Ministries of irrelevance?

I nearly missed the sideswipe that the evangelical network Reform took at non-residential ministerial training in the Church of England. The chairman Rod Thomas has said (Church Times) that this type of training is "woefully inadequate" and is preparing ordinands for "ministries of irrelevance".
He has also written in a newsletter that 'We need to challenge the institutional confidence in non-residential training and non-stipendiary ministry. Whilst there will be some terrific ministries that have emerged this way, all the anecdotal evidence points in the other direction.'
I am waiting to see the full text of his speech to the Reform annual conference, but I would like to make a few personal observations.
1. Part-time training means that the ordinand is still prayerfully immersed in secular society, rather than holed-up in a residential college.
2. Part-time training means that the ordinand should still be prayerfully immersed in their sending church.
3. Part-time training means that there is a minimum of inconvenience caused to the families of the ordinands.
4. Part-time training means that the ordinand is being trained for ministry alongside an eclectic group of individuals from a wide variety of church backgrounds. This avoids the narrow vision of church that some full-time colleges have a reputation for.
5. Part-time training means that the ordinand may even be studying alongside people from other denominations. This brings a few logistical problems but it can also further enrich the Church.
6. Part-time training also creates opportunities to bring together the incumbents from the ordinands' churches. This meeting of ministers, usually from a number of dioceses, can often be an affirming and educational experience.
7. Part-time training offers the ordinands many opportunities to experience the rich diversity of worship of the sending churches. Ordinands will visit many different churches to support and observe their fellow ordinands.
8. Part-time training offers a significant cost saving to the Church, which means more money can be spent on the vital work of teaching the laity and mission to the world.
All this is not to decry the obvious benefits of studying on a full-time course but I certainly object to the offensive and insulting comments made by Rod Thomas who is clearly attempting to undermine people's confidence in ordained ministry. I can only wonder at what Thomas understands ordination to be, if it is only to be conferred upon someone who has completed a residential course.