strikingly, in the
Indian context this difference translated into outreach beyond the local church and
took on a marked structural sensibility, whereas in the British context preaching,
administering sacraments and more inwardly ecclesial tasks dominate. And the other
50 percent? Wingate’s study suggests they could go in either direction, and a complex
number of factors will determine that direction. The body of the book is full of rich
stories and Wingate’s abiding openness shines through. Whether you teach in a
seminary, university or school, this book provides lots of food for thought and sug-
gests a number of ways in which we kill the significance of our subject matter in the
manner of our teaching it. As a university teacher, I wondered how I might track the
difference in my students, only a tiny minority going into church-related jobs. Having
undergone the recent QAA process, it struck me that the integrity of the subject
within the university is quite a problem, for one thing that Wingate shows is that the
subject matter of theology becomes fully alive only when it can be drawn into the life
questions being asked by students and the manner in which it can then transform
their practices and subsequently their understanding of the discipline. It would be
interesting to see how merchant bankers, BBC producers, teachers and civil servants
would answer the question: did your theology degree make a difference?

Gavin D’Costa,
Department of Theology, University of Bristol

WOOTTON, Janet H., Introducing a Practical Feminist Theology of Worship (Sheffield:

Sheffield Academic Press, 2000). 145 pp. Pbk. ISBN: 1-84127-067-9. £12.95.

This book aims to explore the experience of women in worship both from a historical
perspective and in contemporary terms. The author recounts briefly the experience of

© The Continuum Publishing Group Ltd 2003.