This year’s oldest graduate at UKZN’s autumn graduation ceremonies is 88-year-old Dr Vincent Brennan, who bagged his PhD in Theology on Thursday.

Brennan got a PhD for his study that examined the different callings of the Church in a Christian community.

According to a statement by the university’s corporate relations department, Brennan’s involvement in the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) as well as his programme organising experience, encouraged him to do an in-depth examination of Christianity.

“Looking at the nature of the Church as a community of missionary disciples, he explored its situation of being divided into an elite clergy and a passive laity, as well as stewardship as a manner of translating the community model of Church into a way of life.

“In addition, his thesis examined the nature of the call to discipleship extended to all who follow Christ as well as the kind of leadership demanded by a community model of church.”

Brennan’s research

Speaking on his research, Brennan said his study provides a theological foundation for stewardship to help other churches look critically at their stewardship programmes (or introduce it if they do not have one), steering away from an exclusive emphasis on fundraising and broadening it to being a way of living as disciples, all called, all gifted.

One of the more interesting aspects of his study was the influence of his supervisors – a Catholic nun from the United States who is listed as a feminist theologian and another from the Lutheran Church.

“Both left me very free to pursue my own research, but I felt challenged in a refreshing way by the experience and questioning and suggestions of two people whose background, training and life experience were very different to mine.”

He added that through his research he hopes to translate his findings into a user-friendly publication that will be widely available within the Catholic Church and to other churches who struggle with similar clericalism and lay passivity.