Methodist Church & USPG Open New Ecumenical Mission Studies Centre

A new Mission Studies Centre will be created by the Methodist Church and the (Anglican) United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) as part of The Queen’s Foundation in Birmingham. The project is scheduled to begin from September.
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USPG has had a Training College in Selly Oak since 1923. Ten years ago the Methodist Church closed down its own Kingsmead College to jointly create the United College of the Ascension with the USPG. That work will now be transferred to the new Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies, alongside the ecumenical Theological College, the West Midlands Ministerial Training Course and the Research Centre that help make up The Queen’s Foundation in Edgbaston.

The new Centre will continue to provide training for partners and shorter-term volunteers to serve in the Church around the world. It is run by three fulltime staff and international scholars. It will be a base to study in depth and research into World Mission. The Centre will be connected to similar institutions worldwide.

“This development is a natural extension of the training and formation work we already share with theological institutions in our Partner Churches,” said Michael King, Team Leader World Church Relationships. “There is also a real excitement that global perspectives in mission studies will be so closely linked with theological formation in this key centre in Birmingham ”.

Bishop Michael Doe, General Secretary of USPG, said that although it will be sad to see the present U.C.A. closing down for many, the new Centre represents an ongoing commitment to training, study and research in a multi-cultural and ecumenical context.
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“Here at Queen’s we are committed to theological education and training which enlarges horizons and engages deeply with mission and ministry in the context of diversity of belief, culture and ethnicity,” said Canon David Hewlett, Principal of The Queen’s Foundation.

“The arrival of this new Mission Studies Centre means that everything we do and learn will be permeated by international, mission focused, cross-cultural perspectives and insights. This will be a wonderful, stimulating and challenging environment in which to study and train for ministry and mission, and I look forward to welcoming new staff and students next year," he concluded.