Adelaide College of Divinity (ACD) is an accredited

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

provider offering diploma, associate and bachelor's degrees, graduate diplomas, master and doctoral degrees in

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

, it is also a

Registered Training Organisation A registered training organisation (RTO), in Australia, is an organisation providing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses to students, resulting in qualifications or statements of attainment that are recognised and accepted by indust ...

offering certificates and a diploma. The ACD offers qualifications in its own right in the vocational and higher education sectors and, except for the period 2011–2013, its teaching staff have formed the Department of Theology at

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

in the Faculties of Education, Humanities and Law. The ACD brought together the Adelaide Theological Library, from the collections of the three colleges which had merged for form ACD. The library has grown since the merger and in 2006 held over 60,000 volumes, including many dating back before 1850 and some to the 17th century. Within the college grounds is a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

artist Cedar Prest to honour the journeys of refugees and migrants. Symbols incorporated in the labyrinth include a large chalice and a central wafer – a reference to

Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

. A stylised version of the labyrinth is used as the college logo.

History

The ACD started as an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

consortium of the theological colleges of the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

(St Barnabas College),

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

(Burleigh College),

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

(the St Francis Xavier Seminary, now the Catholic Theological College) and Uniting (Parkin-Wesley College, from December 2008 known as

Uniting College for Leadership and Theology The Uniting College for Leadership and Theology in South Australia is a Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) theological college for the education and training of both lay people and those for specified ministries including the diaconate and yout ...

) Churches in 1979, with the Bible College of South Australia in 1980, in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. In late September 1997, the then three constituent colleges in Adelaide moved to a campus at

Brooklyn Park, South Australia Brooklyn Park is a western suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is located on Kaurna land, immediately north-east of Adelaide Airport and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) base on Sir Donald Bradman Drive (the Boulevard of Ho ...

which had been vacated by the Salesian College. Teaching began on 7 October and the ACD campus was officially opened on Sunday, 9 November by the Governor of South Australia, Sir Eric Neal.

Nungalinya College Nungalinya College is an adult education college based in Casuarina, a suburb of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Founded in 1974, it describes itself as a "Combined Churches Training College for Indigenous Australians", and provid ...

was associated with the ACD at one time. Nungalinya College is

with a focus on theological education and training for ministry for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

people. It is located in Darwin,

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. In 2003, the

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...

moved its distance education focused Coolamon College from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

to Adelaide where it joined the ACD In Brisbane it had been a member of the

Brisbane College of Theology Brisbane College of Theology, located in Auchenflower, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was an ecumenical theological education consortium (1983–2009), comprising St Francis' Theological College (Anglican), St Paul's Theological College (Roman ...

and also offered

Sydney College of Divinity The Sydney College of Divinity (SCD) is a consortium of Christian theological educational institutions and Bible colleges based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The college is structured as a federation of member institutions, each of which ...

courses. In 2009 the Anglican synod voted in favour of withdrawing St Barnabas' College from the ACD and affiliating with the School of Theology of Charles Sturt University. In 2010, the Catholic theological college withdrew from the consortium to become part of the new Adelaide Theological Centre. Uniting College for Leadership and Theology has been joined by Trinity College Queensland. Trinity was initially a member of the

that was wound up in 2009, and then offered

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

qualifications before joining the ACD.

References

External links

Adelaide College of DivinityFlinders University – School of TheologyThe Centre for Theology, Science and Culture
at

Uniting College for Leadership and TheologyTrinity College, Queensland
{{authority control Education in Adelaide Seminaries and theological colleges in Australia Educational institutions established in 1979 Uniting Church in Australia 1979 establishments in Australia