The Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa aka Fedsem was a multi-denominational

theological seminary 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and an experiment in ecumenical

theological education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to tea ...

Origins

It was opened in Alice, Transkei in 1963, in response to

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

legislation such as the

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a syste ...

which forced theological colleges for black students that were situated in "whiter" areas to close or move. Among the colleges that were threatened by this legislation were St Peter's Theological College in

Rosettenville Rosettenville is a working class suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It lies to the south of the city centre. History Rosettenville was founded in 1886 by the Jewish pioneer, Leo (or Levin) Rosettenstein, whom it is named after. Rosettenstein ...

(Anglican),

John Wesley College John Wesley College was the seminary of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa situated at Kilnerton in Pretoria, South Africa. It was most commonly referred to as John Wesley College Kilnerton. It opened at Kilnerton in 1994, and was rep ...

in Kilnerton, Pretoria (Methodist) and

Adams College Adams College is a historic Christian mission school in South Africa, associated with the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). It was founded in 1853 at Amanzimtoti a settlement just over south of Durban by an American miss ...

Amanzimtoti Amanzimtoti, locally nicknamed Toti, and officially renamed to eManzimtoti, is a coastal town just south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Situated along the Sapphire Coast, the town is well known for its warm climate and numerous beach ...

(Congregationalist). The denominations affected by this got together and decided to build a new joint seminary on land next to

Fort Hare University College The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

at Alice in the Transkei. They opted for the model of English collegiate universities, like Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, where each college functioned independently, but shared resources such as teaching staff and libraries. Each college had its own accommodation for students and staff, and its own chapel. The colleges that opened in 1963 were: St Peter's (

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 ...

(

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 ...

), St Columba's (

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

), and Adams United ( Congregationalist). The first principal was Father Aelred Stubbs, who stepped aside after eight years to make way for an African principal. On 26 November 1974, the government issued an expropriation order, giving the Seminary three months to vacate the land and the buildings. The seminary was obliged to move, first to

Umtata Mthatha ( , ), alternatively rendered Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known ...

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River,

he river The He River is a tributary of the Xi River in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it ...

Kei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

, then in Edendale and finally a new campus was opened in August 1980 at

Imbali Imbali is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is 15 km from Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal. Imbali was founded in the early 1960s when people were moving away from the rural areas to look for employment in the ...

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

. Fedsem closed in 1993.

References

External links

Notes on the foundation of the Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa
G A Duncan, University of Pretoria
The Daily Telegraph
Seminaries and theological colleges in South Africa Education in the Eastern Cape {{SouthAfrica-school-stub