Why study Theology?

By Rev Christy Capper

Posted Jan 25, 2022 in News

Sometimes the idea of studying theology and ministry can seem daunting. Theology isn’t a subject we take in school, so it’s hard to know what a theology class would involve. My father is a minister and a theologian, but I still didn’t know what theology would be like.

In 2008 I was working in university ministry full-time in Sydney with one day per week planting a ministry at the University of Newcastle. So I would get up each Wednesday and catch a 6.00 am train for the nearly three-hour commute. It was on this trip that I started to read more. I enjoyed it and was talking to my Dad about it. He mentioned that sometimes he uses the book I had read in his theology classes.

At that point, I realised that I was already reading some theology, and shockingly I enjoyed it! Surely theology wasn’t supposed to be enjoyable! I started to think that maybe theology wasn’t as uninteresting or esoteric as I had thought; perhaps it was something I could think about studying.

When I did start studying theology in 2009, I began part-time, just trying to get the feel of what was happening. As you might be able to tell from the fact that I now lecture in theology, I ended up enjoying it. But I will never forget that feeling of not quite knowing what I would be getting myself into.

Uniting College for Leadership and Theology (UCLT) has units and courses for people in all stages of life and ministry. Perhaps you are doing some ministry, as I was, and looking to up-skill.; maybe you want to grow more deeply in your faith by learning more about the Bible and Christian belief. Perhaps you have already done some theology and want to research the new ideas within theology and ministry. There is a place for you at Uniting College.

You might want to do an Undergraduate Certificate (just four units), or you might want to look at doing a full degree. Perhaps if that is too much of a commitment, and you’d just like to sit in and learn without the assessment pressure – you can do that too. We call it ‘audit.’

It may be that you have been in ministry for a while, but you’re wondering what developments there have been since you studied that you might learn about – we can help you with that as well.

Come and test the waters of theological education at UCLT. You never know; perhaps God is calling you into a deeper place of courageous discipleship.

A full list of courses for Semester 1 is available for download at this link.

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