STETS (Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme) was a ministerial training scheme for church ministers in southern England, based in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. Its functions were absorbed by

Sarum College Sarum College is a centre of theological learning in Salisbury, England. The college was established in 1995 and sits within the cathedral close on the north side of Salisbury Cathedral. The Sarum College education programme ranges from sho ...

, also in Salisbury, in 2015.

History

STETS developed from an earlier non-residential ministerial training scheme called Southern Dioceses Ministerial Training Scheme (SDMTS), founded in 1974 by a group chaired by the Salisbury and Wells Theological College Principal,

Reginald Askew Reginald James Albert Askew (16 May 1928 – 9 April 2012) was a British Anglican priest and academic. He was Principal of Salisbury and Wells Theological College from 1973 to 1987, and Dean of King's College London King's College Lond ...

. The scheme was based at the college but complementary to it, offering training for self-supporting ordained ministry. SDMTS carried forward the ministerial educational work of Salisbury and Wells Theological College after it closed in 1994 and its premises were transferred to Sarum College, which became an independent ecumenical institution for further education. SDMTS briefly became STS before being reconstituted in 1997 as the Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme (STETS) by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church and the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

"to serve the church in the south of England, by providing theological education and training for all its members, ministries and others and facilitating regional cooperation and collaboration."

Successor

STETS closed in February 2015, after its initial ministerial and lay training programmes were integrated with those of Sarum College. Training for ordination and lay ministry is now being run by the college's Centre for Formation in Ministry, which includes a rural ministry training pathway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stets Religious organisations based in England Sarum College