Spurgeon's College is an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

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 ...

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, UK. It is affiliated with the

Baptist Union of Great Britain Baptists Together (officially The Baptist Union of Great Britain) is a Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didcot. Hi ...

History

The school was founded in 1856 by Pastor

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

as "Pastors' College" in

. His vision was to provide a practical theological education,

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

-centered. By 1892, the school had trained 863 students. In 1923, it moved to its present building and was renamed in honor of its founder.

Programs

It delivers training for the Baptist ministry both in the UK and elsewhere. It also offers a suite of other courses including

online learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...

, a part-time (Monday) Degree course, several Master's courses. In 2008 the College was also accredited by the

British Accreditation Council The British Accreditation Council (BAC), also known as The British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education, is an educational accreditation agency recognised by the British Government for international students enterin ...

. In 2011 the College underwent three external inspections. A week-long inspection by the ecumenical churches (Quality in Formation) declared the College 'fit for purpose' and the University of Wales judged that the preparation for research degrees (MPhil, PhD) meets the current standards. Finally, the 2011 quinquennial review by the University resulted in a report recommending the programmes should continue subject to two conditions being met within months and other recommendations should be carefully considered. Due to the University of Wales stopping the accreditation of outside institutes, their academic accreditation was withdrawn in 2012. In September 2012, the college announced that its degrees had received provisional

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, a member of the

Russell Group The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public university, public research university, research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its memb ...

of British universities subject to adjustments and negotiation. In 2020 the College announced a consultation period for a redevelopment programme as part of their vision to become a university. In May 2022 the College was granted full degree awarding powers by the Office for Students.

Partners

The school is a partner of the

and the

Evangelical Alliance The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the activities of the Evangelical Alliance aim to promote evangelical Christian beliefs in government, media and societ ...

.Spurgeon's College
Mission and Values
spurgeons.ac.uk, UK, retrieved 5 December 2020

Notable alumni

* J. Sidlow Baxter,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n born pastor and theologian who advocated a fundamentalist Christian theological perspective * Dr George R. Beasley-Murray *Rev John Charles Carlile * Rev

Steve Chalke Stephen John "Steve" Chalke (born 17 November 1955) is a British Baptist minister, the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, a former United Nations' Special Adviser on Human Trafficking and a social activist. Chalke is a Fellow of the Royal Soc ...

, founder of

Oasis Trust Oasis Charitable Trust, commonly known as Oasis, is a UK-based Christian registered charity. It was founded by the Reverend Steve Chalke in September 1985. Chalke had been assistant minister at Tonbridge Baptist Church, Kent, for four years. He ...

, founder of Faithworks, chair of

Stop the Traffik STOP THE TRAFFIK was founded in 2006 by Steve Chalke MBE as a campaign coalition which aims to bring an end to human trafficking worldwide. Initially STOP THE TRAFFIK was set up as a two-year campaign to coincide with the bicentenary of the Aboliti ...

Nick Mercer Nicholas Stanley Mercer (born 25 December 1949) is a British Anglican priest who was the Vicar general for the Diocese of London from 2007 to 2017; he was additionally Archdeacon of London from 2014 until 2016. Early life and education Mercer w ...

, senior priest of the Anglican Diocese of London *

Arthur Gostick Shorrock Arthur Gostick Shorrock (1861–1945) was a Baptist missionary who worked in China for 40 years. Arthur was born in 1861 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. He entered Spurgeon's College and as a student preacher took services at the Baptist Cha ...

, pioneer Baptist missionary in China for 40 years * Dr

Nigel G. Wright Nigel Goring Wright (born 1949) is a British Baptist theologian. Early life and education Wright was born on 13 May 1949 in Manchester and joined the Baptist church at the age of fifteen. He attended the University of Leeds, graduating in 1970 wi ...

References

External links

Spurgeon's College homepage
{{authority control Baptist seminaries and theological colleges in the United Kingdom Bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges in England Education in the London Borough of Croydon Educational institutions established in 1856 Evangelicalism in the United Kingdom Charities based in England 1856 establishments in England