Learning from Langland: theo-poetic resources for the post-Hind ...

The Hind settlement: regions
Hind One identifies as a cause for concern the scattered and uncoordinated nature of
theological education, as evidenced by the fact that by the turn of the twenty-first century
there were twelve theological colleges, fourteen regional courses, and a further nineteen
diocesan schemes for training ordained local ministers. 11 Alongside these statistics Hind
provided figures representing the distribution of Methodist and United Reformed Church
trainee ministers, and concluded that there was a need both to work with ecumenical
partners, and to increase regional groupings under one umbrella where too many small
courses existed in isolation. Not only was there a financial incentive to review provision
with a view to eradicating unnecessary duplication, but it had become clear that existing
provision had grown up in a somewhat haphazard way. The report observes at 2.12 that
‘looked at as a system as a whole, the smallness of most of our establishments and the lack
of co-ordination between them raises serious organisational and educational issues.’ It
concludes that there is thus an ‘urgent need for the Church of England to make much better
use of its scattered training resources.’ 12 This includes the financial implications of having
so many small courses, where larger units would save on administration as well as having
the educational benefits of larger staff teams.
It is as the solution to the problems and challenges outlined above that the idea of Regional
Training Partnerships (RTP’s) is put forward by Hind One in Chapter 6 of the report. What
is envisaged is the coming together of different institutions within a region with a degree of
convergence regarding curriculum and resourcing. The three main arguments presented in
6.27 are: the principle of subsidiarity (building on government policy regarding regions as
11 Hind One, pp. 149-151.
12 Hind One, p. 20.
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