Kingsley College was until 2008 a

Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is a Christian denomination with its origins in Wesleyan Methodism. It is the organisational name for contemporary The Wesleyan Church in Australia. (The historic Wesleyan Methodist denomination in Aust ...

school of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

located in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. Its student body had always been largely non-Wesleyan Methodist, and without the students from other

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s the school probably could not have survived as long as it did.

History

The college was founded by President of the Australian Wesleyan Methodist Conference and editor of the ''Australian Wesleyan'' Kingsley Ridgway in 1948, and was (despite being in Melbourne) until 2008 a member institute of the

Sydney College of Divinity The Australian University College of Divinity (formerly Sydney College of Divinity) (AUCD) is a consortium of Christian theological educational institutions and Bible colleges based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The college is structured ...

. It was originally known as the Wesleyan Methodist Bible College of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; but in 1973 its name was changed to honour its founder upon his retirement. It was funded initially from donations made by Wesleyan Methodist church members in North America, reported by Ridgway as being "in the neighbourhood of one dollar (six shillings) per member over the whole connexion". Its first principal was professor Leo G. Cox, an American who was elected Conference President in 1948 after Ridgway. In January 2008 it merged with Tabor Victoria, with the majority of its staff and faculty and the whole of its library transferred to Tabor, with its original building and property scheduled to be sold. What was left of Kingsley provided only Methodist ministerial training under the umbrella of Tabor, with the tertiary education moving to Tabor.

Principals

References

Sources

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External links

* Educational institutions established in 1948 Education in Melbourne Seminaries and theological colleges in Australia Methodist seminaries and theological colleges Evangelical seminaries and theological colleges 1948 establishments in Australia {{VictoriaAU-school-stub