A consistent ecumenical emphasis, especially in discussions of theological education, has been the importance of "contextual theology" - theology expressed in a way that is authentic to the particular cultural situation in which the gospel is proclaimed. But what difference does radically contextual theological education make once the student begins ministry in the parish? That is the question this book addresses. Drawing on his tenure as a member of the faculty of Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary in Madurai, India, the author conducted extensive interviews with several people both during their time as students and at several points in their ministry over the subsequent 15 years. He has supplemented these stories with the results of a similar exercise he carried out with a number of his theological students in Britain.