Bible colleges and training in a digital age

‘The health of the church depends on the health of its colleges.’ I heard John Stott say this more than 25 years ago and it has influenced the path that recently brought me to Oak Hill College as Principal.

Stott quickly added that this was not a dogmatic conviction, but an empirical observation. As he had travelled around the world, he had noticed the organic connection between the life of the church and its training. That makes sense to me. Just as the source of our culture is the university, so the source of the church is the theological college and seminary.

But not everyone believes in the importance of theological colleges and seminaries. Some years back, I was speaking with César Guzmán, former Director of the Centre for Pastoral Studies of the Anglican Church of Chile. He told me of the slogan used by some in the churches who had opposed the start of the Centre: ‘Theological colleges kill the church.’ At least he knew where he stood!