Spurgeon's College is an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

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 ...

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 ...

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Woodside and ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is affiliated with the

Baptist Union of Great Britain Baptists Together, formally the Baptist Union of Great Britain, is a Baptists, Baptist Christian denomination in England and Wales. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and Churches Together in England. The headquarters is in Didc ...

History

The school was founded in 1856 by Pastor

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...

as "Pastors' College" in

. His vision was to provide a practical theological education,

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

-centered. By 1892, the school had trained 863 students. In 1923, it moved to its present building and was renamed in honor of its founder.

Programs

It delivers training for the Baptist ministry both in the UK and elsewhere. It also offers a suite of other courses including online learning, a part-time (Monday) Degree course, several Master's courses. In 2008 the college was also accredited by the

British Accreditation Council The British Accreditation Council (BAC), also known as The British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education, is an educational accreditation agency recognised by the British Government for international students entering ...

. In 2011 the college underwent three external inspections. A week-long inspection by the ecumenical churches (Quality in Formation) declared the college 'fit for purpose' and the University of Wales judged that the preparation for research degrees (MPhil, PhD) meets the current standards. Finally, the 2011 quinquennial review by the university resulted in a report recommending the programmes should continue subject to two conditions being met within months and other recommendations should be carefully considered. Due to the University of Wales stopping the accreditation of outside institutes, their academic accreditation was withdrawn in 2012. In September 2012, the college announced that its degrees had received provisional

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, a member of the

Russell Group The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governme ...

of British universities subject to adjustments and negotiation. In 2020 the college announced a consultation period for a redevelopment programme as part of their vision to become a university. In May 2022 the college was granted full degree awarding powers by the Office for Students.

Partners

The school is a partner of the

and the

Evangelical Alliance The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a UK organisation of evangelical individuals, organisations, and churches, which is itself a member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the Evangelical Alliance aims to promote evangelical Chr ...

.Spurgeon's College
Mission and Values
spurgeons.ac.uk, UK, retrieved 5 December 2020.

Notable alumni

* J. Sidlow Baxter,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n born pastor and theologian who advocated a fundamentalist Christian theological perspective * Dr George R. Beasley-Murray *Rev John Charles Carlile * Rev

Steve Chalke Stephen John Chalke (born 17 November 1955) is a British Baptist minister, the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, a former United Nations' Special Adviser on Human Trafficking, and a social activist. Chalke is the author of a large number of ...

, founder of

Oasis Trust Oasis Charitable Trust, commonly known as Oasis, is a United Kingdom-based Christian registered charity. It was founded by the Reverend Steve Chalke in September of 1985. Chalke had been assistant minister at Tonbridge Baptist Church, Kent, for ...

, founder of Faithworks, chair of Stop the Traffik *

Nick Mercer Nicholas Stanley Mercer (born 25 December 1949) is a British Anglican priest who was the Vicar general for the Diocese of London from 2007 to 2017; he was additionally Archdeacon of London from 2014 until 2016. Early life and education Mercer wa ...

, senior priest of the Anglican Diocese of London * Arthur Gostick Shorrock, pioneer Baptist missionary in China for 40 years * Dr Nigel G. Wright

References

External links

Spurgeon's College homepage
{{authority control Baptist seminaries and theological colleges in the United Kingdom Bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges in England Evangelical seminaries and theological colleges in the United Kingdom Education in the London Borough of Croydon Universities and colleges established in 1856 Charities based in England 1856 establishments in England