Journal of European Baptist Studies, 2017

S is very significant. 34 Dr Tim Noble was a Jesuit missionary and his own doctorate was on liberation theology. His support of IBTS in many different ways has been very important in developing and sustaining our concepts of mission. 16 Journal of European Baptist Studies 17:1 (2017) Latin America, but also people like J. Andrew Kirk, 35 a retired missiologist who was totally dedicated to the enterprise, Simon J Oxley, 36 a theological educationalist who had served on the World Council of Churches staff, the Revd Dr Jim Purves, on the staff of the Baptist Union of Scotland, and Professor J. H. Y. Briggs, 37 a noted English Baptist historian. And the students? In the period from 1998 until 2014 thirty students graduated with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 38 Indeed, none was lost on the way! It more than matches the output of any other Baptist institution in Europe 39 in the same period. The doctoral students came from thirteen different nations. Five were women. Whilst several of the dissertations were cross-disciplinary, we might group them as approximately nine in baptistic history, seven in practical theology, eight in missiology, two in Biblical hermeneutics, two in spirituality, and two in pastoral theology. However, most crossed more than one discipline. Whilst issues associated with baptistic life from within the European Baptist Federation community predominated, the doctoral programme received students from Africa and the Americas. Not all the students were Baptists. Within the doctoral group we had Mennonites, free evangelicals, a Pentecostal, and a member of the Evangelical Czech Brethren Church. 40 Themes of dissertations I have outlined approximate clusters of themes, but will now turn to more specific reflection on topic matter. Naturally, given the interest of IBTS in Baptist history and identity, no fewer than fifteen of the dissertations 35 The Revd Dr J. Andrew Kirk is a retired Anglican missionary who served in Latin America and later in the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham. He is a prolific author. 36 The Revd Dr Simon J. Oxley has specialised in adult Christian education. He was a senior staff member with the World Council of Churches and now semi-retired continues to lecture on ecumenism in the Luther King House (LKH) Educational Partnership, Manchester. 37 J. H. Y. Briggs served in the University ofKeele, Westhill College, and University of Birmingham. He was a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and is a prolific author. 38 PhD of the University of Wales by dissertation and oral examination (viva voce). 39 The list of Baptist institutions in Europe with the right to take people through doctoral studies to the point of examination and award is very limited. The Baptist Faculty of the University of Bucharest is one such, plus Bristol Baptist College, Spurgeon’s College, South Wales Baptist College, Regent’s Park College (Oxford), No