Wesley College, Bristol
Encyclopedia
Wesley College, Bristol (formerly Wesley College, Headingley, Leeds, until, in 1967, the institution united with Didsbury College, Bristol, and was re-named) is a theological college in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is the oldest provider of theological education for the Methodist Church of Great Britain
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...

and the core institution of the South West Regional Training Network of the Methodist Church where its partners are The South West Ministerial Training Course (SWMTC), based in Exeter and STETS in Salisbury. It is also involved with ecumenical education.

Although Wesley College was established to prepare people for ordained ministry in the Methodist Church, and this is still a significant part of its work with an emphasis today particularly on pre-ordination students who are studying part time, the College programme today is much more widely based. The teaching staff come from a wide range of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 backgrounds. Student ministers work alongside other students of theology, bringing a wider experience of life into the learning environment.

Wesley College provides a wide range of units in Christian theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...

, validated by the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

, most of which are open to lay people as well as those preparing for ordination. Since 2008 the College has also offered a Foundation Degree (FdA) in Mission and Ministry validated by St. Mary's University College (Twickenham)

Wesley College, Bristol is a member of the Bristol Federation for Theological Education. Its partners are Bristol Baptist College and Trinity College, Bristol
Trinity College, Bristol
Trinity College Bristol is a Christian college affiliated to the Church of England, though students come from different denominations. It is located in Stoke Bishop in Bristol, England, next to the University of Bristol's residential halls...

. As well as housing one of the most extensive theological libraries in the country the College also possesses an extensive archive with many unique documents and artefacts dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, many of them related to the Wesley family.

The College is an important international research facility with students from Australia, USA, South Korea, India and Africa. Wesley College has a formal Graduate Research Agreement with Hyupsung University, South Korea and established exchange programmes with the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, South India, the United Church of Zambia Seminary at Kitwe and the Reutlingen Seminary, Germany.

All its courses are open to students from any denomination and the College is building a reputation for lay theological education including the nationally recognised Pastoral Carers' Course and is in partneship with other religious denominations or bodies including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton and the Benedictine Downside Abbey. Wesley College also has students from the Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal and Holiness traditions.

The College Principal is Rev. Dr. Jonathan Pye who is also Honorary Research Fellow in Medical Ethics in the University of Bristol and a recognised teacher in the University of Bristol and the University of Wales, Cardiff. Dr Pye has lectured extensively in the UK, USA and Canada, South Korea and Australia.

Closure

In July 2010, the Methodist Conference
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...

announced that Wesley College would close when current students had finished their training. Enrolled at the College during the 09/10 academic year were four ministerial students sponsored by the Methodist Council, twenty-eight independently-funded lay students on courses validated by the St Mary's University College or the University of Bristol, and sixty-four independently-funded lay students on non-validated courses.

As of November 2011, Wesley College's website was shut down due to the closure.

External links

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