Excelsia University College, formerly Wesley Institute, is a

tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

provider in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in counselling, creative and performing arts, education, social work and business.

History

The college was founded in 1983 by David Johnston as a part of the Sydney Christian Life Centre (founded by Frank Houston in 1977PDF
/ref>PDF
/ref>). Located at Arncliffe, the college was known at the time as the "International Institute for Creative Ministries" (IICM), the curriculum's focus was the

creative arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...

and students' work in the performing and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

included secular as well as religious themes.

1990s split

In 1989 Johnston parted ways with IICM, bringing the organisation under the auspices of

Wesley Mission Wesley Mission is a name used by three independent Uniting Church groups which are a part of the Uniting Missions Network of UnitingCare Australia. These predominantly grew out of inner city ''Central Methodist Missions'' of the Methodist C ...

and the college moved to the Wesley Centre in

Pitt Street, Sydney Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, New South Wales, Waterloo, although today's street ...

, and after a few name changes became Wesley Institute. The qualifications issued were Advanced Ministry Certificate, Diploma in Creative Ministries, Diploma in Ministry and Diploma in Missiology, and during this time many of the students came from overseas. In 1990, in a split from the Wesleyan college, Robert Fergusson became principal at the Sydney location and switched the focus to practical ministry training. Classes, at this time accommodating around 50-70 students, were moved back to the church site and the name changed to Aquila College of Ministries in 1993. In 1999,

Hills Christian Life Centre Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a Evangelical charismatic movement, charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christianity, Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, ...

merged with Sydney Christian Life Centre, referred to as its "parent church" (Hills being founded by Frank Houston's son, Brian Houston) and changed its name to

Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centr ...

. In 2000 the College merged with Hillsong International Leadership College, becoming its "City campus", with Duncan Corby appointed Principal. Government accreditation was granted to Wesley Institute in 1992, allowing students to be paid Abstudy and Austudy support payments.

Move to Drummoyne and expansion

Under the supervision of then Wesley Mission Superintendent Gordon Moyes , Wesley Institute moved to

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of ...

location in October 1994, transforming the old Drummoyne Boys School into a fully-equipped campus for tertiary education. In 1996 it became part of the Sydney College of Divinity (SCD), the college expanded and in its

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and doctorate degrees were accredited in 1999 and 2001 respectively. The college was incorporated as Wesley College in 2005 and opened a second campus on

in 2006 for teaching in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

. It withdrew from the SCD and in 2007 was given accreditation for a number of degrees in its own right. On 4 October 2013, the Board of Trustees for

Indiana Wesleyan University Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) is a private evangelical Christian university headquartered in Marion, Indiana, and affiliated with the Wesleyan Church. It is the largest private university in Indiana. The university system includes IWU—M ...

voted to acquire Wesley Institute, to create the IWU's first international campus.

Present name and location

In early 2015 Wesley Institute changed its name to Excelsia College. In 2016, the college relocated to

Macquarie Park, New South Wales Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde. Macq ...

.Steven Deare, (16 February 2016), Excelsia College, formerly Wesley Institute, opens at Macquarie Park, ''Northern District Times''
Retrieved 11 March 2016 In late 2024, TEQSA registered Excelsia College as a University College

People

Faculty included Grenville Kent.

References

External links

* {{authority control Australian tertiary institutions Performing arts education in Australia Uniting Church in Australia Macquarie Park, New South Wales