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

would be right to seek such funding. We do this partly because of the many links we
already have with higher education and because, aware of the increasing financial
demands on the parishes arising from taking responsibility for clergy stipends and
pensions, it would be irresponsible not to look into the possibilities for public
funding for ministerial education. 28
The challenge to the Hind HE settlement
One way into challenging the Hind settlement with HE is by picking up the final sentence
of the paragraph quoted above and subjecting it to more careful scrutiny. Logically, it does
not follow that reluctance on the part of parishes to pay their quota means that it would be
‘irresponsible’ not to seek public funding for ministerial education (though the report at this
point very carefully speaks of looking into the possibilities rather than committing to
partnerships with HEI’s). There is a range of possible responses to financial pressure, of
which seeking funding for theological education from other sources is only one. The report
at this point elides the moral implications of what is being suggested and draws on an
uneasy pragmatism to make the case for public funding, a move which makes courses and
colleges potentially dependent on sudden shifts of policy and which runs the risk of
following trends without much theological discernment. 29
28 Hind One, 2.22.
29 A good example is the instruction from the Ministry Division in 2008 for course and
colleges to move towards provision of Foundation Degrees because of the discovery that
ministerial training was eligible for new HEFCE Foundation degree funding. This
backfired when in 2009-10 the HE cuts meant that courses which had changed to offer
Foundation Degrees found themselves facing reduced funding.
26