St John's Theological College, Melbourne was an Australian educational institution in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, established in 1906 and closed in 1919. It trained candidates for ordination in the

Church of England in Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

History

The college took over buildings formerly occupied by a private school, Cumloden College, located at 195-201 Alma Road, St Kilda East. The college opened in 1906. The future Bishop of Bathurst (1911–28) and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

(1928-30), George Long was offered the position of warden on the establishment of the college, but declined. St John's had a focus on training non-graduates for ordination. The college was Anglo-Catholic and was closed in 1919 for churchmanship reasons in the Diocese of Melbourne, the evangelical

Ridley College Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the Ontario Secondary School Diploma ...

having opened in 1910. After the college closed, the buildings were sold and demolished. In 1908, two students at St John's decided to form a religious community, the Association of the Divine Call, with three-year vows of celibacy. The two students were Maurice Richard Daustini Kelly and Gerard Kennedy Tucker. Tucker had previously studied for ordination at St Wilfrid's Theological College, Cressy. At the time (1906 to 1907), the warden of St Wilfred's was Nugent Kelly, the father of Maurice. Three other students joined. The establishment of the association received a lukewarm response from Archbishop Lowther Clarke and, after ordination to the diaconate in 1910, the members of the community went their own ways. Kelly became a member of the

Community of the Ascension The Community of the Ascension (known as CA and the Ascensionists) was an Anglican religious community for men in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first male Anglican religious order to be successfully established in Australia, ...

in Goulburn in 1921, but died just five years later. Tucker went on to found the

Brotherhood of St Laurence The Brotherhood of St Laurence is an Australian not-for-profit organisation working toward an Australia free of poverty. The Brotherhood (as it is colloquially known) has its headquarters in Melbourne but provides services and programs across Au ...

in 1930 and the Food for Peace Campaign in 1953 (which eventually became

Oxfam Australia Oxfam Australia is an Australian, independent, not-for-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organization, and is an affiliate of the Oxfam International confederation. Oxfam Australia's work is divided into four broad categories co ...

). The nearby Anglo-Catholic church, St James the Great, St Kilda East, began as a small community worshipping in the college chapel.

Wardens

Reginald Stephen Reginald Stephen (9 December 1860 - 7 July 1956) was the Anglican Bishop of Tasmania from 1914 until 1919 and then the Bishop of Newcastle (New South Wales) from 1919 until his retirement in 1928. Stephen was educated at Geelong Church of Englan ...

, 1906–14. Concurrently

Dean of Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. T ...

, 1910–14; Bishop of Tasmania, 1914–19; Bishop of Newcastle, 1919–28. *James Roy Norman, 1908-09 (acting). * John Stephen Hart, 1914–19.

, 1919–27; Bishop of Wangaratta, 1927–42.

Notable alumni

Martin Boyd Martin à Beckett Boyd (10 June 1893 – 3 June 1972) was an Australian writer born into the à Beckett– Boyd family, a family synonymous with the establishment, the judiciary, publishing and literature, and the visual arts since the early 19t ...

, novelist, brother of Merric Boyd. Boyd did not proceed to ordination. * Merric Boyd, artist, brother of Martin Boyd. Boyd did not proceed to ordination. *Fr John Hope, Rector of

Christ Church St Laurence Christ Church St Laurence is an Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church (building), church located at 814 George Street, Sydney, George Street, near Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station and Haymarket, in City of Sydney, S ...

, Sydney, 1926–64 *The Rt Revd William Johnson, Dean of Newcastle, 1928–36; Bishop of Ballarat, 1936–60. *Fr Maurice Kelly, co-founder of the

*Fr Gerard Tucker, founder of the

and the Food for Peace Campaign

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Theological College, Melbourne Anglican seminaries and theological colleges Former theological colleges in Australia Education in Melbourne 1906 establishments in Australia Educational institutions disestablished in 1919 St Kilda East, Victoria

History

Wardens

Notable alumni

See also

References