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This question did not receive much attention. Interviewees emphasized that, within the
PThU, the structure of the university is much influenced by government rules and regulations,
which also pertain to the predikantenopleiding.
4b. How do these institutional characteristics relate to the goal of theological
education, visions on leadership and church office, the ideal concerning the internal
culture, and/or the spiritual formation of students?
The PThU as an institution resembles the characteristics of other state subsidized universities,
not those of the church. “The university as such does not prepare a student for
church life,” asserted one teacher from Utrecht. His view was confirmed by a comment
made by a student in focus group 2. After the moderator explained what was meant by
‘institutional characteristics’, he reflected tongue-in-cheek, “If we had to draw lessons
for our future pastorate from the institutional characteristics of the PThU, it would be
these: make decisions top down; communicate minimally; adopt bureaucratic and oblique
procedures; be formalistic, and inflexible.”
5a. What is the vision concerning leader education on the one hand and the relation
to the cultural context on the other – both the local context and ‘context’ in
a more general sense?
The general context is kept in mind by reflecting on societal developments in several
modules, in particular those that are oriented around missiological themes. 73 The local
context and its possible influence on a congregation receives attention in a practical
theological course that is meant to help students answer this central question during
their fieldwork: “How do culture and society permeate this congregation?”
In the experience of students, however, the link to leadership in the modules mentioned
is only implicitly present, if at all. Moreover, very little is done in terms of vision
development, such as grappling with a question like: “What do societal and cultural developments
mean for the future of the church?” 74
5b. In what ways are students put in touch with the extra-ecclesiastical cultural
context, both theoretically and practically (for example, by way of fieldwork)?
The BA trajectory incorporates some form of exposure. For example, students from
Leiden are required to spend a week in Rotterdam to experience how forms of diaconal
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For example, students are supposed to read the sociological report of Jos Becker en Joep de Hart, Godsdienstige
veranderingen in Nederland. Verschuivingen in de binding met de kerken en de christelijke traditie [Religious
changes in the Netherlands: Shifts in the connection with the churches and the Christian tradition] (Den
Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, 2006).
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It is the intention of the PThU to give particular attention to this question in the revised curriculum,
particularly in Groningen. PThU Director of Education, e-mail message to author, May 2, 2011.