“so that the person of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”

Wycliffe’s primary aim is to prepare, train and equip people for gospel ministry – whether public Christian ministry in the Church of England or elsewhere. We recognise and value the previous life experience which you bring, and aim to build on this, developing new skills to enable you to serve the Lord faithfully in the various ministries to which you are called.

Ministerial formation and theology

Good practice is rooted in sound learning, so we work hard to integrate ministerial practice with Scripture and Christian doctrine. But formation for ministry is primarily about who you are in Christ rather than what you know or can do. Fruitful ministry flows from being with Jesus, learning from him and growing in relationship with him. So we encourage students to reflect on how their learning impacts them as men and women under God.

A regular series of Integrated Study Weeks and Focus Days are offered as models of integrated theory and practice. In these, you will explore vital aspects of ministry today from biblical, theological and historical perspectives. You will also examine ethical questions raised by the subject and go on to look at implications for pastoral ministry. These Study Weeks and Focus Days give us the opportunity to invite into Wycliffe some of the key national and international experts on these subjects. We will enable you to become a reflective practitioner, through writing assignments and reports on your practical work, through feedback in seminars and tutorials, and through the processes of supervision while you are in college and on your placement.

Developing an awareness of the task

To help you to develop the ministerial skills you need, we offer social, cultural and psychological analyses of the world and communities in which we live. This will help your evangelism, preaching and pastoral care to be more relevant and effective. We support and strongly encourage the exploration of new and emerging models of church and Christian community, while also enabling you to engage critically and creatively with long-established models and patterns.