Warwickshire. The decision to move UK training to Warwickshire is part of a new strategy we are embarking on to ensure we train more students and impact more nations this century than would have been otherwise possible. Our previous strategy focused on training all our students on one campus, the Bible College of Wales (BCW), established by Rees Howells in 1924.
For us, the old strategy was flawed. A campus in a poor state of repair, along with the associated costs of running a residential centre, funded predominantly by student fees was no longer viable. In the new world we will share a building with a well established church in Rugby. The training centre – Trinity School of Theology - will be non-residential, designed-for- purpose and rely more on qualified visiting lecturers.
Equally important is the training we will do overseas. We have begun targeting overseas locations where the church is growing rapidly but has very little training resource. Initially we are partnering with a training college in Lusaka, Zambia and a church group of 50,000 Christians in India. The demand for basic theological training by both partners is significant. This year we will train around 150 people through these two partners as well as the 40 or so we will train in the UK.
We wouldn’t want to say we’ve found ‘the’ way forward for UK Bible colleges but simply ‘a’ way forward. We still have many miles to travel and we will have to be prepared to amend our strategy as we go.
We are trying to face into the challenges many UK Bible colleges are facing - challenges that have become even tougher as an economic storm passes overhead. Given we would all like to pass on vibrant, relevant and well run UK Bible colleges to the next generation – what are some of the lessons I have learnt on the journey? All of the following needs to be preceded by prayer – without it we will come up with our own solution.
Firstly - keep close to the core church groups you have relationships with. As well as supplying students and lecturers, the local church and it members represent a key support base we cannot do without. They also help us keep up with the ever changing training needs of the local church.
