St Augustine's College of Theology is a non-residential

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

in the Southeast of England. Founded in 1994 as the South East Institute for Theological Education (SEITE), the college trains men and women for ordained and lay ministry in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and other denominations, under the

Common Awards Common Awards are qualifications for ordinands and lay ministers within the Church of England and its partners in the Baptist, Methodist, and United Reformed churches, delivered in a three-way partnership between theological education institution ...

programme. The college is based at St Benedict's Centre in the grounds of

Malling Abbey St Mary's Abbey, also known as Malling Abbey, is an abbey of Anglican Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine nuns located in West Malling, Kent, England. It was founded around 1090 by Gundulf of Rochester, Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester and dissolve ...

West Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, West ...

, Kent, and also has a teaching centre at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark, London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge. It is the mother c ...

, London.

History

In 1959, the Bishop of Southwark had a vision for training Christians to take ministry from the church out into society. In doing so, he broke with the normal pattern of ministerial training in which ministers are taken away from their everyday situations to study theology in a college community. Instead he set up the Southwark Ordination Course which trained people for ministry whilst they remained firmly rooted in their everyday lives and local communities. This way, people learn to make connections between Christian theology and the world in which they live. This vision remains central to the college. The mode of learning which this course set up has become the model for all such courses in the UK today. In 1977 the Canterbury diocese set up an equivalent course, the Canterbury School of Ministry. SEITE was founded as the merger of these two institutions in partnership with the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and

United Reformed The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

churches. The college also now trains people for ministry with the

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

churches and for reader ministry in the Dioceses of Canterbury,

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

and

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. The college is an

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

foundation, drawing together Christians from different denominations. St Augustine's provides courses in theology for a variety of people in a variety of circumstances. Students come from many different denominations and church traditions, as well as from a variety of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Students come with different academic experiences and abilities, are at different stages in life and bring with them a rich variety of Christian experience. The programmes of ministerial formation are rooted in both good theological learning and practical ministerial experience in local churches. The college chose a new name in 2016 which refers to

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, the first

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Notable staff

* Justine Allain Chapman, Vice Principal from 2007 to 2013.

Notable alumni

SEITE * Penny Sayer, Archdeacon of Sherborne *

Sarah Mullally Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally (; born 26 March 1962) is a British Anglican prelate and former nurse. Bishop of London since 2018,

, Bishop of London *

Guli Francis-Dehqani Gulnar Eleanor "Guli" Francis-Dehqani (born 18 June 1966) is an Iranian-born British Anglican bishop who has been Bishop of Chelmsford since 2021. She served as the first Bishop of Loughborough, the suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Leicester ...

, Bishop of Chelmsford * David Chellappa, Bishop of Madras

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augustine's College of Theology Anglican seminaries and theological colleges Bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges in England 1994 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1994 Christianity in Kent Education in Kent Tonbridge and Malling