Jenkins, David O.

Rogers, eds., P. Alice

English

Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)

270theories they describe. They conscientiously critique each model they pres-ent, highlighting its strengths and advantages. In that same spirit, I venture to say that the very comprehensiveness of this volume occasionally leads to redundancy—such as explaining a theory several times at different points in the text. Further, the logic of placing the fourth part (and especially the chap-ter on traditional learning orientations) so late in the book was puzzling, as was the authors’ seeming unawareness of Parker Palmer’s work, given their emphasis on spirituality in education. Yet even with these !aws, Merriam and her collaborators have created a very useful tool for all of us who "rst hear a call toward spiritual caregiving and then "nd ourselves teaching, supervising, and offering formation to others seeking to learn this unique art.Peter Yuichi ClarkUCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s HospitalSan Francisco, CAThe American Baptist Seminary of the WestBerkeley, CADavid O. Jenkins and P. Alice Rogers, eds., Equipping the Saints: Best Practices in Contextual Theological Education (Cleveland, OH: Pil-grim Press, 2010), 192 pp.This collection of re!ections had its genesis in a self-study of the contextual education program at Atlanta’s Candler School of Theology, where David Jenkins and Alice Rogers were the program’s co-directors. As part of their research, Jenkins and Rogers visited numerous other schools to observe prac-tices of theological "eld education. They were intrigued by the variety of practices encountered in their visits—practices deeply shaped by a school’s values, contexts, and relationships. Curious about this diversity and support-ed with a grant from the Lilly Endowment, in 2007 they invited representa-tives from thirteen seminaries to come together to share “best practices” in contextual education. Equipping the Saints grew out of these conversations.The book is organized into two parts. Part One consists of seven chap-ters, each written by a different author, focusing on “Institutional Values that Shape Best Practices.” In the opening chapter, entitled “The Evolution of Theological Field Education,” Emily Click provides an invaluable re-view of changes that have taken place over time in theological "eld educa-tion. She then de"nes three basic models used in teaching ministerial re!ec-BOOK REVIEWS271tion—models that help us understand why schools vary so much in their approaches to teaching students to become re!ective practitioners. The re-maining chapters in this section are practical embodiments of Click’s mod-els, with re!ections on individualism, multicultural contexts, intercultural immersions, institutional ethos, mission-shaped congregations and supervi-sors, and the contextualizing of a theological curriculum. Part Two offers six more chapters describing “Best Practices of Supervision and Re!ection”—a rich smorgasbord of speci"c practices that have enhanced contextual edu-cation in authors’ seminaries: mentoring, the role of supervision, problems with praising interns in supervision, feedback from congregational commit-tees, texts for theological re!ection, and collaborative discourse.I only wish this book had been available when I began my career in theological "eld education, as it graciously invites us to listen in on the self-re!ections of seasoned "eld educators as they describe and evaluate their own practices. Collectively, these discourses are a potential gold mine for those new to contextual education. Conversely, veteran educators may well receive from these chapters the “gift of new eyes,” fresh perspectives for better understanding their own institutions and contexts for ministry. In overhearing these re!ections of colleagues, you may well "nd yourself identifying strengths and weaknesses in your own institution and educa-tional practices, and probing theological assumptions in your own teaching.As the editors acknowledge, one shortcoming of the book is that the schools represented are almost exclusively mainline Protestant, so the dis-cussion lacks input from other ecclesial traditions. Also, there are inher-ent limitations whenever practitioners describe their own practices without bene"t of third-party critique, as is the case here. However, Walter Bruegge-mann is right when he suggests in his “Foreword” that such limitations of the book primarily point to the need for additional re!ections of this sort that go beyond describing “processes” for contextual education and help deepen our theological understandings of why we do what we do.R. Leon Carroll, Jr.Associate Professor Emeritus of Supervised MinistryColumbia Theological SeminaryDecatur, GABOOK REVIEWS

Equipping the Saints: Best Practices in Contextual Theological Education (Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2010)

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Equipping the Saints: Best Practices in Contextual Theological Education (Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2010)

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Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)